The purpose of developing a how-to is to drive page views to your website, convert those page views into sales, and establish your expertise – which will lead to more page views and sales. But so many people product how-to posts and videos that aren’t leading to sales. Why? Their how-to just isn’t compelling to the target audience! It’s a common problem, but one that’s easy to fix with a little planning.
A great how-to meets three simple criteria.
- It’s short. The best how-to’s can be consumed in 5-10 minutes – they’re not 60 minute Facebook lives.
- It’s unique. The how-to’s that pull in viewers appeal to what people are searching for, whether on Google, Pinterest, or YouTube, and are one of the only resources for that content.
- And it’s easy to follow. The readers look through the how-to and think “I can do that.”
So how do we do this? I’ve developed and tested a model that drives hundreds of daily page views across each of my tutorials. Now, hundreds may not seem like a lot compared to establish YouTubers, DIY experts, and beauty bloggers who get thousands of views – but my tutorials have a sales conversion rate of as much as 20%. I don’t necessarily want thousands of views. What I want are conversions to sales.
Now let’s dive into a proven model for structuring your how-to.
1 // SETUP
Start with 1-2 sentences about why your audience should care about this how-to. Ensure this links directly to your brand and meets a unique need of your target audience.
2 // MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES
Link to everything they’ll need. If it’s an eye makeup tutorial, share the pigmented products and the brushes you’ll use. For my direct sales ladies, it will feel less “salesy” if you list a general description of the product (e.g., “a deep red shimmer shadow” instead of “Bandana ShadowSense or “lavender essential oil” instead of YoungLiving Lavender Essential Oil); you can still link the option you sell with the hyperlink, though! The one exception to that rule is if it’s something unique, say how to apply a specific product.
3 // STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
The structure we’ve found works best mixes mediums – text, photos, and where appropriate, videos. Why? People consume information differently, so we want to offer it in different ways. The text is the core, the photos illustrate the text, and videos walk the viewer through complex steps.
4 // TIPS AND ADVICE
Add anything else you wish you’d known, or a way to build on the look. This might be “try this look with greens instead of browns for a great evening look” or “swap for lemon oils during the spring for a fresh scent”.
How this structure looks on your site may vary. You might have mainly text with “lifestyle” images of the finished product, text per above with a video below showing it in real time, or text with photos of each step. A great tip for ensuring your content is concise and easy to follow? Ask a friend to take a look and let you know what they think!