I see a lot of people asking for website help. "Look at my website, how will it convert, what to change". I looked at a lot of these and always tried to help the owner by guiding him/her. What I noticed is, mostly same mistakes over and over again. I will dump the whole checklist here. Are those rules set in stone and cannot be broken never ever never? Some yes, some no, but for a beginner, I wouldn't get creative with those.
1. Did you pick up the right name? Your name should mean something, should be related to what you offer.
Example: you sell luxury mouth pads. LuxyPad is a kind of name you’re looking fo. Something like KoolMe is totally unrelated.
2. Did you say everything you had to say? Don’t listen to “keep it short”. People will read pages and pages about what interests them. Don’t make it short (or long) for the sake of it. Always say everything you have to say.
3. Did you hide behind the video? Video doesn’t replace copy. Not everyone can watch the video for various reasons (at work, at school, weak internet connection)
4. Were you specific? Say “193 customers”, not “nearly 200 customers”. Exact numbers, exact facts. Who, when, where. Specifics show that you did some research, tests. Shows that you are not just making it up. It gives you believability.
5. Do you have a great offer? Offer is everything. No good copy can overcome bad offer, but good offer can (sometimes) overcome mediocre copy.
6. Do you shout in print? No oversized fonts and caps lock for no reason.
7. Do you use captions under pictures? See, a lot of people do not read, they glance. But they almost always read captions under the pictures when glancing. It is your chance to catch their attention.
8. Do you appear as a good fellow? Don’t attack a competitor. Don’t point out others’ faults.
9. Did you show bright side, not dark one? Don’t show wrinkles, show smooth skin. With more experience, you will be able to use dark side for your advantage too. For now, stay away from it.
10. Do you assume that people will do what you tell them to do? You should! Say “try it now”, not “why would you miss this opportunity”
11. Do you offer great risk reversal? 100%-Money-Back, free trials, free samples. If you offer great product you should offer great risk reversal. Make it as liberal as you possibly can, for example, 1 year money back instead of 30-60-90 days.
12. Do you do everything possible to make your customers buy NOW? Give good reasons why they should buy now, offer bribes, give limited time offers. Delay kills the sale.
13. Do you explain why you give special offer? This is important and mostly everyone (even big guys) forget about it. If you offer “special price only until 1st of March” explain why you do it. If you offer 40% off, explain why. Make up a good, believable reason, get creative. Without giving a reason you are just cheapening your product.
14. Do you use simple words? Don’t overestimate the intelligence of people. Use simplest words, short sentences, short paragraphs. Be as clear as possible.
15. Do you offer as little choices as possible? Most people can’t make decisions. Choices can delay and therefore kill your sale.
16. Do you sell your brand, or do you sell use of the product/service? Explain what is so special about your product, why the reader should buy from you. This is one of the biggest mistakes of the beginners. They get to excited about (for example) low-carb diet and give very good explanation of why low-carb diet works. But they don’t explain why THEIR PROGRAM is better than other hundreds programs out there.
17. Do your headline and picture tell the same story? Make sure they do. Don’t use a picture of a hot woman for any ad just because you heard that “pictures of hot women pull better”.
18. Do you use way too many exclamation marks? Do you use contractions no-one can understand?
19. Do you explain what is behind your words “unique”, “exclusive”, “one-of-a-kind”. Don’t just throw these words around without explaining why your product is unique. Otherwise you will lose believability.
20. Do pictures you use show:
- Product in use
- Reward using the product
- Achieved ambition thanks to the product
- Enlarged detail of the product
Don’t include pictures for fun, to entertain, or just “cool pictures”. Images are there to help you sell. If they don’t, they shouldn’t be there.
21. Do you admit minor flaws? Every product has some. Understate facts. Understating is better than overstating.
22. Do you mention what will you do with collected emails (when you are going for leads)? If you do collect personal information, say what you plan to do with it. Will you send promotional emails once in a while? Will you send newsletters every second day? Will you call to follow up? Many “big boys” forget to mention it.
23. For tests: Did you come up with the best proposition and best price? Last thing you want to be asking yourself is “hmmm, what if I lowered the price, would it sell?”. You want to say “Woooohooo It sells! What if I increase the price?”.
24. Do you give as much flexibility on the number of items to purchase? Avoid bulking. Let them buy one toothpick if they want to (and if you can sell it profitably).
25. Do you place boring technical specifications outside of your copy? Do not introduce dry tech. specs. In your copy. Your copy should be emotional, don’t bore your customer. Place specs outside, in a box.
26. Do you use tiny type disclaimer text? Don’t do it. Everything worth saying can be said out loud.
27. Do you use first sentence to ask a question? Questions like “do you want to lose weight” provoke a reply “I do, but why do YOU care?”. Instead, suggest a benefit: “there is now a way for you to lose weight without having to eat less”.
28. Do you strive for believability as much as you can? This is a summary question. Believability is VERY important. If qualified leads don’t buy from you it is usually because they don’t believe you. Money-back, specific facts, exact details, testimonials, contact information with your phone number and address, your head-shot picture… Give them whatever you can to increase believability.
1. Did you pick up the right name? Your name should mean something, should be related to what you offer.
Example: you sell luxury mouth pads. LuxyPad is a kind of name you’re looking fo. Something like KoolMe is totally unrelated.
2. Did you say everything you had to say? Don’t listen to “keep it short”. People will read pages and pages about what interests them. Don’t make it short (or long) for the sake of it. Always say everything you have to say.
3. Did you hide behind the video? Video doesn’t replace copy. Not everyone can watch the video for various reasons (at work, at school, weak internet connection)
4. Were you specific? Say “193 customers”, not “nearly 200 customers”. Exact numbers, exact facts. Who, when, where. Specifics show that you did some research, tests. Shows that you are not just making it up. It gives you believability.
5. Do you have a great offer? Offer is everything. No good copy can overcome bad offer, but good offer can (sometimes) overcome mediocre copy.
6. Do you shout in print? No oversized fonts and caps lock for no reason.
7. Do you use captions under pictures? See, a lot of people do not read, they glance. But they almost always read captions under the pictures when glancing. It is your chance to catch their attention.
8. Do you appear as a good fellow? Don’t attack a competitor. Don’t point out others’ faults.
9. Did you show bright side, not dark one? Don’t show wrinkles, show smooth skin. With more experience, you will be able to use dark side for your advantage too. For now, stay away from it.
10. Do you assume that people will do what you tell them to do? You should! Say “try it now”, not “why would you miss this opportunity”
11. Do you offer great risk reversal? 100%-Money-Back, free trials, free samples. If you offer great product you should offer great risk reversal. Make it as liberal as you possibly can, for example, 1 year money back instead of 30-60-90 days.
12. Do you do everything possible to make your customers buy NOW? Give good reasons why they should buy now, offer bribes, give limited time offers. Delay kills the sale.
13. Do you explain why you give special offer? This is important and mostly everyone (even big guys) forget about it. If you offer “special price only until 1st of March” explain why you do it. If you offer 40% off, explain why. Make up a good, believable reason, get creative. Without giving a reason you are just cheapening your product.
14. Do you use simple words? Don’t overestimate the intelligence of people. Use simplest words, short sentences, short paragraphs. Be as clear as possible.
15. Do you offer as little choices as possible? Most people can’t make decisions. Choices can delay and therefore kill your sale.
16. Do you sell your brand, or do you sell use of the product/service? Explain what is so special about your product, why the reader should buy from you. This is one of the biggest mistakes of the beginners. They get to excited about (for example) low-carb diet and give very good explanation of why low-carb diet works. But they don’t explain why THEIR PROGRAM is better than other hundreds programs out there.
17. Do your headline and picture tell the same story? Make sure they do. Don’t use a picture of a hot woman for any ad just because you heard that “pictures of hot women pull better”.
18. Do you use way too many exclamation marks? Do you use contractions no-one can understand?
19. Do you explain what is behind your words “unique”, “exclusive”, “one-of-a-kind”. Don’t just throw these words around without explaining why your product is unique. Otherwise you will lose believability.
20. Do pictures you use show:
- Product in use
- Reward using the product
- Achieved ambition thanks to the product
- Enlarged detail of the product
Don’t include pictures for fun, to entertain, or just “cool pictures”. Images are there to help you sell. If they don’t, they shouldn’t be there.
21. Do you admit minor flaws? Every product has some. Understate facts. Understating is better than overstating.
22. Do you mention what will you do with collected emails (when you are going for leads)? If you do collect personal information, say what you plan to do with it. Will you send promotional emails once in a while? Will you send newsletters every second day? Will you call to follow up? Many “big boys” forget to mention it.
23. For tests: Did you come up with the best proposition and best price? Last thing you want to be asking yourself is “hmmm, what if I lowered the price, would it sell?”. You want to say “Woooohooo It sells! What if I increase the price?”.
24. Do you give as much flexibility on the number of items to purchase? Avoid bulking. Let them buy one toothpick if they want to (and if you can sell it profitably).
25. Do you place boring technical specifications outside of your copy? Do not introduce dry tech. specs. In your copy. Your copy should be emotional, don’t bore your customer. Place specs outside, in a box.
26. Do you use tiny type disclaimer text? Don’t do it. Everything worth saying can be said out loud.
27. Do you use first sentence to ask a question? Questions like “do you want to lose weight” provoke a reply “I do, but why do YOU care?”. Instead, suggest a benefit: “there is now a way for you to lose weight without having to eat less”.
28. Do you strive for believability as much as you can? This is a summary question. Believability is VERY important. If qualified leads don’t buy from you it is usually because they don’t believe you. Money-back, specific facts, exact details, testimonials, contact information with your phone number and address, your head-shot picture… Give them whatever you can to increase believability.
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