Most publishers treat copy as a creative exercise. They polish sentences, hit publish, and wonder why revenue per click stays flat. The data tells a different story: conversion is a system. Every headline, button, product display, and email subject line has one job on the assembly line. Miss that job at any step and the whole funnel underperforms.
I’ve been running affiliate sites for over nine years. Traffic was never the hard part. Getting readers to take the next step was. Conversion copywriting is how operators close that gap. It is copy written to move someone toward a specific action, backed by research, tested in the wild, and refined until the numbers move. This post covers what that looks like in practice, how it differs from sales copy and SEO writing, and five tactics you can apply on pages that already rank.
Updated 2026.
1What Is Conversion Copywriting?
Conversion copywriting is copy written to get you to take a specific action. It is a data-driven, three-part process involving research, writing, and testing.
The single goal is to optimize your online conversions (aka conversion rate optimization, or CRO) using many disciplines, including user experience (UX) design, data analytics, and direct response.
Copyhackers founder Joanna Wiebe coined the term and defined it as “moving the reader to ‘yes’ using voice-of-customer data, frameworks, and proven persuasion techniques.”
Conversions come in all shapes and sizes. A homepage button, an email subject line, a product display CTA. Each piece has a different job. One may need to earn a click while another needs to get opened.
Everything depends on its role in getting your reader to “yes.”
One way to tell whether your copy converts is to use the Assembly Line technique (more on that below).
A foundational principle of conversion copywriting is knowing how all of the small events lead to a sale. Nobody lands on your website and immediately buys from you without knowing who you are. A relationship must develop first.
These small actions leading to your audience reaching for their wallets are known as micro conversions.
When you take your readers on this journey, they are not the same person they were from when they subscribed to your newsletter to signing up for a trial to becoming paying customers.
They have changed. A conversion copywriter’s job is to sell them on that change and how your product or service is the answer they have been searching for.
Expert conversion copywriter Ry Schwartz phrased it best:
We hard sell the TRANSFORMATION so we can soft sell the thing that provides it. Your customer’s response will only be as strong as the questions that elicit it.
Every piece of content sells some form of knowledge or expertise to your reader while positioning you as the solution.
For operators building at scale, this is infrastructure thinking, not wordplay. We have seen the same pattern across high-earning affiliate sites. Two publishers target the same keyword with similar traffic. One converts at 8%. The other converts at 2%. The gap is almost never domain authority. It is copy that matches reader intent at each stage of awareness.
Further Reading:
-
11 Swipeable Call to Action Examples (+ Tips for Crafting the Perfect One)
-
Your 11-Step Kick-Ass Guide to Effective Website Copywriting
2What Does A Copywriter Do?
Copywriters help improve your online marketing with their writing. Their job is to make your content shareable, memorable, and desirable, with the ultimate goal of increased sales or conversions.
Whether it is a social media post, a sales page, or a video script, great copywriting will boost your business’s bottom line.
They also spend a significant amount of time researching your customer. Knowing their pain points, desires, and dreams helps copywriters craft compelling copy that moves your reader to “yes.”
At Lasso, we treat this research phase as seriously as product development. Before we rewrite a display or a CTA, we pull voice-of-customer language from surveys, support tickets, and review mining. The copy that wins is rarely the copy we guessed. It is the copy that mirrors how customers already describe the problem.
Use Their Own Language to Boost Engagement
Using your readers’ language is a powerful tool when it comes to writing text that sells. Unless you can tell them why they need you, you are out of business.
You can find your audience’s language in several places, including:
-
Amazon product reviews
-
Reddit and Quora threads
-
Customer surveys
-
Review sites (e.g., G2.com or Product Hunt)
Advanced Tip: Use this specific review mining search operator to find your reader’s pain points when using Amazon: site:amazon.com inurl:product-reviews “tired of” [keyword]
For example, here is one using the keyword “headaches.”
Click on any one of those search results to discover how your audience talks about a product (or symptom).
If you have ever read a product review or a Reddit thread, you know people are not shy about sharing their feelings.
Recognizing what stage your audience is at along the journey will help when creating content. Legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz talks about knowing their “stages of awareness.”
Here is a breakdown of what that looks like:
-
Problem-aware: Realizes there is a problem but unaware of the solution
-
Solution-aware: Knows the desired outcome wanted, but not that you provide it
-
Product-aware: Knows what you offer but unsure whether it is for them
-
Most-aware: Recognizes your product, ready to buy, and easier to convert with persuasion principles.
Once you know where they are at, you can speak to their problems by translating features into benefits. Show your audience how they can achieve their desired outcome using your product or service.
Today, there is more to a copywriter’s job than writing ad copy, as you saw in the T.V. show, Mad Men. The best operators map each content type to an awareness stage. A blog post may serve problem-aware readers. A comparison page serves product-aware readers who need a nudge. A product display on a review post serves most-aware readers who are one click from buying.
Conversion Copywriting vs. Sales Copywriting vs. SEO Content Writing
While sales copy focuses on the end-result of making a purchase or “sale,” conversion copy focuses on a single action. And an SEO content writer’s job is to drive traffic.
Typically, the person visiting your blog versus the person reading your sales page is in two different stages of awareness.
The blog post reader is likely there for information while the sales page reader is close to buying.
SEO content marketing uses keyword research, internal links, title tag optimization, and other tactics to make your site visible to search engines. Our post on SEO copywriting strategies goes deeper on balancing search visibility with persuasive on-page copy.
User Tip: For details about measuring content marketing, read this Tweet thread from Tim Soulo.
So, if your singular focus is writing content that persuades people to buy (e.g., your online course page), sales copy is the way to go.
Conversion copywriting’s goal is moving that qualified traffic along the buyer’s journey.
Consider the source: you could create a social media post to drive traffic to a product roundup, then a comparison page, then a review with a strong display CTA. Each one of those actions is a single goal in your funnel.
Perhaps your welcome email introduces the reader to your service’s value proposition, tailored to a specific way you can help. If your messaging is correct, they sign up for a trial or click through to a monetized page.
The implication is clear: SEO brings readers in. Conversion copy moves them forward. Sales copy closes. You need all three, but you cannot swap one for another and expect the same result.
3How Do You Write Copy That Converts? (5 Tips)
There are several ways you can increase the chances of your copy converting. Here are five we return to when optimizing affiliate pages across our portfolio and on Lasso customer sites.
1. Try Value-Based Messaging
Instead of pointing out your product’s features, call out the ways it will improve your customer’s life.
For example, people do not want to hear about your car’s Collision Mitigation Braking System; they want to know their family’s safe behind the wheel.
Translate every feature into a benefit that serves your customer.
Tip: Start by asking this question with every product feature: What is the desired outcome (or, why should they care?)
On affiliate sites, this shows up everywhere. “Amazon API integration” is a feature. “Update every broken link in one click” is a benefit. “Product display grid” is a feature. “Turn a skimming reader into a buyer before they bounce” is a benefit. The operators who win write benefits first and mention features as proof.
We wrote about a related pattern in our guide on using a secondary CTA button to improve conversion rate. When the primary button speaks to value and the secondary handles objection, click-through rates move without adding traffic.
2. Use “Call-to-Value” Buttons
Piggy-backing off of value-based messaging is your CTA buttons. Harry Dry at Marketing Examples says to think “call-to-value,” not “call-to-action.” Instead of making them generic, highlight the benefit your users get for taking action.
For example, instead of saying “Get Started” on your call-to-action:
Say “Build My Site”:
Tell them what they are signing up for, buying, or subscribing to. Get them excited. Your CTA should make a more substantial impact when it answers the question “WIIFM?”
Generic buttons are conversion leaks. “Learn More” tells the reader nothing about what happens next. “Compare These Three Vacuums” tells them exactly what they get. On affiliate pages, program-required language sometimes limits you. Work within those constraints by putting value in the headline and surrounding copy, not only the button label.
3. Write Like Your Customers Talk
Write using voice-of-customer (VOC). We mentioned this earlier when talking about review mining. When you are speaking their language, they are more likely to listen.
Places like Amazon, Reddit, and Quora are excellent starting points. Find wherever your audience hangs out and go there. Asking your customers for feedback is another.
It works well because:
-
You are deepening the relationship
-
Hearing what they think in their words
We get:
-
“trying to make long blog posts more interesting without filling them with stock images.”
-
“Other tools that just cloak the link do not do any more than my current redirection plugin.”
Or this:
This person was:
-
“Frustrated that every product seems to have a different affiliate system to manage it.”
-
“Forever logging in to get my links.”
Or this response:
“Sometimes an Amazon display box, but I never felt they looked very modern.”
If I were creating a blog post for affiliate marketers who are Amazon Associates, I could use terms like these for my intro:
Trying to make long blog posts more interesting without filling them with stock images? Even worse, you would like to add a product box, but Amazon’s do not look very modern…
Getting this feedback from our customers is a goldmine of information when creating blog posts and webpage copy.
When you are searching for your customer’s pain points, look for terms like:
-
Tired of
-
Struggle with
-
Trying to
-
Frustrated that/with
Tip: Try using “command + F” (on a Mac) and enter one of the above terms next time you are on a review site. Or, use the “site:” search operator and enter your term as a keyword. For example, site:randomdomain.com “struggle with” [keyword]
One of my side projects is a website dedicated to helping home bartenders make better cocktails. I would like to eventually create an online course for it.
To help me know my audience, I read the user reviews of best-selling cocktail books (both good and bad) to get an idea of what people are talking about.
Here is one example:
“Yuppie booze porn for the coffee table” is memorable.
And this one talking about a specific pain point:
If I were writing copy for my sales page or drafting a blog post, I would take note that people do not want recipes with long lists of specialty ingredients. It seems this crowd is more interested in a “practical user’s manual.”
Research your customers. Ask your readers and then listen to their answers. That is not a soft skill. It is the raw material for every headline, intro, and CTA on your site.
Further Reading:
4. Get Specific with Your Target Audience
If you want to grab their attention, use specific numbers or timeframes.
For example, which headline is more catchy?:
Or this:
The second headline is super-specific and speaks to a particular audience with the qualifier “simple”: Beginners looking for productivity hacks.
You can use these formulas on things besides headlines:
-
YouTube videos
-
Podcast scripts
-
Landing pages
-
Product descriptions
Do not say your product is for everyone. It is not, which is why specificity matters. Address their needs and answer your reader’s question: “What is in it for me (WIIFM?)”
Specificity also helps affiliate content rank and convert at the same time. “Best VPN” is vague. “Best VPN for Remote Workers Who Travel Monthly” tells Google and the reader exactly who you wrote for. The same logic applies to product displays. A grid titled “Tools We Use Daily on Our Affiliate Sites” outperforms “Recommended Products” because it signals relevance.
Further Reading:
5. Leverage Social Proof
As humans, we need to belong. It is a survival instinct. We feel more comfortable doing things others are doing. We also look to our peers for approval.
How many times have you looked to your peers before buying something? What about making a decision based on what others were doing?
Social proof plays a role in getting people to “yes.”
Here is an example from Ramit Sethi’s homepage using social proof:
Citing the number of subscribers, customers, or sales are all fantastic ways to leverage social proof in your content.
Apple used social proof as part of its “Shot on iPhone” campaign. They used photos shot by iPhone users and placed them on billboards across the globe:
On affiliate sites, social proof does not require celebrity scale. “We tested 14 standing desks over six months” is proof. “Updated for 2026 with new pricing” is proof. Customer quotes pulled from your survey data (with permission) beat generic praise every time. The goal is to show the reader that people like them already made this decision.
4What Are the Different Types of Copywriting?
There are many kinds of copywriters nowadays thanks to digital marketing. And each one has a unique job. It is not always direct response ad copy.
I will briefly mention a few below, but here is a list of more types of specialty copywriting:
-
Facebook posts
-
Press releases
-
Outreach emails
-
Video scripts
-
YouTube video descriptions
-
Meta descriptions
-
Product descriptions
For operators, the types that move revenue on content sites cluster around email, social, and SEO. Each channel feeds the assembly line at a different stage.
Email Marketing
An email copywriter is selling you something: their brand, expertise, or a legit sales email. It may not come in the form of an advertisement, but there is always an opportunity to position yourself as the “solution.”
What is great about email is it is informal. You are allowed into their inbox, so they already trust you, which means they are more likely to buy.
Email is an excellent channel for keeping your readers up-to-date about your business. You can:
-
Promote digital products (e.g., an online course)
-
Mention a coupon
-
Send a weekly newsletter
Each email should have one conversion job. Subject line opens. First line holds. CTA earns the click. Trying to do all three jobs in one sentence is how newsletters stall.
Social Media
If your audience hangs out on a specific social media platform, use it to connect with them. Does your online business cater to working professionals? Try Linkedin. Do they belong to a popular Facebook group? Head there.
Conversion copywriters make a good living crafting Facebook and Instagram ads. You can also use platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite to manage your posting frequency.
For example, you can find groups on Facebook using the search bar and filtering by “Groups.” Here is what I get when I search using “copywriter.”
Just enter the keyword or industry of your customers.
Social copy works best when it points somewhere measurable. A post that drives traffic to a comparison page you can track in analytics beats a post that “builds brand awareness” with no next step.
SEO Copywriting
SEO copywriting involves crafting copy for both people and search engines. It plays a heavy role with content marketers.
Many businesses use blogs to attract customers. It lets them connect informational and sales material with their target audience.
The focus of SEO is to get traffic, so your articles should be structured to make them more accessible for search engines to find. That does not mean stuffing keywords. It means clear headings, internal links, and intros that match search intent. Once the traffic arrives, conversion copy takes over.
5How Can I Improve My Copywriting Skills?
Trying to answer the question, “How can I improve my copywriting skills?” deserves its own article.
However, there are a few adjustments you can make right now to give your copy a leg up.
Edit Ruthlessly
I forget where I heard it, but it is brilliant:
“I will pay you $100 for every word you delete on your sales page.”
The idea is to trim the fat (i.e., edit ruthlessly). Once you complete your 1st draft, see if you can remove 20% of your words.
Only keep the ones that matter; the rest is distracting fluff.
Long affiliate posts are especially vulnerable here. Writers add qualifiers, repeat benefits, and pad intros because the keyword research said the post should be 3,000 words. Length without purpose hurts conversion. Cut until every paragraph earns its place.
Use Tested Formulas (“because Only Rookies Write from Scratch”)
There is an insanely detailed post covering every copywriting formula on the planet that should help you write your next piece of copy.
Instead of trying to create something new, use tested frameworks. For example, the PAS formula for your intro or the AIDA model for a product description.
Formulas are excellent because they have been used before, and we know they work.
Just assemble the pieces the correct way, and your writing should improve. Formulas make crafting your message easier and lay down a roadmap for you to follow.
PAS (Problem, Agitation, Solution) fits affiliate intros well. Name the pain in the reader’s words. Agitate it with a consequence they recognize. Then introduce the product or category as the path out. AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) maps cleanly to product descriptions and display copy.
Keep It Conversational with Contractions
Which do you think you are more likely to use in conversation?:
It is 8 o’clock.
Or,
It is 8 pm.
One technique is to shorten your words with contractions:
It’s less formal and feels more natural to your readers.
Read your draft out loud. If you stumble, your reader will too. Conversational copy is not sloppy copy. It is copy that sounds like a person who has actually used the product.
Amplify Your Word’s Power (Omit “Very”)
We use the word “very” to amplify the word following it (I do it constantly).
The fact is most times, there is a stronger choice.
For example, “very good” becomes “excellent.” “Very tired” becomes “exhausted.” Strong verbs carry conversion copy because they paint a sharper picture in fewer words.
Kill Your Adverbs
Another way to use sharper words is by removing adverbs. It is also a way to say less with more.
“Quickly improved” becomes “doubled.” “Really helpful” becomes “essential.” Adverbs often signal that the verb was too weak to begin with.
Condense Your Phrases
Instead of saying it in three words, say it in one:
“In order to” becomes “to.” “Due to the fact that” becomes “because.” “At this point in time” becomes “now.”
Try these suggestions on your next product display or comparison table intro. Shorter copy respects the reader’s time and leaves room for the CTA to stand out.
I have found the writing tool Grammarly to be a massive asset for finding my text’s weaknesses.
6How Can You Tell If Your Copy Is Converting?
Tracking conversions gets tricky when you are looking at your entire sales funnel as a single conversion (i.e., did they buy or not?).
Here is the thing…
Gauging your success based on that metric alone is not enough. Rewriting your entire campaign because nobody is buying is the wrong move.
Most affiliate operators have pages that rank and earn, but underperform on EPC. The instinct is to rewrite everything. The smarter move is to isolate which element on the assembly line failed.
Use the Assembly Line Technique
Legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz said:
“You do not write copy; you assemble it.”
If you think of your text as parts on an assembly line, you will have a better chance of tracking your copy’s converting power.
Copy Chief Joanna Wiebe suggests making every element you write responsible for one job, like parts on an assembly line (hence her term “Assembly Line Technique”).
For example, your email subject line’s only job is to get opened. Your product display’s only job is to attract clicks. At the same time, the body of your sales copy is to hold their attention.
Advanced Tip: When using our tool, Lasso, you can measure your display box’s converting power by connecting it to Google Analytics.
If you want to optimize your copy, you should test what is working.
For example, if nobody is opening your emails, perhaps the subject line needs adjusting (and not your landing page). That is an easy fix, without scrapping the entire campaign and starting from scratch.
Alternatively, if people click through to your landing page and then bounce, perhaps your headline’s messaging is off. Again, quick to fix.
After testing the individual pieces, you can see where things are not working, and refine as you go.
Compare that to the old model: one “conversion rate” number for the whole site and no idea which paragraph or button caused the leak. Assembly line thinking turns copy optimization into a sequence of small, testable fixes. That is how you improve EPC on posts that already rank without waiting for Google to send more traffic.
Our post on affiliate marketing conversion rate covers benchmarks so you know whether a page is underperforming the market or just the site average.
7Last Words
Conversion copywriting moves your reader through a series of steps before getting to the ultimate “yes”: a purchase, sign-up, trial, or another relevant business goal. Every piece of text is heavily researched using case studies, customer testimonials, and reviews before writing a single word.
Once everything is assembled, you test it to tell whether it is working. Continuously measuring your copy is the only way to boost conversions and gauge your campaign’s success.
For operators, the market shifted when traffic alone stopped being the bottleneck. Revenue per click is the metric that compounds. Strong conversion copy on pages you already rank is the highest-leverage work most publishers skip.
If you want to find undermonetized product mentions sitting in content that already performs, run an Opportunities scan on your site. Pair that with sharper copy on the displays and CTAs those pages already use, and you are working the whole assembly line, not just the top of the funnel.
Sean Brison
Sean Brison is a dad, writer, business owner, and Content Lead at Lasso. He's spent the past several years in cahoots with Lasso's founder, Andrew, creating awesome things for people. He's also addicted to perfectly-balanced cocktails, the outdoors, and John…