Script below:
Hi, everyone, and welcome to Perfectly Planned Content’s Writing Wednesday video series, where we dive into the power of words and the many ways writing impacts your business. I’m Lauren Keller, Director of Content and Strategy, and I’m thrilled to bring you a video series completely dedicated to the craft of writing.
Today, I want to take some time to talk about an essential element of your brand; your website.
Your website is often your brand’s first impression. Unless a prospect meets you in person, your website will be their introduction to you and your services. So, you want to ensure you get it right.
Your goal is to create website copy that’s stunning, evocative, and ultimately attracts the right clients. How can you accomplish this?
Let’s look at five things to get you started.
1. Give Each Page a Purpose
The words on your website are like prime real estate, location matters.
It’s important to have the right text in the right places, so your audience can easily interact with your brand. If you don’t let readers know who you work with until the very end, they may leave before you have the chance to entice them.
To start, create a site map or all the pages of your website. The most common we tend to see are,
- Home
- About/Meet the team
- Services
- Resources
- Contact
Now, list out all the pages on your site (or the ones you want to have) and describe their corresponding purpose. Your home page, for example, should directly mention what you do, who you want to attract, how you can go about solving their problem, and why you’re qualified to do so.
Going through this exercise may reveal issues or inconsistencies in your current copy. You could also find that you have too many dropdowns that say the same thing or that your message is inconsistent across pages.
2. Write From Your Audience’s Point of View
As the business owner, much of the decisions come from your vantage point—but it’s time to choose another seat. When writing copy for your website, you want to do so from your audience’s shoes.
Remember, your website isn’t about you, your incredible brand, or all the grand plans you have to take over your industry.
Your website is about your clients—present and future.
Writing copy from that lens will instantly change your mindset. Ask yourself,
- What are your audience’s hopes and dreams?
- What roadblocks stand in the way of them achieving their goals?
- How do you want your readers to feel when interacting with your website?
- How can your business guide them to the best solution?
When you put your audience first, they’ll definitely notice.
3. Don’t Shy Away From Problems
Sometimes brands want to keep things warm and fuzzy and act like there aren’t any problems to solve. But if that were true, why would a client need you?
Don’t be afraid to talk about the problems you have answers to and solutions for.
Think about Vroom; now that’s a brand that certainly doesn’t shy away from conflict. Their commercials/messaging often depict a typical person looking for a new car. That person can either endure a horror-movie-esque experience at a dealership or buy/sell their vehicle entirely online with Vroom.
While you don’t have to be that extreme, it is crucial to address the problems your clients face and how you can guide them through the process.
4. Know When To Stop Writing
When in doubt, keep your website copy short and sweet. Your readers aren’t there for a novel—if you give them one, they’ll leave.
Brevity is your friend, so lean into it.
That’s all I’ll say on that (get it)?
5. Optimize, Optimize, Optimize
Now that you have your audience eating out of the palm of your hands, it’s time to get Google on board as well.
You must take great care to optimize your website so search engines can easily access it. After all, why spend all this time creating stunning copy that no one can find?
Start by conducting thorough keyword research for short-tail, long-tail, and local keywords. Think about what type of language your audience uses to search for your product/service. It might be something like “financial advisor near me” or “high-net-worth wealth management.”
Cross-check your research with keyword optimization sites like Ubersuggest, Semrush, and even Google. Once you know what keywords work best for your audience and brand, use them throughout your site—make them headers and part of your copy.
Here are some other things to consider when optimizing your website.
- Use H1, H2, and H3 headings appropriately
- Write meta descriptions
- Include alt tags and descriptions for images
- Remain conscious of image size
- Ensure the site is mobile-friendly
These five tips merely scratched the surface of website copy best practices. Stay tuned for an in-depth look at the dos and dont’s for each website page.
Thanks for watching!
Until next time.
