Web copy – getting it write!

When business owners tackle writing their own website copy, they very often get bogged down with the technical stuff like SEO, keywords, META tags, calls to action, main head and sub heads and internal linking and forget one of the most important things – audience engagement. It’s all well and good having nailed the build and added what you think is great content because you ticked all the technical boxes above, but all your hard work won’t pay you dividends if your reader isn’t feeling the love.

You need more than basic marketing tools when it comes to writing web copy, so here are some things to think about:

• Is your customer base – your audience – tech savvy or do they need a little help to find their way around? This is a good indicator as to how you carry out the design, build and how you speak to your audience.
• Always write unique copy which is of value to your reader; present it in a way that clearly and accurately reflects who you are, what you do and what product or service you are offering – make it instantly visible to the naked eye before your reader gives up looking for what they need.
• The best thing you can do is to create a useful, information-rich site; useful content is the biggest thing that Google says can help your SEO.
• Do a little exercise with your friends, family or trusted customers – ask them what they would search for when searching for your business online – write those search terms into your copy and cover all your bases.
• Depending on your business type you may choose to include more images on your website, over word count. Products are great to include visually, whereas services need more description – but keep it short and sweet. If you’re using people shots in your website, may sure you have a diverse range of pictures – as your audience comes in many forms.
• Regularly update your content – if you don’t have time to do this regularly yourself, engage with other business owners who can offer valuable information-rich content that would appeal to your audience and ask them to guest blog! Alternatively, add in a case study or new testimonial once a month. Google love an update!
• Give clear instructions in your CTA. Call to action is vital – you can meet your customers’ needs so tell them what you need them to do to make contact – phone, email, text, social media – whatever method you choose is great, just make sure you give them a clear instruction and an easy way to do it!

Here are Wendy Jennings Creative, this is what I do! I help my clients get the maximum impact from their website copy and give critical analysis on existing sites to see how they can be improved. If you would like to book a review with me, please email me at hello@wendyjenningscreative.co.uk

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