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Make your Web pages easier to read by using bullets. On my home page I put these questions in bullets:
"Let me help you answer questions about your book" · What are first steps to writing a great selling book? · Will my book attract my desired audience? · Will my potential buyers think my book is worth money? · Will my books sell enough copies for my satisfaction? · Now that it's written, how can I best promote my book?
One great test is size of your paragraphs. In general, keep them short, around 1-4 sentences. Imagine looking at a long line of print before getting to meat? Discouraged, you would probably leave page, and possibly site! Check for passive sentence construction too. Your spell and grammar check gives you those percentages at end. If your sentences are more than 3-4% passive, you need a professional coach to check your copy.
*Test your site layout. Know where people are entering your site and exiting. Many companies out there can give you this counting service. If potential buyers keep leaving at a particular page before they go to products and ordering page, your words deceive you-and some changes are in order. You can track: where your traffic is coming from, what pages visitors like, what page to majority of visitors enter and exit, and how long are they there, even which ones signed up for your eNewsletter.
*Test your order process. Ask certain people to run through different parts of your site (show your appreciation by paying them for it with free product or service). Tell them you have a thick skin, and appreciate their honesty. One would-be customer couldn't finish order for one of my teleclasses. It took a lot of effort to get that mistake rectified with some free product. I know a famous eBook author from which I tried and tried to buy a book. I even emailed him about it. He said he didn't take email orders and sent me back to where problem was. It's much better to have all links work, so your customers will have an easy ordering experience.
Know that your job of testing never ends. It's what we call maintenance, 80% of life is maintenance! Just experimenting with these tests will bring more sales. Keep testing to know what your potential buyers really want.
Judy Cullins: author, publisher, book coach _Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Your Book Online_ http://www.bookcoaching.com/products.shtml Subscribe to FREE ezine "The Book Coach Says..." Email: Judy@bookcoaching.com