The Beginner’s Guide to Website Copy

Aug 29, 2019

As a founder, you have a product or service that you are the ultimate expert on. Your mind is full of knowledge and you could sell anyone on your vision. However, communicating that idea into words can get a little lost…

Your company’s website may be the only chance to convince the customer of your product’s value. It needs to be clear, concise, and effective. Where do you even begin?

Here are 4 steps to get you started on writing effective website copy:

1) UNDERSTAND YOUR AUDIENCE

While you may be the expert on your product, your target audience is not. As you sit down to start writing your website copy, start by placing yourself in your audience’s shoes.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What problems of theirs are you solving?
  • What type of language and tone will resonate most with them?
  • Do they understand technical terms or do you need to veer on the side of simple vernacular?
  • Are they researchers who will spend time reading or do they simply want a quick answer?

By understanding your audience, you can reposition your mindset to think like them, ultimately communicating more effectively. To best understand your audience, interview them! Here is Why Customer Interviews are Critical and 10 Tips for Customer Interviews.

2) WRITE WITH CONVERSION IN MIND

Your website exists for one main reason – to convert customers. Whether that means simply collecting emails and contact information or actually selling a product or service on the spot, you need to always be driving for conversion. With that being said, every bit of copy that lives on your site, needs to be written with that in mind.

Start by thinking:

  • What action am I prompting with this message?
  • Is this taking the customer on a journey that will lead to a purchase?
  • What information does the customer need to feel confident in moving forward?

By setting your mindset around conversion, you will eliminate unnecessary “fluff” and ultimately produce a more effective, converting website.

3) CREATE A CUSTOMER JOURNEY

There is a reason for website navigation and pages. Most humans do not operate well with clutter, and we need our thoughts to be organized to move forward. This is what your pages are doing for the customer, and your website copy should serve as the navigation tool guiding them along those pages.

To create your customer journey begin by asking yourself:

  • Is my information being delivered to the customer at the right time and place on my site?
  • What is the sequence of information that will guide my customer to conversion?
  • What information can I give my customer to drive them to want to learn more?
  • How can I make it as easy as possible for my customer to get to the information they need?

By creating an easy-to-follow path for your customer, you can drive them to take the action in which you created the website for.

4) GET TO THE POINT

Have you ever left a website after 5 seconds when you could not immediately find what you were looking for? Customers are relying more and more on the internet to research products and services they need, but attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. If your customer has to work to find their answer, you most likely won’t be receiving their business.

Write with this #1 goal in mind:

  • Can my customer tell me what I’m selling after 5 seconds of looking at my site?

If the answer to this is no, start over and begin with that goal in mind.

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Blog provided by Clear Start Creative

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