Bifocals. The mere mention of the word is enough to make you feel 10 years older. So when my eye doctor told me that’s where I was headed, my neck got stiff, I sat straight up in the chair and firmly declared, “I will not!” Although, in reality, I did notice at the time that I’d been wearing my glasses (which were originally for reading and driving) more often than not. My doctor suggested contact lenses.
I’d tried contacts a long time (at least 15 years) ago and they didn’t work out for me for several reasons. But my doctor began to explain all the advancements manufacturers have made since then. Contacts work much better now for people with astigmatism than earlier versions. They are much thinner, permeable, and comfortable, too. So I decided to give them a shot.
The Process Reminded Me of Copywriting
My doctor wanted to try to outfit me with bifocal contacts to start with, arguing that they would be easier to adjust to since my eyes were only borderline on needing bifocals. But, because of my astigmatism, he needed to put one type of contact with my distance prescription in one eye and another type with a reading prescription in the other eye. Supposedly, this was going to be easy to adjust to. Uh… not!
By the time I got home, I couldn’t read a thing. Considering I work on a computer all day, that’s not good. I was asked to wear them four hours a day for a week then return to the doctor’s office. I didn’t make it a week. When I saw my doctor again, he started tweaking things to help me see better.
Pro Copywriting Tip: Figure Out the Problem Before You Jump to a Solution
All too often, I see website owners, Amazon sellers, and even professional copywriters who leap to the solution of rewriting all the copy. If you ask them what the problem is, they can’t tell you. Many times, the issue isn’t even copy related.
If you don't take the time to accurately diagnose where the problem lies with your web pages or Amazon listings, the chances of fixing it will be slim.Click To TweetFor example, when I went back to my optometrist, he first assessed what the problem was. He asked what I could and couldn’t see. I was put through a series of visual tests while wearing the contacts. All this was to give him a better idea of what was wrong so he could make it right.
What Types of Tests Can You Run?
Headlines (or titles for Amazon listings) regularly bring about a great deal of improvement when tweaked properly. Try four  or five variations of your title / headline to see which one works best.
Bullet points on Amazon product pages or web-based landing pages are significant. Sometimes what we think is important to customers isn’t what they respond to. Switch things up by rearranging your bullets in a different order, adding new / different bullets that explain more features and benefits or adjusting the length from long to short (or vice versa).
Keywords are like traffic cops. They direct visitors to your website or Amazon product pages. If you don’t do a good job with your keyword research, you could be leaving a lot of prospects out in the cold. Tweak the keywords and phrases you’ve optimized your pages for and watch to see if your traffic levels rise.
My doctor switched me to a different type of lenses where both eyes see with the same prescription. Then, gradually, he tweaked the axis and other elements until we had a winner! I was able to see (and without bifocal glasses, I might add)!
Pro Copywriting Tip: Test One Thing at a Time
As writers, we should do this when we test copy. My doctor wanted to change only one thing at a time so he could measure the results and know for sure what was affecting what. The same holds true for copywriting.
Making changes slowly is vital whether you’re testing and tweaking Amazon listings to produce a steady stream of long-term sales or working with a website to enhance search engine optimization.
If you change the headline AND the opening paragraph AND the offer content AND… you get the idea. You won't know which of those things made the difference.Click To TweetYes, software is available that will allow you to do what is referred to as multivariate testing. For example, Splitly can help Amazon sellers and Optimizely works for websites. But, unless you are using sophisticated programs such as these, you’ll want to take the slow-and-steady approach.
That’s what happens when you test and tweak copy. Keep adjusting slowly, and then gradually give the changes time to take effect. Soon you’ll have a piece of copy that performs better than you thought it possibly could!
Have questions about testing? Ask them below!
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Testing & Tweaking Boost Sales & Save You Money
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Or as the Spanish say “Poco Poco”…. Little by little.
When I first saw the title I thought I was on the wrong blog.. but yes contact lenes have a lot in common with copyriting (he said with his glasses on).
I love you’re articles by the way… slowly but surely I am making my way through them all. Think I will have to buy the books.
Thanks, Steve.