Successful  Online Persuasion
Buying is fundamentally an emotional decision.  To be successful sales must stay in touch with its human-centered roots -- regardless of the medium.  Time-tested sales and persuasion principles work offline, and they work online, too.   Sites with high conversion rates have a dominant characteristic: a high degree of empathy for the visitor.  Here's how they do it:

• These sites sell a product or service for which there's a truly felt need or want.
• They immediately understand the visitor is there voluntarily; site activity is based on participation, not coercion.
• They don't assume the visitor knows anything, but they don't insult their intelligence, either.
• They understand you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. You can, however, entice it to take one sip at a time.
• They present visitors with necessary information, when it's needed.
• They anticipate questions the visitor may ask and address their fears and concerns.
• They use copy that emphasizes consumer benefits and helps involve the visitor's senses in an "intangible" type of sale.
• They use copy that helps them rank well in the search engines, because it's relevant to a visitor seeking a way to solve their problems.  Hyperlinks are filled with keywords that speak to their questions. They're laced with benefits that let the visitor know their on the right track to achieving thier goal.

You can't sell ice to Eskimos on the Internet, or elsewhere.  No matter how well designed the site, how persuasive the copy or how usable, if you can't find a way to meet customers' needs, they won't buy.