Are you launching a new website and looking to create a copy that can attract visitors and encourage them to explore your site further?
If so, great!
Creating and monitoring a website is the first step to promoting your business. Wondering what’s next?
Well, it is to ensure that your website visitors notice your website. And ultimately converts into customers. But how to do that?
Simple! By creating a website copy that speaks directly to your target audience and compels them to take action. To be precise, your website copy is the first thing your target audience is going to interact with. So, it must be appealing enough to satisfy your audience's intent.
Thinking about how to write a great copy? Well, website copywriting is a skill that takes time to learn and master. But don't worry! This ultimate guide to website copywriting can help you to take your writing from ordinary to extraordinary. It can help you to create catchy headlines, write powerful calls to action, write high-converting sales pages, and so much more!
So, let’s get started!
What is website content?
Website copy refers to the visible element in the text, images, and videos that form an online presence for an organization. It is a perfect combination of words, graphics, and other media utilized to create engaging website pages. In simple terms, it describes the existence and offering of a business in front of its visitors.
A website copy often has a huge impact on how your customers perceive your business. So, it needs to be written in a clear, concise, and informative manner. Remember, words can either make or break you. This is why your focus should be to create a website copy that's easy to read and converts better than ever!
The four pillars of website content include the Home page, About Us page, Product/Service Page, and Contact us page. The home page and product pages are the most visited ones. Therefore it is vital to keep them solution-oriented and appealing enough to move the visitor towards taking the desired action. Let’s dive deep into how to make the most of website copywriting efforts.
Here are a few examples of website content:
- Informative Blogs
Looking to build your brand awareness? Blog posts can help!
A blog post can be a great source to create problem-solving content for potential audiences. Additionally, a well-optimized blog post can also deliver organic growth to businesses through online channels. Types of blog posts include listicle posts, how-to guides, step-by-step tutorials, and product reviews.
- Landing pages
A landing page is a form of website content built to inform and convert potential prospects into customers.
A landing page appears when a user clicks on a hyperlink (a clickable anchor text) from an online ad, search engine result page, email copy, or any such element with the desired call to action. It is a standalone website created for marketing or advertising purposes specifically. Try using Writesonic to generate high-converting landing pages in seconds.
- Visual content
Incorporating images and other visual elements keep your audience engaged. After all, who wants to read a wall of text? People look for visual elements for better understanding and AI art generators can be of great use here. Therefore using relevant images and infographics is crucial for user experience.
- Customer reviews and testimonials
Adding customer reviews and testimonials content to websites creates credibility.
When it comes to building an online presence, customer reviews and testimonials are very important. It helps create trust with your brand and eventually leads to more conversions and purchases.
- User-generated content
The key to building a brand and strengthening customer relationships? User-generated content!
UGC content is a form of content created by your customers who have experienced your brand's product and service. Adding UGC to your site helps in brand building and ultimately growing your business.
- Your story
Adding an ‘About us’ page on your website explains your existence and helps to build human connections.
It is the best way to showcase your mission and the reason behind your offering. People like to associate with people who understand their needs and requirements. And adding your story to your site communicates your resemblance with your customers.
The 7 Essential Steps to Effective Website Copywriting
Who wants to read a blog with head-scratching sentences and awkward wordings? In fact, there are various studies that show how bad grammar can hurt your credibility. So, when it comes to writing website copy, you need to be extremely careful.
Your web copy should be engaging and informative enough to keep your visitors on the page. It needs to compel them to click through and know what they’re going to find when they arrive at your site.
And if you’re a business, a well-written web copy will help you make more sales. Here are seven steps for effective website copywriting that will get you on the right track!
The Importance of a Strong Headline
When someone lands on your website, the first thing they notice is the headline.
Make sure your headline is clear and concise so that it makes people want to read more. If your headline isn’t compelling enough, your visitors will lose interest and leave the page.
Your headline needs to be short and crisp and provide a brief overview. For example, “How a Unique Marketing Strategy Increased Sales by 56%” tells visitors what this article is going to be about while inviting them in with curiosity-inducing statistics. To generate a captivating headline in seconds, try using Writesonic.
Keep your headline brief and direct rather than long-winded and complicated. According to a good rule of thumb, the shorter, the better—the shorter it is, the fewer time people will spend trying to figure out what it means, and the more time they will spend reading your article!
Create an Emotional Connection
The best way to engage your audience? Create an emotional connection!
When people feel a personal connection to your brand, they’ll be more likely to buy from you. This can be done through words and images.
For example, if you are selling Disney World tickets, you could write about how much fun your customers are going to have when they visit the theme park. Or maybe you sell a particular type of food and want to create an emotional connection with those who appreciate the taste. You could write about how it reminds them of their mother’s cooking in the kitchen.
A great way to create an emotional connection is by being transparent with your visitors – make sure that they know who you are and what makes your brand different from everyone else’s. This helps to build trust with your readers and potential customers as well!
Put Your Content in the Right Order
Organizing your content is one of the most important parts of website copywriting.
The first and most important part is writing a compelling headline. The headline should be short and snappy but also informative. It should tell people what they’re going to find on your site.
The next comes subheadings. It should basically give people an idea of the content on that page. For example, if you have a blog about different types of shoes for men, you might have a subheading titled “Casual Shoes for Men” and another subheading titled “Formal Shoes for Men." Give readers as much information as possible before they make their decision about reading further or not.
You can try adding a few pictures to grab attention. Plus, use bullet points to list items that are easy to skim over, like prices or shipping rates.
Finally, include some social media buttons at the end of your content so visitors can share it with their friends and followers via Facebook and Twitter.
Learn more about the AIDA model and how you can effectively apply it in copywriting.
Boost Your Website Traffic with SEO
Want to drive more traffic to your website? Make sure your content is SEO optimized.
When you search on Google, you usually check the links on the first page, right? Now let’s say if your website never shows up in those top results, then how will people actually find it? And if they don’t find it, how will they visit and buy anything from you? And this is why you need to focus on SEO optimization.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is important if you are looking to grow your business online. But because of a lack of time or skills, most businesses can’t come up with a solid SEO strategy. From keyword research and content evaluation to page optimization and internal linking, a lot of things are involved in SEO.
Here’s the key to ranking higher on Google - A good site structure, an optimized page title, and meta tags. Plus, you need lots of quality content and backlinks (links from other sites). All these things can help your site rank higher on search engine listings so people can find it easily. In other words: SEO builds traffic for your site!
To boost quality traffic for your website through SEO, here are a few tips:
- Understand your audience.
- Create engaging web content.
- Use persuasive language or messages.
- Edit all grammar mistakes or errors.
- Use keywords appropriately when writing content.
- Ensure all pages are well optimized.
Optimize your headline and description with SEO best practices
A powerful and optimized headline and description is the tool to drive skimmers to your website.
When it comes to website copywriting, it’s important to optimize your headline and description with SEO best practices. These are the two things that will be visible when someone searches for your business online. Your headline should be clear and concise but also interesting enough to make someone want to read more.
Your description is what gives people who click on your site a reason to stick around. Make sure it includes keywords related to the content of your page and tells the story of what you do or sell in an easy-to-read manner.
Focus On Quality, Not Quantity
Quality over quantity.
Quality should always be your top priority. The more you write, the lower the quality of the content will become. The solution?
Keep your copy crisp and to the point. Ensure that the content you are putting up on your website is of very good quality. Remember that your website is the visual representation of your business.
All you need to master is the art of writing faster without sacrificing quality.
Use graphics to make it easy to scan your site
Both visuals and content are equally important to make your website attractive.
The use of graphics is a crucial element when it comes to website copywriting. Graphics are helpful as they make it easier to scan your site. They can also be used to convey messages more visually, which will help people understand what you’re trying to say more quickly and easily.
Graphics should never be an afterthought but instead should be considered when creating content. Try to find a balance between text and images that work together to create a cohesive message.
Tips for writing a great copy
Your website is the backbone of your business. When potential customers visit your site, they are keen to know about the services and products you have to offer. And, as a business owner, you need to make them feel like they are in the decision-making process.
And, how’s that possible?
With a website copy that is compelling, informative, and engaging.
Remember, if your copy sounds too salesy, people will lose interest immediately. So, how to find that sweet spot for your copy? Well, here are a few tips for writing a great web copy:
Understand your target audience
As your website’s copywriter, it’s important to know who your target audience is. Remember, if your copy targets everyone, you may end up converting no one. Make sure that you understand your target audience and drive your copywriting efforts accordingly.
You need to go deep down and create a buyer persona that will help you understand your potential prospect's pain points. Ask these questions:
- What kind of questions do they have?
- What are their issues and concerns?
- What do they want to achieve?
- Which kind of content do they like to consume?
Knowing this will help you craft content that can attract your viewers' eyes and build relationships with them.
Analyze your competitors
Competitors analysis is the most important part. It can help you to understand what they are up to and also find content ideas.
You can check out what’s trending in the industry and create something similar to that. Moreover, you can take inspiration from what your competitors are posting.
Finally, discovering content gaps between your website and competitors can give you an extra edge in increasing your visibility.
Create a content framework
Next, after understanding your target audience and analyzing your competitors, it's time to use the content framework method to design the outline for your content.
To do so, you need to dig deep into the topic you want to create content. Find all the questions your audience is looking to answer, and you can use tools like Answer the public.
Cover all the concepts and topics that will make your web copy complete. You can revisit your competitor and see what's working for them. Once you create a proper structure for writing, it will be easier for you to draft your content.
Do proper keyword research
Keyword research is very important to make your content visible to your target audience.
You need to find out what terms and phrases have been used by your consumer to find your product and services. Using them in your content will help your audience to discover your content.
Keyword research will also make you aware of the intent behind the query. You can use this information to decide the type of content to produce. Because if you create content that does not resonate with the intent of your audience, then you will see a hike in the bounce rate of your website.
Keep your content to the point
How often have you landed on a website and couldn't find what you are looking for?
Well, that's because the information you are looking for is buried down.
So, it is very important to keep your content aligned with the ongoing conversation in your consumer's mind.
For example, if your consumers are looking for the best web designing tips. Then your content should straight away start with "The best web design tips are as follows."
This will help the user find what they are looking for without digging any deeper. Always remember two things:
- Keep the need-to-know information first, usually above the fold.
- Start with nice-to-know information at the second fold to complete your content.
This is crucial for every website section, including your home page, product page, and landing page.
Keep it short and crisp
Who actually wants to read long paragraphs? Also, these days the attention span of people is reducing, and more people tend to skim content.
No one wants to read long paragraphs. So, keep your copy short and crisp. Straightaway getting to the point will help in avoiding confusion as well.
Don’t be afraid of cutting things out if they don’t add anything to your message. Editing is an important part of copywriting. Have no mercy while editing your copy, and your copy will definitely work like magic.
Write as you speak
There’s a common misconception that you need to have top-notch writing skills for content writing, especially if you target English-speaking countries. But the reality is that an average American reads equivalent to 7th and 8th grade.
So, you don't have to be an excellent writer to entice your readers. Just write as if you would be explaining the same concept to your friend. To be honest, that works!
Make your prospect feel like you are talking to them. So, instead of thinking too much, start writing as you speak, and that would make an appealing web copy.
Before you write, understand what you want to say
Planning is key to great copywriting. You should know what you want to say before you write it. This way, you won’t have a lot of editing to do later.
The more time you spend in the writing process, the better your copy will be. It’s also important to know your audience so that you can write with them in mind.
For example, if you are targeting a younger audience, you might want to use phrases like “you guys” or “we rock!”
Structure your content
When you create content for your website, be it an informative blog, landing page, or homepage copy, always create a structure first.
Let’s say you are writing a blog post, so create an outline with proper headings and subheadings to keep the right flow of our content. This will also help your user find the information easily they are looking for.
Plus, a well-structured copy is easy to read and skim through and enhances the user experience.
Make your write-up easy to consume
Creating quality content does not only mean being informative and accurate. Rather it should be:
- Readable
- Easy to understand
- Usage of small sentences and paragraphs
- Using bullet points
- Demonstrating examples
- Jargon-free language
- Relevant Images
All these points make your content easy to skim and consumable. After all, everyone is just looking for answers to their questions.
So, make it easy for people to find what they are looking for, and you will see a huge hike in your website engagement rate.
Use visuals
A picture indeed speaks for a thousand words!
So, it's better to use images to support your content wherever it makes sense. These graphical elements can be a great medium to add value to your content. For example, you can use infographics to elaborate a concept, and videos can be best for product demonstrations.
On top of this, creating visuals can also be shared among the audience, leading to an increase in brand awareness and recognition.
Make your content unique
Even if you follow the best advice for writing content and craft it with creative visuals, if your content is not unique, it will not attract so many visitors. You need to add uniqueness to your website content to stand out from your competitors.
Moreover, your content should also be updated with current facts and figures. You do not want your content to include outdated information that would seriously impact your readership and organic presence.
Ask for feedback
After writing the content, the one thing that we usually miss out on is asking for feedback.
Asking for feedback can help us find fresh perspectives for our writing that we might have missed in the first place. You can ask for feedback from your colleagues, friends, or anyone that can provide you genuine feedback for your write-up.
Be specific about what you offer
People want to know what you have for them. They want specifics about your products or services and what they do. If you want someone to buy something, telling them all the benefits of your product is a good place to start.
Your audience doesn't care about you. Instead, they care about themselves. So, make sure you present your offer nicely and make the copy more about your audience and less about you.
Add an actionable CTA
When you are successfully able to attract visitors to your site. You wouldn't want to miss the chance to make them take action on your site. These actions can be related to signing up for your newsletter, filling out your lead form, and purchasing your product or service. This needs to be driven by a clear call to action such as:
- Buy now
- Sign up
- Read more
- Get Now
Note that you can also make your call to action different from the usual one used by other websites. You can even A/B test your CTA's to find the one giving you the max amount of conversion. In short, make sure to add an actionable CTA to your web copy.
Add results
Showing results helps you to prove your point and also build credibility. This is even more important because you are not the only one fighting for the same audience. And the best way to prove your content is better and trustworthy is to show the outcome result in front of your audience.
These results can be from customer testimonials or success stories. Going a bit extra mile enhances your credibility and helps you build authority in your niche.
Add value to the conclusion
The conclusion is a final takeaway in the form of a summary. But if you can include that extra tip instead of just summarizing it, it will make your content more valuable.
People are always looking for that extra tip and insight. And by doing so, you make your content complete and leave your audience with a bonus takeaway.
Bottom Line
Website copywriting is crucial for any business that wants to take advantage of the online world. Your copy can help to attract new customers, improve conversions, and generate leads on your site.
No matter if you’re looking for inspiration for your own copy or you want to learn how to create a better copy for your site, these tips should help you get started.
If you’re not sure where to start with your copy, try Writesonic.
Writesonic can help you to come up with better ideas and create an amazing website copy. Also, if you have keywords, you can expand on these to create a more engaging and effective copy for your site. This will help you to generate more leads and improve your overall conversion rates.
