What’s a good website?
One that attracts visitors and turns them into customers.
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It’s that simple.
Your website is an important sales tool.
Its purpose it to get more hot leads in the inbox, bums on seats, and money in the bank.
Still, there are many websites out there that are boring, lack personality, and completely miss the mark.
Don’t let yours be one of them!
In my 20+ years working on websites, as a copywriter and agency project manager, I’ve learned that a winning website needs three things done well: tech, design, and copy.
When I say tech, I mean a solid infrastructure and functionality.
Things like your technical SEO, domain name and page URLs, the hosting platform, loading speed and responsiveness.
Design, of course, as it sets the first impression and that directly impacts brand perception, user experience, and conversion rates.
Then there’s the words.
Although words feature on every single website in the world, web copy doesn’t always get the care and attention it deserves.
You’d be surprised just how many websites have copy that makes users bounce before they even understand what’s on offer.
Well-written website copy is important, and here’s why:
- It boosts your Google rankings
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Nobody wants their website to show on the second or third page of Google.
If you’re not ranking on page one, you won’t be found.
To get to the top of Google’s search results, you’ll need strategic SEO (check out Good Oil Marketing for this) and quality copywriting.
No, it’s not about peppering a bunch of keywords onto the page.
It’s about understanding what your audience is searching for, delivering value, and adding the right calls to action. When that’s done right, you’ll see better rankings, traffic and conversions.
- It builds trust and credibility
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If the words on your website resonate and show how you can solve your ideal customers’ problems, you’re doing it right.
A good website has valuable content, such as a blog, and shows that you’re an expert in your field.
When your audience sees that you genuinely understand their problems and that you can provide the answers and solutions, they are much more likely to trust your advice and work with you.
Top Tip: UGC, or user generated content, is especially powerful because it comes from a third party. You could go down the influencers route if you have the budget, but building trust and credibility can also be done by including testimonials and case studies in your copy. Real-life success stories and positive feedback make people see that your products or services are worth their investment.
- It helps visitors become customers
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Good website copy helps your visitors understand what you offer and why they need it. Don’t forget, you only have seconds to grab their attention.
Good copy drives action. To encourage those actions, you need words that are persuasive and show how what you offer makes life easier for your audience. If your copy doesn’t speak to them, they’ll just bounce.
- It qualifies your leads
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If you often get enquiries from people that turn out to be timewasters or are simply not the right fit for your business, or if you hardly get any leads in the inbox at all, your website could be to blame.
Perhaps it has gone stale, your copy is vague, or you don’t quite understand the customer journey.
Another major reason that websites miss out on strong leads is weak CTAs (Calls to Action). For your website to generate quality leads, it must be clear, concise, persuasive and offer value.
- It makes you stand out from your competition
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The more you know about your direct competition, the better.
Look at their websites and social media presence. What do they do well, and what’s not so great? As said, most websites don’t show much personality, so you have a real opportunity to do it better.
Based on your core values and unique selling point (USP), you can formulate your brand tone of voice (TOV).
As soon as you start using that and you do it consistently, you’ll communicate effectively, attract the right audience, and gain that competitive edge.
How you can make your words more memorable
- Make your copy customer centric
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Have you ever met someone for the first time and all they talked about was themselves? Did you enjoy that conversation?
Probably not! Great copy puts the customer first and truly connects with people. It has words that resonate and answers to the questions they have.
Only if you get into your customer’s headspace, you can make that all-important connection. Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about them! More about that here.
- Keep your copy fresh and relevant
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When was the last time you gave your website content a refresh? If you can’t remember or say, “a long time ago”, it’s probably gone stale. For both search engine results and audience satisfaction, your website regularly needs new material to keep it relevant.
Broken links, bios of staff members who left last year, 404 error pages and blog posts from six years ago are not a good look. Your business grows and changes, and your website should keep up.
- Use AI, but don’t rely on it 100%
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Copy/pasting from ChatGPT for all your marketing copy is bad for business.
Don’t get me wrong, AI is great and gets better every day, but when a professional human writes the words for your website, you’ll get better results.
For it to be effective, your copy needs to make a real and personal connection. There’s a huge difference between AI generated and AI assisted copy, and no machine (at least for now), can trump the creativity of a great human copywriter.
My little biz is called Sweet Orange, and I help clients stand up and stand out with words.
If you run a creative agency that needs a good copywriter or if you are a businessowner who needs an SEO copywriter for a specific project, let’s chat.
Author: Martine Pierhagen
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