In honor of our new website launching over here at pearlandwordsmith.com, we thought we’d dig into our advice on website copy. We write a lot of it for our clients, and one of the first questions they always seem to have is, “What should I even include on my business website?”
It’s a fair thing to mull over, given the contradictory advice we often get when researching website optimization. Many leading experts will tell you to ensure you have enough copy to make it crawlable for Google, but others will say that too much copy is going to overwhelm your visitors once they get there. Some will tell you to showcase just enough info to make readers reach out for more, while others recommend being completely transparent because your potential clients might not want to get in touch until they’ve pretty much decided to work with you.
The honest truth is that all of those tips have proved useful at one time or another. Often, the best technique for you will be based on your industry, audience, and goals for website visitors (do you most want them to buy something or are you just looking for them to join your email list). As with many pursuits in life and business, a thoughtful, customized path is the solution.
This strategic thinking is a part of our process when working with clients to write the copy for their business website. But today, we’re going to walk you through a few of the copy points we always advise including—in whatever way works best with the approach you’re taking.
#1 Your Offering
This probably seems obvious, but you would be surprised how many websites don’t showcase the business’ product or service clearly.
Some of our favorite ways to help visitors understand what you can do for them include:
Eye-catching tagline on the home page
Paragraph of copy on a “What We Do” page
Services listed out on the home page or the “Services” page
Grid of product images
But there are so many ways to get creative with conveying this info! Just remember to make it happen. Too many businesses get lost in talking exclusively about their founding, why they love what they do, etc. While those things are great to include (they showcase your longevity and passion for the industry!), you want to focus predominantly on your client—not you. Why should the visitor care about your business? What does it do for them? Your business website should answer those questions.
#2 People and Personality
The above being said, it is still important to imbue your business website with personality. A mistake we sometimes see clients make is wanting to remove themselves from the equation entirely. Unless you are an Apple-level business (and even then, Steve Jobs’ visibility did great things for the brand), you should probably be including headshots, bios, and the story of how you, individually, came to bring this company to life. Our advice is to use the home and services pages to speak to the info your client wants most: how you can change their life or work. But on the “Who We Are” or “About Us” page, be sure to inject some personal details.
People generally don’t love to engage with a nameless, faceless brand. Especially nowadays, when many of us actively try to support small businesses. Showcasing the minds behind your innerworkings will lend you a sense of relatability, reliability, and realness. It helps readers feel as if they know you, and that encourages them to complete whatever your call to action is.
And, that brings us to our next point!
#3 Call to Action
So, you’ve captured a visitor’s attention. They love the design, the fun catchy line of copy on the home page, and the smiling faces and fascinating bios of your team. But they’re left wondering … now what?
Never, ever forget to include a clear and concise call to action on your website. If you leave your visitors no option except to find your email address and phone number in the footer, you are going to be throwing away tons of potential leads. Trust us.
Step one: Decide on a clear, singular call to action. Whether it’s “get in touch,” “browse our products,” or “book now,” you need to have a consistent directive for visitors.
Step two: Incorporate that call to action above and below the fold. If you aren’t familiar with that concept, it stems from newspaper days. Publications would place the stories they felt most important above where the newspaper would be folded in half after printing. That way, it would most immediately grab attention. This applies to your business website. If visitors need to scroll to find your call to action, move it up!
#4 Persuasion
The job of website copy is manifold. Yes, it serves as the home base and representative of your brand. Indeed, it also acts as an informative resource for your clients and potential clients. And, it can be a direct gateway to business, via e-commerce purchases.
But your website is also a marketing platform. In fact, it is the only digital marketing outlet you fully control. This isn’t a resource to overlook. Social media often grabs initial attention and guides people to your business website. However, it’s what happens when they get there that matters most. Many people won’t pull the trigger on getting in touch or buying your product until they’ve visited—and had a good experience on—your website.
This is your opportunity to make the sale. You should include copy that makes it clear why your product or service can help a potential client.
#5 Clean and Polished Prose
38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout are unattractive.
74% of web users pay attention to the quality of the spelling and grammar on company websites and 59% felt they could not trust a company that made mistakes in these areas.
What do these fascinating statistics say to you? To us, they send a clear message: the quality of your website’s content matters. Design is a huge component of this, but so is copy.
No matter which of these five copy points you choose to incorporate into your business website (we’d vote for all!), the most important thing is that you execute them well.
Of course, that’s where we come in. For a beautifully written, perfectly on brand, mistake-free, and stylistically consistent suite of website copy, give us a shout! ;)
