Is There Cash in Flash?

If you've been shopping at all for web page templates or for page editing software, I'm sure you've noticed the increasing frequency with which flash animation, various java scripts, music files, and many other bells and whistles get added to web sites. But do these things do any good?

In the case of most business-oriented or sales-oriented web sites, probably not. In fact, they most likely do more harm than good.

While your site has to be visually pleasing, and professional in appearance so as not to drive visitors away before they've been exposed to your product, for the most part, it is the WORDS that sell, not the fancy graphics and sound files. Think about it. The last time you bought a product, was it because you thought the vendor's site was cute, or was it because what you read about the product convinced you that it would benefit you?

WORDS are what sells products. Words that stir human emotions. Words that convince people they need what you're selling, or that they will benefit in some way. Words that make your site visitor feel that your page was written just for him or her. Words that compel. Words that call people to action.

An interesting variation on the written word is the use of embedded sound files on web sites. I've received e-mails from several people who have tried out the use of sound files, and they all report that the sound file tends to increase sales by several percentage points or more.

The tests I'm thinking of all involved sound files that repeated the product guarantee to the visitor, and in some cases also included a brief summary of the benefits of the product, or perhaps a brief testimonial.

Some basic guidelines for web site design that we've all seen repeated over and over tend to back up this point, from an entirely different perspective. Many professionals indicate that web site visitors tend to make up their minds within the first ten to at most twenty seconds of viewing a page whether or not to stay and further explore a site. So what does that tell us? We have only around ten seconds to capture a visitor's attention!

Fancy graphics which cause your pages to require more than ten seconds to load all but guarantee that many of your visitors will never see your page. Instead, they'll get tired of waiting and leave before the page ever loads. A home page cluttered with flashing banners and obvious advertisements probably drives away far more visitors than it attracts.

Your headline may well be the most important words on your page, as that is the first (and maybe the only) thing that any visitor will see. Many people believe that the vast majority of the factors influencing the impact your page has on a site visitor revolve around the headline alone.

A page needs to be designed so that the most important words stand out in some way ... bullets, major and minor headlines, and short, to-the-point paragraphs with lots of white space around them.

Whether written as text, or written as the script for an audio file, your words MUST be persuasive, or your business will eventually fail. Pretty web pages won't sell products. Fancy graphics won't sell products. Great products do not "sell themselves" by magic.

WORDS sell products, plain and simple. To sell more, learn to write better.

Learn more about writing for the internet and grab a copy of a free ebook that will entirely change your perspective about the power of words.

One of the very best resources I've ever found for learning about the power of words comes from a man who is regarded by many as a true master of persuasive writing. His name is Ken Evoy, and the product is Make Your Words Sell.

In the same class as Ken is Joe "Mr Fire" Vitale, who has written extensively about "hypnotic" writing and sales techniques. Check out his entire library.