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Are you forgetting to use some very simply and proven sales techniques on your online sales pages?

Most of the time I talk about how writing for the web is different. And it is.

But when it comes to your sales pages and most landing pages, some good, old-fashioned sales techniques still apply.

The web may be different as a medium, but your readers are often the same people who read direct mail and watch late night TV.

In other words, some of the sales and closing techniques used in offline promotions also work online.

Here are some of the classics:

Urgency – give people a legitimate reason to buy immediately. Offer ends soon etc.

Scarcity – let people know that supplies are limited (if they are).

New – people always pay a little extra attention to something that’s new.

Free – an old one, but a good one. Is there something free that you can include with the purchase?

Save – people love to save money.

Risk-free – people hate to take risks, particularly when buying from an online company they don’t know very well.

You probably don’t want to overdo it and make every page look like an ad for Ginsu knives. But nor should you ignore the power of these approaches.

The thing about any selling, and this includes selling online, is that a significant percentage of your readers will teeter just on the edge of buying...but not buy.

This presents you with what is without doubt the easiest and fastest way to increase your page conversion rates. You need to give those teeterers a little nudge.

You need to push them over the edge, from almost buying to actually buying.

Assuming that your product or service, offer and price are all attractive, the addition of one of these classic sales words and techniques can provide that extra push.

Take a look at your current sales pages, whether you are making a direct sale, generating a lead, asking for a registration or selling a subscription.

Can you add a sense of scarcity? Can you offer something free? Can you reduce the perceived risk of taking action?

Try adding one technique at a time. Try bundling two or three.

Then track the results until you have maximized your conversion rates for the page.

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