Conversion copy

What conversion copy is

Conversion copy is the rewriting of a page that already gets visitors but does not get the action it was built for: the booking, the quote request, the signup, the sale. It keeps the page, keeps the subject, and changes the words that decide whether a reader acts, then measures the new version against the old one.

It is not a page rewrite. A rewrite fixes a page that is wrong, dated or unreadable throughout. Conversion copy assumes the page is broadly right and the reader still leaves, and goes looking for the reason. It is also not a new landing page; that is a fresh page for one campaign, built without the navigation.

When you need one

You need this when a page has a job, has visitors, and is not doing the job. The usual signs: a service page that people read and then leave, a quote form that is visited far more than it is submitted, a pricing page after which inquiries stop, or a signup page that ads keep sending people to at a cost you can see and a return you cannot.

You do not need it if the page has almost no visitors. Rewriting a page nobody reads changes nothing, and the money is better spent on advertising copy or on being found through search content first. You also do not need it if the page is wrong about what you sell; that is a rewrite, and I will say so after the first call.

What gets looked at

I read the page the way a first-time visitor does, on a phone, arriving from wherever your visitors actually arrive from, and I write down where it loses me. Then I check that reading against whatever data you have: how far people scroll, what they click, where they leave, and what they typed into the form when they did get that far.

The page is then judged on five things, in this order, because a fault in an earlier one makes the later ones irrelevant.

• The headline. Does a stranger know within one line what this is, who it is for, and why they should keep reading?
• The offer. Is it stated? Most pages describe a service in detail and never say what the reader gets, what it costs, and what happens when they click.
• The proof. Is there evidence that someone else has bought this and was glad? Named reviews, specific results with a source, logos, a case study. Adjectives do not count.
• The objections. What is the reader worried about, and does the page answer it before they have to ask? Price, time, risk, "will this work for a business like mine".
• The ask. One action, named plainly, placed where the reader is ready for it, with a button that says what happens next rather than "Submit".

What you get

The rewritten page. Delivered as a document with the copy in order, section by section, with a note beside each change saying what was wrong and what the new version is meant to fix. Your developer or your own people paste it in; if you would rather I did, that is content entry.

Two alternative headlines and two alternative calls to action. The page ships with one of each, and the alternatives are there to test against it, because I cannot promise which will win and neither can anyone else.

A one-page test plan. What to measure, how long to run it, and what result would mean the new copy has done its job. Written so the person who owns the page can run it without me.

A worked example

An illustration, not a client. A residential electrician has a page for panel upgrades that gets a steady stream of visitors from a directory listing. The page has a quote form. The form is submitted about once a week, and the owner knows from the phone that far more people are asking about panel upgrades than that.

The page opens with a paragraph about the company's history. The word "cost" does not appear. The form has nine fields, including one asking for the make of the existing panel, which most homeowners cannot answer without going to the basement. The rewrite puts a one-line headline at the top saying what a panel upgrade is for and that quotes are free and same-week; adds a paragraph giving the typical price range and what changes it; cuts the form to four fields; and changes the button from "Submit" to "Get my quote". The test plan counts submitted forms over the following six weeks against the six before. That is the whole job: one page, five changes, one number.

How it runs

1. A half-hour call. Which page, what it is supposed to do, and how you know it is not doing it. No charge.
2. A fixed price in writing. One page or several, the number of revision rounds, and the measure of success, all in one short document before anything starts.
3. Reading and data. You give me read access to analytics and any form or heat-map data you have. Two or three working days.
4. The draft. The rewritten page with its notes, five to seven working days after the call. You read it and tell me what will not work in your business.
5. The final copy and the test plan. One round of revisions is included. Then a short call with whoever will put it live and run the test.

One to two weeks from first call to final copy for a single page is typical.

What it costs

Conversion copy is quoted as a fixed price in CAD after the half-hour call. The price depends on how many pages are in scope, how long each one is, and whether you have data I can read or I have to work from the page alone. The number is agreed in writing before I start and does not change unless you change the scope. The pricing page explains how quoting works for services without a published band.

What happens next

Once the test has run, most people do one of three things. They apply the same treatment to the next page down the list, usually the signup or checkout screen. They fix the page that sends the visitors, which is often the ad making a promise the page did not keep. Or they discover that the page is fine and the offer is the problem, and we go back to offer copy. Any of the three is a reasonable next step, and none is assumed.