Website copy – the written words on a company’s website – determines how your brand is perceived by potential customers.
Getting the words right is tricky, but increasingly, website copy is an essential part of any brand’s marketing strategy. Here are our answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about web copy to help you in crafting yours:
1. What is website copy?
Simply put, website copy is the core text on your website. It tells website visitors about your brand, navigates them around your site and persuades them to take direct actions, like getting in touch or purchasing a product.
The purpose of website copy is to build relationships and trust with your target audience by sharing relevant information. It is the umbrella term for all of your site’s content – encompassing home page copy, blogs, articles, case studies, etc.
The core website copy – that based on the static pages of your website, such as ‘home’, ‘about us’ or ‘services’ should tell people everything they need to know about your brand – what you do, why you exist, how you stand out and what you value – your DNA.
2. How does good website copy help my business?
There’s a common phrase: “Your website is your 24/7 salesperson.”
There are lots of factors to getting a website right: but copy ultimately tells visitors what your product or service is, why it exists, and how it’s different. It creates excitement, interest and generates business – just like a skilled salesperson.
90% of customers now regularly research online before buying a product or service. Persuasive website copy helps to set you apart from competitors. Be sure you’re not too salesy – focus on the customer, showcase that you understand them – their goals and their pain points.
In addition to your customers, your web copy also tells search engines who you are. The more focused your copy, the more likely that your website will appear in relevant organic search results (increasing your SEO), bringing even more potential customers to your website.
3. What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving your site’s presence in search engines such as Google, so it that appears above your competition.
There are lots of ways to improve your SEO. This guide from Moz is a good place to start. When optimising website copy for SEO, focus on readability – incorporate short paragraphs, bullet pointed lists and images to break up text. Integrating relevant keywords into your copy will also help to improve your position in search engines.
4. What are keywords?
Keywords are the words and phrases on your website that match the queries people type into search engines. Including keywords on your website tells Google (and other search engines) that you are providing relevant information to these searches.
The keywords you should incorporate on your website will be unique to your business and should be reflect the queries your potential customers are searching for. Google’s keyword planner is a great (and free) first point of call for discovering new keywords.
5. What does good website copy look like?
Copywriting is a skill – it’s harder than it looks to create great copy that engages your audience. But here are some pointers that will set you up for success.
Your copy should be compelling, clear and concise. This study showed 79 percent of users scanned new pages rather than reading word by word. Don’t hide your point in fluff or jargon – it’s more likely to be skipped over.
Know and understand your target audience. You can use this in your website text to acknowledge the problems and needs of that audience, then establish your product or service as the solution.
After capturing their attention, incorporate a call to action, acting as a signpost for what a potential customer should do next after reading.
6. What is a call to action?
A call to action (or a CTA) is a tool used to lead visitors to perform a specific action on your site. It can be a hyperlink, widget or pop up, but it should be specific and direct about what it does, eg get in touch, start your free trial or download our e-book.
Call to actions get your customer to the next stage of their journey on your website. They’re essential to convert prospects into clients and customers.
Calls to action should be throughout your website, although adapted for different consumer needs. For example, your homepage is likely to have more and broader CTAs, whereas a landing page will typically reference one specific action, to avoid overwhelming the visitor with ‘the paradox of choice’.
7. What is a landing page?
Landing pages are where a visitor ‘lands’ after clicking a link from an email, ad or other digital location. They encourage users to reach one action, such as signing up for an email newsletter.
When writing copy for a landing page, be aware that you may be writing for a slightly different audience and purpose, or for those further along in their customer journey. These are the visitors that are more likely ready to follow your call to actions.
If you’re looking to create copy that attracts and engages your target audience, Kinetic can help.
For more information, get in touch.
