I'm pretty confused when to use them efficiently.

I've been reading numerous salesletters for whatever products, trying to
discern consistent patterns on when to underline, highlight, or make some
words italic. Geez, my eyeballs are running all around.

Unless I'm wrong, highlighting and putting in bold seem to emphasize the
greatest importance in what you're trying to explain. But there are some
which, to me, seem more "important" but are in italic or underlined.

I'm sure there are no hard and fast rules. But perhaps you could share a
tip or on how to display or emphasize certain phrases with maxium effect.

Testing will definitely come into play. But I'm in need of some enlightening
so I could re-write my draft and try out a thing or 2.

I searched this forum thoroughly, by the way. And I can't seem to find the
answers I seek.

Thanks.

Of course, 2 caveats:

a) It's a personal decision, and varies also with the audience.
b) Use sparingly. Let me repeat: S-P-A-R-I-N-G-L-Y. Too many is just as worse as web pages filled with repeated exclamation marks, 1,001 font colors and sizes, and bouncing, animated graphics that distract.

Because that's what will happen. It will distract. Not force the reader to focus on and retain the critical point you're making.

In fact, using too many formatting changes and emphases will cause the entire copy will look the same, making the "emphasis" backfire and the whole copy look like one big blur of sameness (and easy to scan and skip).

Remember, formatting is meant to highlight key points or drive critical ideas home... not "blend in" with the rest of the copy so that the emphasis becomes de-emphasized.

Now, here are one or more of the following formatting tricks I personally use...

1. Use it with key word or phrases that are important and you want to drive home, like benefits, emphasis, critical points.

2. Use it with words you verbally change when speaking, in order to apply #1 above. For example, when you pause (pauses are powerful!), use ellipses... when you INFLECT words, use formatting (bolds, italics, highlights)... when an entire phrase or sentence is a critical point you wish to draw someone's attention...

... Make it its own paragraph.

3. Read my article on "It's not what you say but how you say it" at:
http://michelfortin.com/archives/200...ot_what_yo.htm

And to Michel's excellent advice, I'd add this:

Avoid the most glaring error, applying several font styles and effects to the same words. We've all seen headlines like this:

"WOW!!! CHECK THIS OUT!!!"

Change the font color to red and apply a coat of highlight, and you can barely read the rest of the copy!

~ Kathy

Italics are good for one word emphasis.

Bold and headlines are better for one sentence or phrase.

There is not much I can add to Michel's great reply.

However, I would like to emphasise what he said about using these elements sparingly.

That is the most important part of his post.

Too much of it and you eliminate the impact.

One other thing should be said about using underline...

From a usability standpoint underlined text should only be used with a black font color, and NEVER with a blue font.

Because underlining online typically indicates a link (especially with blue text) excessive underlining can devastate your conversion rates.

There is nothing more frustrating for a reader than seeing an important benefit listed in your copy and it looks like a link to more information about that benefit, yet nothing happens when they click on it.

I regularly conduct usability testing on my larger clients websites and it amazes me to watch what users try an click on. If a visitor tries to click on something and they are disappointed by the result, you have just lost a little bit of trust.

So, while underlining can be an effective way to add emphasis to a particular word, be careful not to over use it or make your underlined text look too much like a link.

Eric

PS - Recently during my split testing I have seen yellow highlighting become less and less effective in many niches. In fact in some marketing related niches I am finding that it can actually hurt conversion rates.

(Don't stop using it based on my testing, you need to test this for yourself and your particular niche. I'm just sharing something I've observed from my own testing...)

When I get a chance I will post more data on these tests in the "members only section".

My theory is that yellow highlight has been so overused in many niches, hat it is a dead giveaway that the page is a sales pitch. (But that's just my theory...)

Eric,

I've had my suspicions about yellow highlights for a while. I'm glad you shared your findings.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not issuing a blanket condemnation of the use of yellow highlight. In fact in many markets where they are not overused, they still improve CR.

However, some of my own test results are indicating a drop in the effectiveness.

As always, you should test EVERYTHING yourself on your own sites, with your own traffic. Never just "take someones word for it", simply use other marketers/copywriters test results to guide you own thinking about what to test in your own split testing campaigns.

Eric

Thanks for the responses, everyone! *whistles*

Michel, I definitely agree about using them sparingly. I'm just hoping to
understand how to emphasize certain words and phrases.

Eric, I'll definitely test the yellow highlighting. That's the one that's really
got me curious.

I'll post my results when I launch my non-marketing related ebook.