Business benefits
Quantify the persuasive power of your existing copy and identify improvement opportunities.
Create a spreadsheet with columns for Conversion requirement, Relevant funnel pages, Checklist item, Score, Details, and Potential solution.
The CXL teardown checklist is a useful template.
- Conversion requirement: The core goal your visitors have at each step of the journey.
- Relevant funnel pages: Where the conversion requirement is addressed.
- Checklist item: UX elements that typically need to be in place for the visitor to progress in the sales funnel.
- Score: 0 (not done), 1 (needs improvement), or 2 (executed well).
- Details: Explain the reasoning for each score.
- Potential solution: Make recommendations for improvements.
In the Conversion requirement column, add rows for Orient upon entrance, Appeal to user motivation, Convey unique value, Establish credibility, Address objections/fears, Present the offer, and Form design.
In the Required funnel pages column, enter the funnel pages best suited or needed to achieve each of the Conversion requirement goals.
On the funnel pages you have identified, score each checklist item from 0-2.
- 0: Not done
- 1: Needs improvement
- 2: Executed well
A combination of these three established principles can help you judge your copy:
- MECLab’s Conversion Sequence Heuristic, which defines the probability of conversion as a factor of audience motivation, the clarity of your value proposition, the incentive for your audience to act in relation to the friction it takes to act, and the anxiety your audience may have about converting.
- Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Persuasion, which include social proof, authority, likability, scarcity or urgency, reciprocity, commitment, and unity.
- Claude Hopkins’ Rules of Scientific Advertising, which include being specific, offering service for your audience, telling the full story, and treating the copy as if it were a salesperson.
For items scored 0 or 1, add details that explain the reasoning behind your score in the Details column.
For items scored 0 or 1, recommend modifications in the Potential solution column.
For example, you can suggest making copy more persuasive by adding social proof and more specific by eliminating filler words.
Repeat this process with the elements that come before and after your sales copy in your sales funnel. Include attention-capturing, persuasive, transactional, and confirmation copy.
Include these elements in your teardown for a more comprehensive evaluation of your audience’s buyer journey.
- Attention-capturing copy on SERP snippets and digital ads.
- Persuasive copy on your home page, landing pages, and product detail pages.
- Transactional copy on your shopping cart pages, order summaries, and checkout pages.
- Confirmation copy for your payment success message and first-time UX copy.