Services Pages vs. Sales Pages: Which Do You Need?
Last week as my fiancé was making dinner, he turned around and asked “why are you rewriting your website already? It’s only been 7 months since you launched it in the first place.”
As I dive deeper into the world of entrepreneurship, I’m finding there’s a lot I have to explain to his corporate mind. He’s an engineer, and he’s never known anything other than an office cubicle.
“When I first started my business, I knew next to nothing about creating a high-performing website. Now that I know what that looks like, there’s a lot I need to fix. And relaunching my website builds some excitement for my audience, which helps me form strong relationships.”
He had turned back around to stir the pot on the stove as I spoke. “I will never understand how this whole sales thing works.”
This makes me chuckle. “I’m not sure I totally get it, either.”
If you’ve ever tried to explain what starting a business is like, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of these conversations. Sometimes I find them helpful because explaining something to someone else is a perfect way to make sure I actually understand it.
Other days it’s stressful because I’m trying to explain something that I know I don’t fully understand.
When I first started my copywriting business, one of those concepts was a sales page. I had no clue what it was, what it did, and why everyone got their panties in a twist about it.
Now I do. If you’re trying to sell something online, you need to too.
What is a sales page?
A sales page is...wait for it...a page on your website that sells something.
So profound, I know.
No matter what your business is, wedding pro or not, your entire model is about making money. I know that sounds a little insensitive. It’s easy to get swept up in the ideology of helping people and believing in true love and all the warm fuzzy stuff that comes with the wedding industry.
But it’s true, right? If you weren’t in it at least partially for the money, you’d be running a nonprofit, not a business.
It’s possible to combine feelings and sales without sounding fake. Great copy does just that.
Sales is the driving force of success in business. It’s how we measure our strengths and weaknesses. It’s what keeps us up at night.
In today’s world you might be one of the lucky ones who’s selling in the DMs without any problems. Good for you. I still haven’t figured that one out for myself.
But most likely, you’re moving potential clients from the DMs to your website. That’s where all the important information is – and where the magic happens. If you have the right page set up.
Do you?
We’re going to figure that out here. I see a lot of articles about the difference between sales and services pages. I went ahead and added landing pages to the mix. They might not bring in the big bucks, but growing your audience is the first step to making money.
Let’s figure out what you need to drive sales in your business.
Before you write: is your offer ready to sell?
It truly doesn’t matter what kind of page you have if your offer isn’t ready. You’re not going to see the results you want with a half-assed offer. Before you even get to writing the copy for your website, make sure you actually know your offer. An assessment of these areas will let you know if you’re ready to move on.
Target Audience
Your target audience for a specific offer is not usually your entire audience. To decide what type of page you need, it’s important to know exactly who you’re trying to sell to. You’re never going to please everybody.
For wedding pros, there are a few things you need before you can pick your target audience for an offer. First, know your overall target audience. Whether you like client avatars or hate them (I’m in the hate club. Send me a DM to find out why), figure out a way to document who your target audience is.
Next, narrow down that group to people who are looking for your specific offer. You might want to consider:
Their budget
The stage of planning they’re in
Their style or aesthetic
The size of their wedding
The location or season of their wedding
Their religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds
There are so many other factors, too. The clearer you can get, the better. You need to understand your target audience perfectly to sell to them.
Market Research
Does your target audience actually want the thing you’re trying to sell? It might seem like your most brilliant idea, but without market research, you’ll never know if your offer is in demand.
There’s a balance to find here. You don’t need a product that millions of people are going to want to buy (unless your goal is to make millions of dollars). For most of us, the goal is more like 6-figures. And this is totally doable with a smaller audience!
But. The smaller the audience, the more confident you need to be.
Do plenty of market research before launching an offer for the first time. Beta test it with a small group and ask for feedback. Take time to make something you’re confident in, and it will be so much easier to sell it.
Offer Details
This might seem obvious. But you’d be surprised how many people try to launch an offer without knowing the details. Concrete details you’ll need before you launch include price, features and benefits, and bonuses if you’re offering them.
If you’re creating a page for an offer launch, it’s important to have a launch plan set up. Marketing materials, funnels, and systems are all important for a good launch. Your sales page is just one piece of the puzzle, although an important one.
You’ll also need a good timeline for both the launch and for your delivery process. How long will your service take? What will you need from your clients to make it happen? Are you offering payment plans or any kind of guarantee?
These are all things you need to consider before you create a page to sell from.
Which website page is right for your offer?
Copy dictates everything else in your business. If you have great copy, your offer will sell. If you have shitty copy, your offer won’t sell. At least it won’t sell by itself.
The type of page you’re using isn’t the most important part. The quality of your copy is. If you’re looking to learn more about copywriting for your business, check out these blog posts:
Don’t get too caught up in the format of your page. At the end of the day, you’re not going to have couples say “I would have bought this if it were on a sales page instead of a services page.”
Think about your offers on a sliding scale. Your low-ticket offers are less of a financial commitment, so it’s easier to convince your audience to buy them. High-ticket offers are a much bigger commitment and will come with more objections.
The size of your offer determines how much convincing (selling) you need to do.
Picking the type of page you need should be fairly easy once you have this information.
Now that that’s settled, let’s get into the differences between these pages.
Landing Pages
What it is: A short page that your audience “lands” on from an external source, like a social media ad or blog post.
Typically used for: Freebies and opt-ins. This is a good page to use if you’re trying to grow your email list.
Length: Usually short, but it depends on what you need to say.
Landing pages are short and sweet with a clear call to action. A simple landing page is always better. With every page of your website, headlines are important. With landing pages, the stakes are even higher. Your headline should be able to convince your visitor to complete the call to action by itself.
Landing pages are not typically used to sell something, though they can. They prime your audience by giving them free resources and information that builds trust. Establishing a strong relationship is important. Before you even bring up your offers, your audience needs to trust that you know what you’re talking about.
In order to do that, you need to give. A lot. Sales is a long game, but it will pay off in the long run. You just need to create a genuine connection to your audience and get them excited about buying from you!
You can easily build a landing page on many platforms. I personally use Flodesk, which is also the email platform for my business. They have a variety of examples so you can design a landing page that fits your brand.
Services Pages
What it is: A page that lists every offer or service you have (unless you’ve got products. Those would go on a shop or store page). Unless you only have one offer, you should definitely have a services page on your website.
Typically used for: Offers that are low-ticket or less complex. If you can clearly sum up the offer in a few bullets, it belongs on a services page.
Length: Depends on the number of offers you have.
Your services page quickly lays out all you have to offer to your visitor. From here they can easily compare offers, read about key offer details, and begin to form a decision.
Services pages have less information than sales pages, which means less overwhelm for your visitor (usually). This gives you less space to dissolve objections, though. Watch your length. If your page is too short, it may negatively impact your website SEO.
Services and sales pages should work in tandem on your website. You can use a services page to tease your offers and link to a sales page. This is common for people creating courses and high-ticket packages.
You want your visitor to be able to see everything you offer, but not get so bogged down with details that they click away. Give a quick overview of the offer, a few key benefits, and add an exciting CTA that urges them to learn more (without actually telling them to learn more.)
Here’s my unpopular opinion: I don’t believe in creating a services page template to use for all of my clients. There is common information you should have on each page, but every wedding pro is different. Use your creativity and create a service page design that showcases your unique business. You can always search for services page ideas to find some inspiration.
Sales Pages
What it is: A long page that addresses all details of the offer. Everything there is to know about an offer should be laid out on this page.
Typically used for: High-ticket offers. The higher the investment, the more space you need to sell. You can’t just get away with a few bullet points on this page.
Length: Two main options – mid-form or long form sales page. Depends on how much space you need to convince. Mid-form is typically upwards of 3,000 words, while long-form pages often exceed 5,000 words.
This is the big one. The page that lays out all of the details, fights objections, and quells fears. The best sales page copy stays three steps ahead of the visitor at all times. Sales pages usually exist towards the end of a sales funnel, so your audience is already primed to object.
There is no right or wrong way to create a sales page. (Depending on who you ask. Some copywriters might say their template or formula is the best. I say one size never fits all. Use your best judgement.)
But there are a few components every good sales page needs.
No external links
Your goal is to keep your visitor on this page until they decide to buy. Don’t tempt them to walk away by using external links! Keep everything they need to make a decision on the page.
Many CTA buttons
You should only have one CTA on your sales page: buy. But it’s important to give your visitor many opportunities to get there. You should have at least 3-4 different buttons, including one at the top that takes them straight to the price section of your page. Some people want to know the investment right away. Be careful not to overwhelm with too many buttons. This can make you seem fake.
List your prices more than once
Typically, you list your prices towards the middle of your page, after you’ve gotten some emotional build-up. You’ve explained the benefits and clearly outlined the transformation.
After your first price list, you can add FAQs and testimonials. List your prices again at the bottom of the page, so your visitor doesn’t need to scroll back up to find them.
Throw testimonials like confetti
This is why beta-testing is always a good idea. Without social proof, you’re going to have a hard time selling, even if your offer is awesome. People are much more likely to buy when you can show them that other people have seen results. Sprinkle your testimonials all over your page, and cut them down to only the essential text. Numbers are always a plus!
Add urgency
Even if your offer will be available continuously, add some kind of urgency. If you’re launching or relaunching your offer, having some kind of special offer to those who act fast is a great way to sell. If your offer is time sensitive, clearly state that on your page. Limited spots are also a great idea to create urgency. If you only have the space in your schedule to take on 10 clients, let your visitors know that. It might convince them to act quicker.
TL;DR– Services vs. Sales
Services pages are necessary if you have a website. A sales page can help you sell a high-ticket offer. Remember: your copy is the most important part of your website. If your words aren’t convincing, it doesn't matter what kind of page you have.
Copywriting doesn’t have to be so stressful. If you’re looking to outsource, visit my website to learn more about my services.
Connect with me on the ‘Gram for more tips and tricks! You can find me @edcreative.co. Until next time! 👋
