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Sales Page Lay Out When Working For A Client

by Daedalus15
14 replies
I have been focusing on finding clients who have a poor sales page and offering to redo it for them. After I redo it, I feel like the copy is better but the lay out is still extremely unappealing. What I have been doing is typing up the new sales page in Microsoft Word, and they have pretty much been putting this plain document up on their website hoping it will convert more.

Is there a better way to write a sales page for a client so that you have a little more control of the lay out? I am not talking about becoming an expert in Photoshop or webdesign. What I would like to be able to do is make the testimonies stand out more (different color background), different bullets, and more eye catching headline fonts.

I am hoping that someone has a different answer then lay out is a web designers job.
#client #lay #page #sales #working
  • Profile picture of the author Bruce Wedding
    Originally Posted by Daedalus15 View Post

    I have been focusing on finding clients who have a poor sales page and offering to redo it for them. After I redo it, I feel like the copy is better but the lay out is still extremely unappealing. What I have been doing is typing up the new sales page in Microsoft Word, and they have pretty much been putting this plain document up on their website hoping it will convert more.

    Is there a better way to write a sales page for a client so that you have a little more control of the lay out? I am not talking about becoming an expert in Photoshop or webdesign. What I would like to be able to do is make the testimonies stand out more (different color background), different bullets, and more eye catching headline fonts.

    I am hoping that someone has a different answer then lay out is a web designers job.
    So you want the layout to look more appealing but you don't want to do the layout? Is that about right?

    If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. The HTML is godawful, but Word will paste into HTML. My actual suggestion is to download Trillian Web and learn some simple layout skills.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daedalus15
    Thank you I will check out Trillian Web. It is not that I do not want to do the lay out, I am just not sure how to do it when it is not my website. I wanted to make it clear that I am not trying to learn how to become a web designer because I didn't want a a bunch of comments telling me to hire someone.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bruce Wedding
      Originally Posted by Daedalus15 View Post

      Thank you I will check out Trillian Web. It is not that I do not want to do the lay out, I am just not sure how to do it when it is not my website. I wanted to make it clear that I am not trying to learn how to become a web designer because I didn't want a a bunch of comments telling me to hire someone.
      Actually, I misspelled it. Trellian Web Page. It's as easy as using Word and just deliver an HTML file instead of a doc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daedalus15
    Thank you... I gave up searching for it last night because I was tired. This is exactly what I was looking for.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Scott
    Hire a designer. If you can find one who knows their stuff it makes life so much easier.

    -Daniel

    EDIT: My bad. Just realized the OP specifically asked for an answer that was NOT this. But I left it up for the sake of context.
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    Always looking for badass direct-response copywriters. PM me if we don't know each other and you're looking for work.

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  • Profile picture of the author RickDuris
    Originally Posted by Daedalus15 View Post

    I am hoping that someone has a different answer then lay out is a web designers job.
    Unfortunately, a different answer isn't a better answer. Hire an expert. Too much is at stake not to.

    You'd be surprised how a great design can bring out the best in your copy. Just look at winning WSOs for a clue. Or ask Clayton Makepeace. By the same token, an obvious amateur-looking design can detract from your message and suppress conversions.

    Is that really what you want?

    - Rick Duris
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  • Profile picture of the author ThomasOMalley
    Rick and Daniel are so right. Why waste your time on design issues when this is not your area of expertise?

    If your clients expect you to do this work as well as the copy, you can rest assured that your clients have a very small budget, if any budget at all, and aren't worth working for in the first place.

    The old adage applies: Jack of all trades and master of none.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bruce Wedding
    I disagree with a few of the responses.

    There is a big difference between design skills and know what to emphasize. At a minimum, a copywriter should give clues to the designer about what needs what. But there are good copywriters who are also good designers. I don't mean the type who can create a glass button in Photoshop from memory, but the type that can make a very clean layout with the copy properly emphasized.

    You want an example? Mr. Subtle. World class designer and world class copywriter (though seldom recognized for it).
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    • Profile picture of the author Daedalus15
      Originally Posted by Bruce Wedding View Post


      At a minimum, a copywriter should give clues to the designer about what needs what
      This is exactly how I feel.

      When I just sending clients word documents I felt like I was doing a bad job at communicating what parts of the copy I wanted to emphasize.

      I agree that the best option is to hire a designer, but it didn't help me with this problem which is why I was asking if there were any other options.

      Trellian is great. It is exactly what I was looking for. It is simple to use and learn. And even though my page is not top quality, it gives a much clearer idea on how I want the message to be delivered.

      Thanks a lot Bruce.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daedalus15
    Originally Posted by jacksarloks View Post

    Just edit the website yourself you're the boss now. Use komposer, download the webpage and do your thing.
    Komposer looks like an interesting product. I am going to have to check it out. Thank you.
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    • Profile picture of the author copystud
      Originally Posted by Daedalus15 View Post

      Komposer looks like an interesting product. I am going to have to check it out. Thank you.
      I can vouch for Komposer's ease-of-use too. I'm a Linux-guy and was turned on to this tool a few years back.

      It's great for doing basic things, like downloading a page with the basic layout you like, and tweaking the design to suit your client's needs.
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      Need quality Hummingbird-friendly content from a real writer?

      Site: copystud.com
      Skype: copystud
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Ludgater
    Originally Posted by Daedalus15 View Post

    What I would like to be able to do is make the testimonies stand out more (different color background), different bullets, and more eye catching headline fonts.
    I had a lot of experience in web design before getting into copywriting.

    If you have a little time to invest, consider learning the basics of CSS and a couple bits of HTML... just the stuff immediately relevant to what you need.

    It won't take long at all, you can figure it all out in a couple hours if you focus.

    A testimonial box can be as simple as...
    HTML Code:
    <div style="background-color:#B9E8F0; border: 1px #369AAB solid;
padding: 20px; width:500px;">Testimonial here...</div>
    The above HTML will display as a lighter blue box with a darker border. Try it!

    For bullets, the easy way is to just use tables with the bullet images in the first column and the text in the second. Just make sure you hide the borders.

    As for headline fonts, there are heaps of great fonts to choose from, especially with all the ones Google has available now...

    And you can add outlines, drop shadows, change letter spacing and all that quite easily with some basic CSS too.
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  • Profile picture of the author RogozRazvan
    Yes, this usually happens.

    The good part is that you can become more appealing to your clients by also formatting the copy. The bad part is that it takes time, at least it took for me and I'd rather spend 3 hours writing than using Dreamweaver and Photoshop.

    What you can do is use a simple sales page template, no photos, standard fonts and provide the copy in that format. It's not the best you can do but it will come at no extra cost for the client and it's usually better than copy / paste.

    You can find a few good templates at themeforest.com. Most of them are specialized towards some kind of copy or market but if you delete all the elements but those that are a must, you'll have a great template for using your copy.

    I don't know how legal this is though from a legal point of view.

    Good luck,
    Razvan
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