In today’s digital marketplace, your website is often your first interaction with a potential customer. It may be your only opportunity to make a good impression and get your business on their short list. It’s important to make sure that every aspect of your website clearly and concisely represents your business and what it has to offer. Business owners often put most of their resources into website design, leaving copywriting to take a back seat.
Sometimes copy is simply transferred from a previous website without being updated. This can seriously damage your credibility. In a recent article, Search Engine Journal stated that 81% of respondents think less of a brand if its website is not updated. In some cases, the copy is written by the business owner themselves. The problem with do-it-yourself copy is that while it may be technically correct for the company’s industry, it may not be written in a way that engages and converts your audience. Website copywriting is just as important as the performance of your website. Unless you have an experienced copywriter in-house, you may want to consider hiring a professional.
Engaging copy
No matter what people are searching for online, the architects email lists uk options are endless and the competition is fierce. Your website needs to stand out and deliver what they want. The number varies from study to study, but on average you have between three and fifteen seconds to grab a visitor’s attention and entice them to explore your site. While your website design may initially grab their attention, that alone isn’t enough to keep them there.
Most visitors will quickly scan your website, and if nothing piques their interest, they’ll click over to one of your competitors’ sites. Visitors come to your website to find a solution. Create page headers that tell them that you can provide that solution. Your subheadings should clearly highlight how they’ll benefit from it. Engagement is key when it comes to website copywriting. The goal is to encourage visitors to stop searching and start reading.
Establishing your brand
Now that you have their attention, it’s time for visitors to learn about your company, what you have to offer, and your core values. How visitors perceive your brand directly impacts their decision to do business with you. Every business is unique, and quality copywriting is essential to establishing your brand’s personality. Think about the key characteristics of your business. Does your copy project these characteristics?
For example, copy for a law firm’s website should evoke a more serious and professional image, while copy for an event planner’s website might be a little more relaxed and lighthearted. In addition to establishing your brand, your copy needs to make it relatable to your target audiences. A law firm’s copy should empathize with the needs of potential clients, expressing concern and support. An event planner’s copy should connect with the emotions of the event, whatever it may be—wedding, birthday, bar mitzvah, etc.
The copy on both sites should describe the benefits of using the service in a concise, easily digestible way that can be absorbed quickly and draw the reader in for more information. Rather than simply reading text, quality copywriting should be more conversational, allowing the visitor to get to know your brand and build trust.
Keep in mind that market trends and your audience’s needs can change, which is why it’s so important to keep your website copy up to date. The SEJ article mentioned earlier also stated that 39% of respondents would think twice about using a product or service if the website wasn’t up to date.
Professional review
Have you ever visited a website and, even though the copy looked good, you were distracted by typos, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors? Your company may be the best in its industry, but these types of copywriting issues can make it look amateurish or unprofessional. If you’re writing your own copy, proofread it carefully and then proofread it again—or, better yet, have someone else proofread it for you. You may also want to read it out loud so you can hear how it sounds.
When you use professional copywriting services, your finished copy will be grammatically correct and free of spelling errors and typos. Professional copywriters sometimes write thousands of words a day. Not only does this help improve their expertise, but it also increases the opportunity for a mistake or two. After all, they’re only human. It’s standard practice for copywriters to proofread their work multiple times, and they often use specialized software to help eliminate errors. If part of a team, copywriters will also proofread each other’s work.
Optimizing for SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of obtaining traffic from “free,” “organic,” “editorial,” or “natural” search results on search engines. The goal of SEO is to get your business to appear on the first page of a Google search or any other search engine, without the benefit of paid advertising or promotion.