How To Write Sales Pages: Don’t Sell Too Soon

Imagine you walk into a computer store, already knowing what computer you want to buy. You ask an associate to show you where it is because you want to get it, and she takes you to the computer. On the way, she starts running down her script, selling you on the features, rattling off objection busters, and telling you success stories about people who used the computer. 

It would feel like too much, wouldn’t it? It would almost feel suspicious, like there was something wrong, or cheap about the computer all along. If you already know which computer you want to buy, why is she still trying to sell it to you? 

I see a lot of sales pages act the same way. There’s a huge paragraph stumbling over itself with too many details, trying to sell you the product as soon as you land on the page. But a confident sales person doesn’t get in the way of a determined buyer. They know that determined buyers have their own, more convincing reasons to buy. And so they show them where the product is, and make a sale as simple and easy as possible. Sales pages should be the same way. 

When I write sales pages, I make sure the very first thing a website visitor sees is a concise description of the product, and a clear button to buy it immediately. If someone arrives at the page, already convinced to buy from a previous ad or email, why is your sales page getting in the way of that? 

If they don’t click on the first button, and still need more information, then you can start selling. After my initial product headline, I’ll employ the following in order: A robust product description, a success storyline about the customer if they use the product, a credibility builder about the creator or company, real customer testimonials, and then a final sales push that positions the product as the best way to avoid failure and achieve success. After each section, I’ll add another “buy now” button. Because if someone is sold at any moment, I need to get out of their way and make it easy for them to buy. 

It can be tempting to think our sales copy is the most exciting, interesting thing anyone could read. And we should try to write it that way. But if we’re honest, sales copy will never be interesting to anyone except nerds like us. So if we write it to get the job done, then get out of the way, it’ll be more effective, and drive more sales.