3 Essential Elements of a High Converting Sales Page
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Even though our collective attention span is that of a gnat these days, the long-form sales page somehow still endures. It’s still necessary to give people all the information about a product, even if they don’t read most of it. There’s a psychological aspect to this kind of page - the longer it is, the better the product must be. That’s one reason they seem to still work.
Sales pages for anything need to be a good read, not just a place for information. Since they are so long, they have to hold the reader’s attention at least enough that they get the important stuff. They need to effectively communicate the value of a product, not just what’s included with it. And they need to be designed so that they are easy to follow because most people will skim the copy. So it needs to be sectioned in a way that helps the reader know where they are.
A confused mind says no almost 100% of the time.
Before I started designing Squarespace templates, I spent years helping clients build their courses and the marketing elements that go with them. And I realized that the sales page was one of the hardest parts of the whole process. Clients knew what their course did and the value of it, but they had trouble putting that into words. If you’re not a writer, it can be difficult to craft a narrative story that is interesting enough to get people to stay.
So I set out to help them by creating a framework for the long-form sales page. Something they could follow that told them what to write and when. Not a fill-in-the-blank template (no one needs those). Instead, I wanted to give them prompts and the theory behind each section so it made sense to them. After a few years of using and refining it, I have a framework that flows and helps clients write copy that communicates the purpose of their product. It’s called The Digital Product Sales Page Workbook and it’s a Google doc so you have everything you need in one place.
I don’t think you need a long sales page for every product. If your product is $97, you can get away with something shorter as long as it effectively communicates what the product is and the value it would add for the buyer.
But if your product is $2000? That’s gonna require more. It’s a harder sell so you need to really drive home the problem it solves and why it’s effective. Higher prices require more convincing because the risk is higher for the customer. That’s where the Workbook comes in handy.
A long sales page is broken down into three primary sections (there’s a lot more to it, but these three sections are the core of the page).
I describe them in terms of the story you’re telling.
SECTION 1: THE FRICTION
Every good story needs some friction. That’s what the main characters are fighting against throughout the story. It’s the thing they have to overcome.
In the case of an online course or some other digital product, your friction is the problem your customers have. That’s what brought them to the page in the first place. They have a problem and they are looking for a solution. They don’t really care what form it takes. They aren’t necessarily looking for a course. They just want to solve their problem quickly.
So your job is to help them understand that you know what that problem is. You get it. Maybe you’ve solved it already for clients. Maybe you had this problem yourself. Whatever the case, you have to help your readers feel confident that you understand their problem. You aren’t just trying to sell them something. It’s coming from a place of actually wanting to be helpful.
You’re talking to your audience like humans, not customers. Empathizing with their issue. Helping them see that you’re genuinely interested in getting them a solution. You don’t have to be overly emotional or sappy here. The tone of this section is gonna depend on your audience, your personality and the product you’re selling.
SECTION 2: THE RESOLUTION
Before you can talk about how you’re gonna solve the problem, you have to tell your readers that you understand what solution they need. You’ve solved this problem already. You know exactly what to do - and it’s effective. Proven. You know it works because you’ve seen it work.
This has to come before you introduce your product. Your product is the how. It’s the thing that gets them the solution. But if they don’t think you can actually solve the problem, why do they need to buy your product? Your readers need to be convinced that the solution you’re offering works like you say it does. And that requires you to show them.
That can come in the form of case studies. Testimonials. Your own story. How can you demonstrate that you have a real solution to their problem and not just some made up bullshit with good marketing? I see so many people complaining online that they bought someone’s product only to discover that it was all smoke and mirrors. It had great marketing, but nothing useful. Years of that have made consumers in this space weary of courses and digital products.
That’s a lot to overcome. But if your product does what it promises and you’re confident about that, you should be able to easily explain the solution you’re offering. The Digital Product Sales Page Workbook gives you all the prompts you need to do that.
SECTION 3: THE DELIVERY OF YOUR SOLUTION
You’ve communicated the problem, described the solution and now it’s time to talk about how your customers are gonna get that solution. This is where you introduce your product.
It’s not enough to say “Here’s my amazing product with the snappy title go buy it!” There’s still a lot of writing to do.
You need to tell people exactly what you’re selling and exactly what’s in it. There will be people in your audience who really care about the details. They will want to know everything. So tell them.
If it’s a course, what’s the progression? What will they learn? How will they be able to implement it?
This doesn’t mean you have to get so granular that you start talking about things in numbers - 10 videos, 13 worksheets, etc. You don’t need to quantify everything like that. Instead, talk about the modules and what’s in them.
“In Module 2, you’ll learn…”
“By the end of Module 4, you will be able to…”
Help them imagine getting your solution and implementing it to solve their problem. Help them imagine the real progress they can make.
People don’t buy courses and products. They buy solutions in the form of courses and products. So sell your product in terms of the solution it provides and the way that solution is delivered.
Those are the three core parts that every sales page needs. And then there are the supplemental elements that go around them to build out a full page.
EXTRA: YOUR BEST TESTIMONIALS
Once you have explained your product, you’ll want to follow that with evidence that it works. But one of my biggest pet peeves is filling a page with endless testimonials. I personally skip them all when I’m reading a sales page. I might glance at one or two, but I’m not reading 20 testimonials. So many factors go into how a product works for someone and while testimonials can be a great way to prove you’ve made sales, they aren’t necessarily effective at proving your solution.
What works for one person may not work for another.
So I always recommended to my course clients that they only choose the best testimonials. Use them strategically to break up the page. More is not always better.
EXTRA: TALK ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
After you’ve covered the three core parts of your product’s story, there’s still more you can add to flesh out the page. Obviously, if you have bonuses or extras that customers should know about, that has to come next. You don’t need bonuses to sell a course - they have just become so common that we think we need to include a bunch of extras to incentivize the sale.
But bonuses should add something substantial to the experience. They should help customers implement what they learn in your lessons. They should be an extension of your solution, not a replacement for it. If people buy your product just for the bonuses, that’s a bad sign. I did that once on a big product and the main course turned out to be a dud while the bonus was actually helpful. I never bought from that person again.
Part of the experience your customer gets includes you. Yes, you. Because it’s your voice they will hear throughout the course. It’s ultimately you they trust, which is why they bought your product. You have to be on your sales page.
I think a promo video is a great asset to include if you can. Not essential, but it’s a great first impression. It introduces people to your personality and style of teaching. But you can always just do a written bio, that’s perfectly fine.
WRAP IT UP WITH A BANG
A sales page can’t just end. You’ve written all that copy just to have it… stop? No way. You need to put a nice bow on it. Give it a natural ending.
I like the concise summary. Your page explains a lot about your product, maybe too much to take in all at once. But a summary gives your reader a place to get a snapshot of what they are buying. Yes, the story is important. But ultimately, they are buying a product with stuff in it. They need to fully understand what that stuff is. You could put numerical value on it - the amount all the items are valued at separately. But I’m not a fan of this because value is subjective and often those numbers are totally made up.
Sell your product on the impact it has. That’s the real value. Grab The Digital Product Sales Page Workbook to help you write that story.
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