High Performance Web Sites or Web Copy That Sells

High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Frontend Engineers

Author: Steve Souders

Want your web site to display more quickly? This book presents 14 specific rules that will cut 25% to 50% off response time when users request a page. Author Steve Souders, in his job as Chief Performance Yahoo!, collected these best practices while optimizing some of the most-visited pages on the Web. Even sites that had already been highly optimized, such as Yahoo! Search and the Yahoo! Front Page, were able to benefit from these surprisingly simple performance guidelines. The rules in High Performance Web Sites explain how you can optimize the performance of the Ajax, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, and images that you've already built into your site—adjustments that are critical for any rich web application. Other sources of information pay a lot of attention to tuning web servers, databases, and hardware, but the bulk of display time is taken up on the browser side and by the communication between server and browser. High Performance Web Sites covers every aspect of that process. Each performance rule is supported by specific examples, and code snippets are available on the book's companion web site. The rules include how to: Make Fewer HTTP Requests Use a Content Delivery Network Add an Expires Header Gzip Components Put Stylesheets at the Top Put Scripts at the Bottom Avoid CSS Expressions Make JavaScript and CSS External Reduce DNS Lookups Minify JavaScript Avoid Redirects Remove Duplicates Scripts Configure ETags Make Ajax Cacheable If you're building pages for high traffic destinations and want to optimize the experience of users visiting your site, this book is indispensable. "If everyone would implement just 20% of Steve's guidelines, the Web would be a dramaticallybetter place.Between this book and Steve's YSlow extension, there's really no excuse for having a sluggish web site anymore." -Joe Hewitt, Developer of Firebug debugger and Mozilla's DOM Inspector "Steve Souders has done a fantastic job of distilling a massive, semi-arcane art down to a set of concise, actionable, pragmatic engineering steps that will change the world of web performance." -Eric Lawrence, Developer of the Fiddler Web Debugger, Microsoft Corporation

Interesting book: The Delta Project or Exercise Workbook for Beginning AutoCAD 2007

Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time

Author: Maria Veloso

In order for a Web site to sell effectively, it must appeal to the unique culture, mindset, and psychology of the Web. Simply put, what works in the brick-and-mortar world does not necessarily grab Web shoppers. Companies selling products and services online need to promote their wares with engaging copy that grabs attention and compels Web site visitors to buy.

Web Copy That Sells presents copy strategies that have been proven time and again in the e-commerce arena. Maria Veloso, perhaps the most widely acclaimed Web copywriter in the world, reveals her revolutionary approach based on five simple questions, which, when answered, make the copy practically write itself. Veloso crams all the information from her 12-hour, $997 live seminars into a comprehensive book that will help any Web copywriter:

• write sizzling and irresistible Web copy, e-mails, and marketing communications
• quickly turn lackluster sites into "perpetual money machines"
• use Neuro-Linguistic Programming and psychological tactics to compel Web surfers to buy
• avoid the top three blunders that can wipe out your sales
• convert up to 50% of online prospects into paying customers
• and more!

Author Biography: Maria Veloso (Los Angeles, CA) is Director of Web Copywriting University and the former Director of Creative Web Writing for Aesop.com, a major Internet marketing company.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	xv
	Acknowledgment	xxi
	Introduction	1
1	Getting Started: The Dynamics of Web Selling	9
	Three Fundamental Rules for Writing Web Copy that Sells	10
Rule 1	Don't Make Your Website Look Like an Ad	11
Rule 2	Stop Readers Dead in Their Tracks	13
Rule 3	Capture E-Mail Addresses	16
	The First Look	19
	Web Copy Dos and Don'ts	22
	Reading on the Web	26
	Words Tell, Emotion Sells	28
	How to Become a Great Web Copywriter in Five Hours or Less	31
2	A Simple Blueprint for Writing Killer Web Copy	33
	Creating the Blueprint: Five Simple Questions You Must Ask	36
Question 1	What Is the Problem?	36
Question 2	Why Hasn't the Problem Been Solved?	37
Question 3	What Is Possible?	38
Question 4	What Is Different Now?	38
Question 5	What Should You Do Now?	39
	The Anatomy of the Blueprint	39
	Putting the Blueprint to Work: Five Easy Steps to Making Your Web Copy Sell	46
Step 1	Inject Emotion	46
Step 2	Add Bullet Points, Bonuses, Guarantee, and Close	49
Step 3	Add Credibility-Building Elements	54
Step 4	Add Psychological Devices	56
Step 5	Replace Rational Words with Emotional Words	57
	Reinforcing the Framework: A Summary	60
3	From Prospects to Purchasers: The Psychological Motivators	63
	The "Reason Why" Device	64
	The Zeigarnik Effect	65
	The Cliffhanger	67
	Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)	67
	Embedded Commands	68
	Presuppositions	70
	Linguistic Binds	73
	Reframing	75
	The Commitment/Consistency Element of Influence	77
	Cognitive Dissonance	78
	Involvement Devices That Multiply Sales	81
	Involvement Devices and the Recovery Principle	86
4	Crafting Your Copy	91
	Constructing Your Web Copy	92
	The AIDA Principle	92
	The Unique Selling Proposition	94
	Making an Impression: The First Paragraph	96
	The Offer You Can't Refuse	97
	Testimonials: It Can Happen to You	99
	Talking About Money: How to Introduce the Price	100
	Minor-Purchase Technique	100
	Daily-Cost Technique	101
	Keep on Selling: Writing the Order Form	102
	The Money-Back Guarantee: A Deal Maker	103
	The Close: Signing on the Dotted Line	105
	Call to Action	106
	Get a Calling Card: The Opt-In Mechanism	106
	How to Construct a Riveting Headline	107
	What's in a Headline?	109
	The Building Blocks of Winning Web Headlines	110
	Choosing Your Words: Tips, Terms, and Concepts	114
	Words to Avoid in Your Web Copy	115
	Words to Use in Your Web Copy	117
	Dos and Don't of Web Copywriting	120
	The Long and Short of It: How Long Should Web Copy Be?	126
	How Well Does Your Website Sell?	128
	Formula for Mathematically Measuring the Selling Quotient of Web Copy	129
5	E-Mail Marketing: The Internet's Killer Application	135
	Traffic Conversion: Turning Visitors into Customers	136
	Wagging the Website	137
	Why Your E-Mail May Be More Important Than Your Website	139
	The Frame-of-Mind Marketing Method for Writing E-Mails	143
	Breaking the Sales Barrier	146
	The Future of E-Mail Marketing	147
	How to Make Sure Your E-Mail Is Delivered	149
	How to Avoid the Spam Blockers	150
	Does Your E-Mail Test Positive as Spam?	152
	How to Write E-Mail That's Read	152
	Seven Elements of E-Mails That Sell	153
	Put the Competitive Edge into Your E-Mail Marketing	164
	Adapt as Your Audience's Frame of Mind Changes	166
	Using E-Mail to Get Attention	167
	What Really Works on the Internet Sometimes Doesn't	170
6	Online Marketing Communications: It's What You do After People Visit Your Website that Counts	173
	The Opt-In Offer: Your Most Important Asset	174
	Five Keys to an Opt-In Offer That's Impossible to Refuse	176
	Presenting the Offer	179
	How to Write Irresistible Autoresponder E-Mails	179
	Quick Primer on Autoresponders	179
	Crafting Autoresponses to Your Opt-In Offer	180
	Crafting Autoresponses to Customers	182
	How to Format Your E-Mails for Optimum Readability	183
	How to Write Free Reports and Promotional Articles	184
	Guidelines for Writing Newsletters and E-Zines	186
	Guidelines for Writing Online Ads, Signature Files, and Banner Copy	188
	Three Tips for Writing Online Ads	190
7	Last But Not Least: Tying It All Together	193
	Track It, Fix It: What to Do When Web Copy Is Not Working	194
	Four Steps to Web Copywriting Success	198
	Track Your Results	200
	Traffic Generation: Getting the Word Out and the Visitors In	203
	Search Engine Positioning	203
	Pay-per-Click Search Engines	205
	Linking Strategies	206
	E-Zines and Newsletters	208
	Index	211