6 Tips for Writing Better Website Copy - A Quick Guide
Your website is often the first impression potential clients will have of your business. Afterall, a staggering 93% of online experiences start with someone searching on a platform like Google.
Yet funnily enough, it's often the place we're most likely to leave gathering dust in our online world in favour of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Afer all, these platforms give us such instant gratification]!
In fact, most people I talk to about this tell me that it's been over a year since they last read or updated the copy on their website 😲
And yep, I've been guilty of letting my website sit idlily before, too. You don't even want to know how long it took me to update the copy on my about page even though I didn't like it *cough* 4 years *cough* 😂
Since our website is our businesses home base, this could be costing you clients.
Not sure how?
Well firstly, if your home page isn't clear about what you do and who you serve, people won't know if they're in the right place on your website and will often bounce rather than trying to figure it out.
Secondly, when someone heads to your website from social media or one of your emails, if there is a mismatch in how you talk about what you do or the services you offer, there will be some serious confusion for them!
Basically a lack of clarity or any level of confusion for your visitors can look unprofessional, give the wrong impression of your brand and kill trust in your business. At the end of the day, this can cost you clients.
It’s time to change that!
Great copy helps you establish trust, build a connection with your visitors and inspires action from potential clients. Since you’re reading this, I’d take a guess that you run an online business, and online businesses move FAST! Our services change, our dream clients change, and the way we talk about what we do changes.
This is why I always suggest to my clients to read through and update their website copy every 6-12 months
Read on for the best tips to improve your website copy
(or click the links below to skip to the bits you want)
1 | Make a plan before you write
Starting your website copy with a plan will help you ensure that it actually achieves it’s goal – booking clients and growing your email list.
But there’s another hidden benefits of planning out your website as well – You’ll save time writing your copy since you’ll know what to include and where.
This post shares about what to do to prepare for a new website. It goes quite in depth on what to prepare when you are writing your website copy, but here are a few things to consider when making your website plan:
Website Goals
If your website visitors only did 1-2 things on your website, what would you want them to be? These are your website goals, and everything you do on your website should be focused on leading your visitors to take that action. This will make your messaging clearer and allow you to weave in calls-to-action to ensure your visitors always know what to do next.
Information to Include
What information do you actually need to include on your website? Things like your contact details, social media links, social proof, your services and whether you need a portfolio or FAQ are all things to consider ahead of time so you’ll know exactly WHAT copy you need to write and won’t have to ummm and ahhh about it as you go.
Arranging your Content
If your visitors can’t find what they are after on your website, they’ll bounce pretty quickly, so you want to make sure you arrange your content in a way that makes it super easy to find. Planning ahead for the perfect website navigation can really help guide your visitors to the info they want, but also direct them to what YOU want them to do.
I love using post-it notes to make out website journeys since it’s so easy to move things around and change them up!
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2 | Get clear on your messaging and voice
One thing I see being missed in DIY website copy all the time is clear messaging and a defined brand voice. Funnily enough, it’s the foundation for writing ALL of your copy (think emails, social media posts, your website, ads – literally everything you write in your business!).
This is the most foundational and important step of the whole website copywriting process.
Brand Messaging
Your brand messaging is the way you share what you do, who you serve and what makes you different from everyone else who does what you do. This should be clearly stated front and centre on your website home page, so that when someone lands on your website, they know right away that they are in the right place.
To go even deeper into your brand messaging, you really want it to speak to your dream clients, and this is where client voice hacking comes in. My copy mentor, Ashlyn Carter, shares about client voice hacking and how you can get started here.
The cliff notes:
If you want dream clients to feel like you are reading their deepest thoughts, you need to know HOW your dream clients ACTUALLY say things, not what you THINK they’re saying. This comes from client research such as surveys and interviews, where you can actually get catchy snippets directly from what your dream client says.
Once you’ve done your research, you can weave your dream clients words into your writing so they know that you understand their problems and can actually help them solve their issues.
Brand Voice
Now onto your brand voice… This is your brand’s personality, and it weaves through all the writing you do in your business.
Brand voice is important since it allows you to build a connection with your audience, makes your writing a whole lot more interesting, and helps build authority by sharing your opinions.
No one wants to read boring copy, so infusing who you are into what you write can really make all the difference! Trust me on this… I worked in a bank for YEARS, and corporate speak gets you nowhere once you start a business! OMG did I struggle to find my voice when I started my business, and even now, it’s still a work in progress!
A word of Caution…
If you work with a copywriter for your copy, this should be the first step they dive into with you since they need to be clear on these details to be able to write great copy that connects and sells. If they skip this step, it’s a huge red flag that you should probably find someone else!
3 | Make it easy to read
Once you’ve written your website copy, it’s time to make sure it’s easy to read. After all, someone isn’t going to sign up for your email list or reach out to hire you if they don’t actually read what’s on your website!
There are a few things you can do to make your text nice and easy to read:
Use simple, clear language so someone who isn’t familiar with what you do can still understand. You’re the expert at what you do, not your readers, and chances are they won’t understand all of your industry terms
Break your text into sections and use short paragraphs, since large chunks of text can be overwhelming to read, especially on small screens like our phones. 1-2 sentences for each paragraph is generally long enough, contrary to what you high school English teacher likely taught you!
Make your copy easy to scan since we often have short attention spans these days from all our social media scrolling. This means adding headings for each section on a page, which makes it easy for your readers to jump in and out of the parts that interest them. Added bonus: This is also good for letting Google know what your content is about
Use bullet points or numbered lists where they make sense. This can add some visual interest to a page and is a great way for your readers to consume details
Avoid using wall-to-wall text that goes from one side of the screen all the way to the other. It’s much harder for our brains to process and take in the details. Adding extra space each side of your copy, or having copy next to another element like an image can really make a big difference with readability, plus it looks better too!
Keep your text left aligned if it is more than 2 lines, since the fixed start point for each row of text is much easier for our brains to read than the jagged start point for centred text
Use a bigger font size so your readers don’t have to strain their eyes to read. Generally 16px or more is a good starting point for body text, and then you can use even larger text for your headings. If you have an older dream client, it is even more important to use the larger text
Break up the page design visually by using images, different coloured sections, lines, icons, buttons and other design elements. This makes the page more interesting and helps draw your eyes down, encouraging people to keep reading
Doing a pass through your website pages focusing on these specific points can really make a big difference once your website is live and people are actually exploring!
4 | Cut the fluff
Once you’ve written your website copy, it’s time to go back through with your editors cap on and cut the fluff so you can keep things on point.
Since most of us skim websites, going back and taking out anything unnecessary can really make a big difference for our readers since it’s much easier for people to get through.
Now I’m not saying you need cut out absolutely everything that’s not directly related to your point, since you still want to be infusing your brand voice and personality in your writing to build that connection with your readers and show just how great you are.
But do you want to read through to remove any waffle, any irrelevant details or any copy that is basically a double-up of something you’ve already said.
I know it can be a bit awkward, but reading your copy out loud at this point can really help you to hear the parts that sound a bit awkward or waffley so you can easily remove them. Things often sound quite different when we type them compared to reading them, and our readers will pick up on the awkward parts that we miss when we’re writing.
5 | Add some credibility
Your website is a great place to build trust and authority with your dream clients, especially since some of your competitor won’t even have one and will just rely on social media. You instantly look more legit than they do just by having a website!
But if you want to add even more credibility and really establish your expertise and build your authority on your website, here are some great ways to do so:
Testimonials
Including praise from your past clients is a great way to build trust and show potential clients you understand them and can deliver on what you promise. These can be weaved throughout the pages of your website, such as your home, about and service pages.
Related:
Case Studies
These are a great way to take potential clients through the transformational journey your clients have been through. You’ll be able to share where your client was at before working with you, a bit about the process you went through, and what the end result was.
This shows your readers that you understand them, can be a great way to bust through objections, builds your authority as an expert and really positions you as a great solution to the problem they are having.
Media Features
A great way to showcase your credibility is by making a big deal of publications and speaking engagements you’ve been featured in. You could do this by including the logos of the company who featured you, adding links in blog posts and on your about page to articles you’ve been featured in.
If you want to take things even further, you could create a media page that includes links to your features along with your bio, photos and a contact form for people to reach out to for future opportunities and collaborations.
Blogging
Having a blog on your website is a great way to share value with your readers and helps position you as an expert at what you do. It’s a great way to build trust with your readers since they’ll be able to get quick wins from your posts, and it can be a fantastic way to grow your email list.
An added bonus of blogging is that it can boost your SEO and help you to get found on Google, which can help more dream clients to find you. Appearing on page 1 of Google is also a massive credibility boost, too!
Related posts:
o Can Blogging really help you become a Thought Leader?
o Marketing without Social Media with Leonie Dawson
o Finding the best Keywords so your Blog Posts get found on Google
YouTube or Podcasting
Video and audio can be really powerful way to build a connection with your visitors. You could embed your videos and episodes onto a dedicated page on your website, or better yet, you could repurpose them into blog posts with an edited transcript.
Again, this can help you to show in search results, and keeps all of your valuable content in the one place so it’s really easy for your visitors to explore rather than having to check you out on multiple platforms
Want to attract more dream clients to your website for free?
If so, you need to be found on Google! This free SEO Checklist for Squarespace will help you grow your website traffic, so you can get more leads and clients from your website
6 | Finally, proof read, proof read, proof read!
Bad spelling and grammar can really kill trust on your website, and this can be avoided by proof reading every page on your website. Better yet, read it out loud again before hitting publish, just to make sure you don’t miss anything! 😉
And don’t forget running things through a spell check as well. It’s amazing how often this is missed! If you use Microsoft Word or Google Sheets to write your posts, there’s a spell check built in already, otherwise you can use a free tool like Grammarly to go through your copy.
If possible, it can also be helpful to have someone you trust to proofread at least the main pages of your website, too. They’ll pick up on details you’ll miss, for example if you start a story but miss out parts your readers will want to know, or if you’re using technical words that your readers may not understand.
I know having someone else to proof read your website can feel a bit vulnerable (oh man did I struggle with this one!), but it really can make such a massive difference! There’s a reason writers work with editors before publishing their books!
Basically, to write better copy for your website, you should:
Now you know the best tips to help with your copy, it’s time to look over the main pages of your website with a copywriter’s eye to see what tweaks you can be making!