Who's writing your home page?
You can write your own home page. After all, how hard could it be?
You can also hire a website copywriter like me to write it for you. Either way, you should know exactly what goes into crafting a home page that is purposeful and effective.
Think for a moment about the role your website has in contributing to the success of your business. Think about how your site works toward helping you achieve your goals. Your home page is your store front, your magazine cover, business card, brochure, and television commercial all rolled into one. It is your number one marketing tool, and it has an enormous job to do. Read more
Effective website copywriting converts visitors into customers.
What happens when visitors arrive on your website? Do they find the products and services they’re looking for? Are they compelled to buy?
Professional website copywriting intrigues visitors and converts them into paying customers.
If the writing on your website is sloppy or unclear, you won’t be able to convey your message, and your potential customers will become somebody else’s paying customers.
Making a Good Impression
Website visitors want information and they want it fast. The text on your site has to describe your offer, explain how it benefits people, establish why you’re the best provider, and persuade visitors to take action – order products, purchase services, fill out a form, or subscribe to your newsletter. Read more
How the website copywriting process works
I’ve already touched on the basics of website copywriting. Now, I’d like to present a more elaborate explanation of exactly what website copywriting entails.
Why should I do such a thing?
For starters, I think it’s only fair that my clients understand what I do for them, what they’re paying me for, and how I handle their projects.
Also, I’m discomforted by the idea that some small businesses are paying for website copy that’s thrown together in a matter of minutes. That gives me the shudders. If you hire someone to write your copy and pay a fair rate, you deserve quality service. You deserve someone who will put time, effort, and energy into your project.
I’m a methodical person, and I use methodology to my advantage in the services that I provide. Over time, I’ve developed a process that allows me to tackle website copywriting projects in a way that is both efficient and effective. Basically, I follow a series of steps, but they are flexible and allow room for creative thinking and word play. I find that using this process makes the work flow more smoothly while simultaneously making it more fun. Yep, I love what I do.
Because I know which steps I need to take and the order in which I need to take them, I can focus on creating quality content instead of worrying about how I’m going to get it done.
Here’s how I do it:
Step One: Understand the Project
The first step in any website copywriting project is simple: understand the clients’ needs. I need to know where the copy will be published, whether there are any space limitations, and if I should be using any keywords for SEO. I also need to establish the desired call to action. In other words, when website visitors read the copy, what should it encourage them to do next?
Step Two: Get to Know the Client’s Business
I can’t write a single word until I have a good, thorough understanding of my client’s business. It’s not enough to know that they sell carburetors. I need to know what kind of carburetors they sell, to whom their carburetors are sold, how much they are sold for, and whether or not they offer carburetor installation or just the actual carburetors. I also like to know how the business got started, who runs it, and their mission and philosophy.
Step Three: Collect and Review Materials
Before I start writing, I usually collect all my information into a single file. Sometimes it’s just a Word document filled with notes, links, and other tidbits that I’ve copied and pasted from email communications with my client. Just before I start composing, I like to go over everything so it’s fresh in my mind, and then I’m ready to write the outline.
Step Four: Outline
I love outlines. Some writers refuse to outline, and that’s okay too. But an outline usually only takes a few minutes and provides a road map for the rest of the project, which means I can travel through it quickly without losing my way or getting off track. Basically, it allows me to complete the work much faster, and this is a saving that I can pass on to my customers.
Step Five: Draft Copy
The outline is like a skeleton. When I start drafting, it’s much like filling in the skeleton — putting meat and muscle on the bones. This is where I get creative and have fun choosing the perfect language, images, and style to properly convey my clients’ message. This where I get to tell their story.
Step Six: Revise, Edit, Repeat
In order to let the light of creativity shine while I’m composing the rough draft, I cannot get hung up on technical details. If I’m worrying about commas and apostrophes or spelling and grammar, I cannot keep my attention focused on crafting sentences that compel website visitors. So, once the draft is done, I go through it several times to clean it up and make sure it’s grammatically correct.
Step Seven: Polish
Here’s a little writer’s trick: After you have revised your copy, let it sit for a few hours, preferably overnight. Then, come back with fresh eyes and give it a final polish. Invariably, you will find some unnecessary word that can be cut, some gap that needs to be filled with a catchy adjective, or even an empty space where a comma should be. Polishing leads to website copywriting that sparkles and shines!
Step Eight: The Send-Off
Once the copy is buffed to perfection, it’s ready to get sent off to the client. This is always a good feeling, the delivery.
Step Nine: Revisions
Everybody has personal preferences, and I’m no mind reader. Sometimes, in the initial project plan, a small but important detail gets left out. Like including a phone number in the website copy. Or using a special phrase (a tagline or slogan, perhaps) in the text. Maybe I used a word that rubs the client the wrong way. We all have our language peeves, and small business owners are no exception. I always invite clients to request a round of revisions to the final copy. This is usually a quick process and involves going through and changing a few words or adding a line or two. Most of the time, revisions aren’t necessary at all, but I still like to give everyone the option.
That’s it. My entire process. It might sound long and tedious with all those steps, but it’s a clean and proven way to provide the very best copy possible.
Website Copywriting
Scribizzy offers a full suite of website copywriting services.
A few months ago I launched a quest to find a new dentist, and it was not an easy task. My last dentist, while trying to poke around inside my mouth, informed his assistant that I was a hypersensitive patient (and sent her off to fetch the nitrous oxide). I’m sure that had something to do with the fact that I was maniacally clutching the armrest while burrowing my head into the dental chair. Oh yeah, and my mouth kept closing all by itself every time he lunged at me with a sharp instrument.
A few dental procedures gone wrong had made me wary, if not downright fearful, of dentists. So I need a professional who is compassionate toward patients with dental phobias and anxieties. I’m looking for a dentist with an extra-special skill set.
Since I’m one of those technology-savvy generation Xers and because I am also an internet professional, I launched my search online. Google gave me plenty of options, and I got busy perusing the many dentists within a fifteen-mile radius. Within minutes I had about a dozen potential dentistry websites opened, and I got busy reading through them to see which one would tell me what I wanted to hear: We are sympathetic to your fear of dentists. We won’t hurt you.
I happened across one such dentist early in my search. The text on his site was friendly and comforting. There was even a photo of him. He looked like a nice guy and not at all like the demented dentist from Little Shop of Horrors. But I wanted a list of dentists to choose from. So I kept his site open and continued my search.
A short time later I found another one that looked pretty good. As I started reading through this other guy’s site, I got this weird feeling. Haven’t I read something like this before? Haven’t I just recently (in the past few minutes) read these exact same words in this exact same order?
Two dentists. Same city. Same exact copy. Bad for business.
Good Marketing vs. Bad Marketing
I realize that small businesses have budget guidelines they must follow and sometimes they have to take shortcuts. But using generic copy on a website is never a good idea.
First of all, it was a little creepy. I mean, why would two different dentists have the same exact message? I’m not talking about similarities where one dentist says “Scared of dentists? We understand.” and another says “We understand that you’re scared of dentists.” I’m talking about the exact same copy, down to the periods, commas, and conjunctions.
At one point I had both of these sites open and was clicking back and forth between them, trying to sort it all out. My first concern was that these two dentists had been duped by the same copywriter. I quickly deduced that they had indeed used the same copywriter, but it wasn’t an actual copywriter; it was a copywriting service. Except the copywriting wasn’t a service; it was a product.
The clues let me to an outfit that was selling generic website copy to professionals. Even worse, the professionals were buying it.
Let’s Get Personal
In some situations, discovering duplicate copywriting on two different websites might not rattle me one bit. I probably wouldn’t have thought much of it if I had been searching for a mechanic or a home inspector, professionals who offer relatively generic services. But I am searching for a dentist. I’m going to let this person medicate me, drill holes in my teeth, and then fill them up with strange substances. He might even pull a tooth, and he’s certainly going to do whatever it is that dentists do to give you a sparkling smile. And if the same text on his site is on several other sites, well, then I know the words do not convey his unique message and don’t represent him specifically. It’s just out-of-the-box text. And for all I know, he might not mean a single word of it.
Now, maybe the cost of losing one perspective customer was worth the savings that these two dentists enjoyed by buying canned copy rather than hiring a copywriter. But I doubt I’m the only individual who noticed the duplicate copy and I also doubt that I’m the only person who was completely turned off by it.
I realize that because I’m professional website copywriter, I have a special way of looking at this situation. And because I don’t sell generic text, one would expect me to find such practices… well, distasteful. But I’m also a customer, a client, and a patient. Especially as a patient with some measure of dental phobia, I am anything but comforted by this plastic messaging.
When is Generic Acceptable?
Businesses are always trying to find a way to make a buck. I guess someone, somewhere thought it would be a good idea to write some web content for professionals and then resell that same content over and over. The idea is probably profitable for the person who thought up that scheme. It probably also seemed like a good idea to all of those professionals to whom they sold generic copy.
Some products and services can definitely get away with being generic. Website templates and stock photos are a good example of marketing materials that could be considered generic but are often employed, even by big businesses with large budgets.
But website copywriting just can’t get away with being generic. There’s a difference between a generic photo used for business and generic words used to speak to your customers. My own reaction was something like, “You don’t care enough about your patients (or your work) to send a more personalized message, and now you expect me to let you inside my mouth with pointy tools?”
Entrepreneurs and professionals need to be cognizant that marketing copy is a direct form of communication. While imagery and design can be powerful, language allows you to speak to your customers clearly and personally. There’s nothing clear or personal about canned text.
Last Words: Generic Website Copywriting and the SEO Effect
There’s one more consideration that I want to quickly address and will discuss at greater length in a future article: SEO (search engine optimization) and duplicate content. Because not only did these two dentists engage in online marketing tactics that have a distinct capacity to discourage (rather than encourage) new patients, this generic copywriting strategy could also have a detrimental effect on their search engine traffic.
Most SEO specialists agree that duplicate content across different websites is frowned upon by search engines. In other words, if a search engine sees that two sites are using the exact same copy, they both lose points and fall back on the search engine results page. This means that in addition to scaring off prospective clients, the copy that these two dentists were using could be hindering the amount of traffic they attract to their websites from search engines. That means fewer visitors and customers.
Like I said, generic website copywriting is just bad for business.
I’m sure that the two dentists have successfully brought in new patients from their websites. But they’ll never know how many potential patients they have lost.
You Say You Want Web Content Writing
When you’re doing business online, it’s essential that your written content is fresh, compelling, and written specifically for your target audience. Good website copywriting can make or break a website. It can turn a casual visitor into a loyal customer or convince a shopper to buy.
Hiring a professional website copywriter is a pretty good idea, but what if professional copywriting is not the service you really need?
Tell Me What You Really Want
I get requests from clients all the time for website copywriting projects that aren’t copywriting projects at all. Here are a few examples:
- How much will it cost for you to rewrite my home page? I need to get more traffic to my site.
- I’d like to get a press release published on several major media sites. How much will that cost?
- People who visit my site aren’t buying my product. Can you review my site and give me a quote to rewrite all of it?
Before you hire a website copywriter, you need to do one simple thing: identify your primary objective.
Figuring Out What You Need
In the examples above, written content was not necessarily part of the business owners’ true goal. Let’s take a closer look at each request.
How much will it cost for you to rewrite my home page? I need to get more traffic to my site.
You don’t want a new home page; you want more traffic. A freshly written home page might help you get more traffic, but this request has more to do with online marketing and search engine optimization than it does with website copywriting.
To draw traffic, you usually need to do one of three things. First you can pay for advertising or use search engine marketing (SEM). Second, you can find ways to get links to your site from other sites. Finally, you can optimize your site so it draws people who are looking for your product or service using search engines. This is called search engine optimization (SEO).
Note that search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) are two different things.
SEO in particular is closely linked to website copywriting because the copywriter must use keywords in the composition of the text. However, SEO is its own field of study, and I’ll talk more about what SEO is and how it can help you get more traffic in an upcoming post.
I’d like to get a press release published on several major media sites. How much will that cost?
Every time I get this request, my first question is always, “What’s the news?” And the answer is almost always “We want to tell people about our site.”
A press release is a news item and is usually a time-sensitive announcement. If your website sells eyewear, then a press release probably isn’t right for you unless your sunglasses allow people to travel through time or your spectacles give a wearer the ability to fly. That’s news!
You can create news, of course, and then a press release will be entirely appropriate. Running a major promotion or special could be newsworthy. A new product or website launch may also be newsworthy.
Interestingly, this request isn’t really for a press release. Like the first request, what this client actually wants is more traffic. There are a lots of ways to get traffic and a press release is only one of them.
People who visit my site aren’t buying my product. Can you review my site and give me a quote to rewrite all of it?
The real question being asked is this: why aren’t people buying my product?
It may have nothing to do with the written content and everything to do with the type of traffic the site is attracting. Or, maybe it’s not so much that people aren’t buying – they just haven’t found the site at all.
What you want to know is:
- How many visitors are coming to the site?
- Who is visiting the site? Where are they coming from?
- Why aren’t they responding to the call to action?
When people aren’t buying your product or hiring you, the first thing you need to do is check your traffic statistics to see how many people have stopped by. Your stats should tell you how long they stay on your site and which pages they read during their stay.
Next, you want to know the source of the visitors. Are they coming in through links? Social media? Search engines? Maybe the traffic you’re getting isn’t your target customer base.
For example, let’s say you’re a florist named Kate Tomlin and you grow your own lilies, so that’s the flower you feature most on your site. Due to the combination of the words “lily” and “Tomlin,” you often get search traffic for “Lily Tomlin.” In fact, you get a lot of it.
Rewriting your home page is not going to make these visitors buy your lilies because they’re not looking for flowers, they’re looking for the actress Lily Tomlin.
When Website Copywriting is Appropriate
A really good website copywriter should be able to tell you if you’re ready for copywriting services and many web content writers provide SEO copywriting and a host of other online marketing services that are designed to help you get more traffic or increase sales. A professional website copywriter can also review the existing content on your site and determine whether it needs to be polished, revised, or completely rewritten. Weak copy can have a negative impact on sales. Refreshing the written content leads to better writing, which will have a positive effect on sales margins.
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