Your website is often the first point of contact between your business and potential customers.
But even the most beautiful and user-friendly website won’t convert visitors into customers without compelling copywriting. Fortunately, it’s a skill that can be easily learned.
By understanding your target audience and crafting copy that resonates with them, you can create a website that not only looks great but also drives results.
Website copywriting is the process of writing words that persuade visitors to take action, whether that’s making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to your newsletter.
Beyond getting visitors to do something, great website copywriting is also about creating a connection with them, building trust, and creating a more compelling online presence that resonates with them. The aim is to make audiences feel they have met a kindred personality in your brand.
This Guide is part of a series of guides connected to “Content Marketing: The Practical Guide For Brand Owners.”
To find a special gift waiting for you on this page, click the button below to take a peek, before you read on …
The word “copywriting” originates from the advertising industry. It is supposed to suggest a “persuasive style of writing.”
Website copywriting is the process of creating written content for websites. The primary goal of website copywriting is to engage and persuade website visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a newsletter.
When we talk of websites, we have to begin thinking of them as a “bunch of disparate pages.” Every page on a website has its own mandates to fulfill.
Website copy can take many forms, including product descriptions, landing page copy, blog posts, and more. A skilled website copywriter will use language and persuasive techniques suitable to each page … to capture the attention of readers, highlight the benefits of the product or service being offered, and create a sense of urgency or excitement that leads readers to take action.
Effective website copywriting requires a deep understanding of target audiences and their needs and knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. The website content has to be discoverable by search engines to help drive organic traffic to the site.
The website copywriter also needs a deep understanding of the market and competitors’ strengths – plus a feel for the brand’s personality whose website is being created.
Finally, the web copywriter must understand all the devices on which the website will be read.
The website is the online “base” of any brand. Would you do any less if you were building a brick-and-mortar headquarters for your brand? That’s how important a website is in the online world.
Website copywriting is vital to brands for several reasons.
Engaging and persuading visitors: Well-written website copy can capture visitors’ attention and convince them to take action, such as purchasing or signing up for a service.
Establishing credibility: Clear, concise, and informative website copy can help establish a brand’s credibility and build trust with potential customers.
Improving search engine rankings: Search engines such as Google use complex algorithms to rank websites based on various factors, including the quality of the website copy. Effective website copywriting can improve a brand’s search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find their website.
Differentiating from competitors: A brand’s website copy can differentiate it from its competitors by highlighting unique selling points and creating a strong brand voice.
Enhancing user experience: Well-organized and easy-to-read website copy can enhance the user experience, making visitors more likely to return to the site and make repeat purchases.
Effective website copywriting is essential to a brand’s digital marketing strategy, helping to drive traffic, build brand awareness, and increase conversions.
"Writing for the internet is completely different than writing offline. First, people consume online content on LOTS of different devices. Second, “switching costs” online are super low: your readers are only one click away from Facebook, YouTube, or someone else’s blog. This means your copy needs to be insanely good. And the secret to grabbing hold of someone’s attention? Strong web copywriting."
"Web content can help you communicate your solutions in the best way possible to your target audience. It can help you talk to your potential customers in a language they understand and resonates with them. Make no mistake: great copy can change the way people feel about your product and give them the extra push they need to take the next step in forming a relationship with your business."
The objective of a Home Page is to create a positive first impression. It is typically the most visited page on a website, so it should be designed with some clear objectives in mind.
Ultimately, your Home Page is where you can –and should – encourage visitors to engage with your brand further.
A website Home Page is the first thing visitors see when they arrive at your site, so it’s essential to make a strong impression and communicate your brand’s value proposition. I believe that a website’s Home Page should contain at least these 11 elements:
Overall, a website Home Page should be well-organized, visually appealing, and easy to navigate – with clear calls to action that encourage visitors to explore your site further and take action.
The copy “above the fold” on a website’s Home Page is the content visible on the screen without scrolling. This content is usually the first thing visitors see when they land on the page, and it’s important because it can significantly impact their first impression of the brand and their decision to stay or leave the website.
There are three reasons why you should pay special attention to this area.
Alex Cattoni has come up with an outstanding video – and this one is dedicated to Home Pages, which have “authority” written all over them!
As Alex says, “Whether you’re writing copy for your own website, or sprucing up the Home Page for a client, you want to make sure to GET IT RIGHT because it’s where people go when they want to know more about you and what you do. The goal of your homepage is to create trust, build authority and offer next steps! It’s your public image, which is why I like to refer to your website homepage as your PR page! It’s public relations at its finest…”
An About Page is one of a website’s most frequently visited pages, after the Home Page. Here are some reasons why an About Page is important:
Overall, an About Page is a powerful tool for building trust, establishing credibility, and connecting with visitors.
Here are some key elements that your About Page should include:
Your brand’s mission and values: Explain the purpose of your website and the values that guide your operations.
Your brand’s story: Share your brand’s history (and your own story as the brand owner) … explain how you got started and any critical milestones along the way.
Your team members: Introduce the people in your team, including their roles, expertise, and experience. This helps visitors build a personal connection with your brand.
Your credentials: Highlight any relevant certifications, awards, or other achievements that establish your personal credibility as the website owner.
Link to your contact form: Provide a way for visitors to contact you or the website through an email address or contact form.
Your social proof: Share any testimonials, reviews, or case studies demonstrating your brand’s impact.
Overall, an About Page should be informative, engaging, and authentic. It should help visitors understand what your website is about, why it matters, and why they should care.
Telling your brand story on your About Page can make a compelling case for readers. They love to hear stories and will get inspired to see how you’ve climbed the ladder to success.
But, at the same time, attention spans are short, and no one likes to read an endless story with minutiae about every travail and tribulation you valiantly overcame on your way to the top. Brevity is an asset and not a fault in storytelling.
Use storytelling powerfully on your About Page to make readers feel you, too, are “one of them.” You can show them how to succeed since you know their pains, empathize with them, and have the solutions to the success they seek.
Also, if you’ve noticed from literature, most great stories end with a moral. Why? Because the objective of the story is to explain the lessons learned.
Tell your story to your audiences to show them how you’ve learned something valuable you can pass on to them – and how you continue to learn and will continue to share that with them too. That is how you create a need in audiences to stay with you once they’ve befriended you.
This video from Wes McDowell has all the reasons you need to pay great attention to copywriting your About Page. He also gives you 5 inspiring examples of About Pages done just right.
He shows you why each one works so well. So follow his tips and insights. You’ll start to see how to create an About Page that hits all the right notes and turns more prospects into paying customers/clients.
Products and Service Pages are essential components of a website because these pages provide detailed information about your offerings. They can play a vital role in attracting and converting visitors into customers.
Here are some facets of Products and Service Pages to pay attention to:
Even if your website does not do any e-commerce per se, it is vital to create solid Products and Services Pages to show the strength of your business.
There are some techniques of copywriting that work well for Products and Services Pages:
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and OTO (One Time Offer) are powerful marketing tactics that can increase conversions and sales on Products and Service Pages.
FOMO is the feeling of anxiety or apprehension that people experience when they believe they may be missing out on something valuable or interesting. By creating a sense of urgency or scarcity, FOMO can motivate potential customers to take action quickly and make a purchase.
For example, a product page might include language such as “Only 3 left in stock” or “Sale ends tonight” to create a sense of urgency and encourage customers to act quickly.
An OTO is a special offer only available once – and is designed to encourage customers to make a more significant purchase or to add additional items to their order. For example, a Service Page might offer customers a discounted package deal if they purchase multiple services simultaneously. By presenting customers with an attractive offer at the point of purchase, OTOs can increase the overall value of each transaction and generate more revenue.
FOMO and OTO can be effective ways to boost conversions and sales … but it’s essential to use these tactics ethically and transparently.
Customers are more likely to purchase when they feel they are being treated fairly and honestly. You have to use these tactics in a way that is authentic and aligned with your brand values.
Most people find it easier to write Product Pages than Service Pages. Products have specific features, so your copy must list them and explain their benefits attractively.
Service Pages are slightly different because consumers cannot physically see a service. They must rely on other factors of your argument to decide whether to try or buy your service.
So what goes into the writing of intelligent conversion-driven Service Pages? Learn from this video by Christie Bilbrey.
Most brand marketers don’t realize that a Blog and a website differ. Although a Blog can be a part of a website, the website is like a digital brochure (with the slow-changing company and product information), whereas a Blog is like a digital magazine (with fresh content all the time).
How you use a blog is best exemplified by John Deere, the renowned agricultural implements marketing company. John Deere started a magazine for farmers called The Furrow to sell their products indirectly. Here they published helpful articles for farmers, not necessarily related to their products.
But because of liking the magazine’s content, farmers began noticing the publisher John Deere as a most trustworthy name in agricultural implements –and started buying their products.
This is how a Blog complements a website. The Blog must be full of fresh articles of value to a customer interested in your niche or product area. If you sell skincare products, your Blog can be like a magazine on beauty. If you sell running shoes, your Blog can be like a magazine on fitness.
Your Blog must aim to feed the reader with valuable and interesting articles without directly trying to sell your products. Indirectly, though, it will promote brand awareness, brand familiarity, brand trust, and brand sales.
Blog copywriting should aim to engage and inform the reader while also meeting the marketing goals of the Blog owner. These goals include driving more website traffic, building brand awareness, or encouraging reader engagement.
To achieve these goals, Blog copywriting should:
Writing Blog posts that get your website a lot of traffic requires a combination of high-quality content, effective promotion, and search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. If you’re not familiar with SEO, you won’t know how to write Blog Posts that get loads of free traffic to your website from search engines like Google or Bing.
Hubspot has this wonderful video that shows you how to write SEO-driven Blog posts with ease. Just follow their process diligently, and you’ll be well on your way.
To find a special gift waiting for you on this page, click the button below to take a peek, before you read on …
A Contact Page is an integral part of a website that allows visitors to contact you or your company. Here are some elements that a Contact Page should typically contain:
Overall, the goal of a Contact Page should be to make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you or your company in a way that is convenient for them.
There are certain elements that you should avoid including on a Contact Page:
By avoiding these common mistakes, you can ensure that your Contact Page is practical and user-friendly.
Depending on your business and industry, consider other options, such as a dedicated quote request form or a direct phone or email contact for quote requests.
A contact form on a Contact Page can feel impersonal to visitors, who may prefer to speak directly with a sales or customer service representative when requesting a quote. Using a contact form may also make your business seem less approachable or less interested in personal interactions.
Further, a prospective customer needs to feel special – and sometimes, asking them to use the general contact form for requesting quotes feels like they are being put in the general queue instead of being given a special status.
Typically Contact Pages tend to look pretty ordinary, even when the rest of the website is well-dressed. This is probably because you may believe there’s not much to add on a Contact Page that can be very exciting. But think again.
For inspiration, look at these ten examples that Kori Ashton has put together in this video. She explains how each example has something extra. Even those Contact Pages with less content can have brevity of a different appeal!
Creating the Testimonials Page for your website can have many advantages and challenges. For one thing, you have to write less yourself. But there can be a problem with testimonials from customers who may have great things to say but not a polished way of writing it.
I am always asked if marketers can “polish” the testimonials given by clients if the ideas are untouched and only the language is smartened. It would be a tad akin to cheating if you did that, so I would not advise that route.
There is an in-between solution that could work, though. There are tools online called “testimonial generators.” You could ask your clients to use these tools to input their ideas of what they want to say and have the generators turn out some smart-sounding versions of their testimonials that pass the grade for language and style.
While these testimonial generators may not be as personalized or authentic as those written personally by customers, they can still provide valuable social proof for your business.
(Don’t tell your clients to use these tools to improve their language … say it may help them string testimonials with speed as busy people.)
Other ways to get crisp testimonials would be to use social media reviews. For instance, informal and short Twitter testimonials never sound wrong because that is the style of language on social media.
Your Testimonials Page is a great way to build trust with potential customers and showcase the positive experiences of previous customers. Here are some best practices:
Some things just should not be done on your Testimonials Page. Here’s a quick list:
Using case studies can effectively provide more in-depth information about how your product or service has helped customers achieve their goals.
Using case studies can help build credibility and trust with potential customers because it shows that your product or service has been successful in real-world situations.
When creating a case study, including the customer’s name, company, and relevant details about their experience with your product or service. Use concrete examples and data to demonstrate the results they achieved, and make sure the case study is well-written and easy to understand. You can also use visuals, such as graphs or charts, to help illustrate the results.
Case studies can be a powerful form of social proof because they demonstrate that others have had a positive experience with your product or service.
This video below from Boast explains how testimonials differ from reviews and how you could use both to burnish your brand’s credibility.
Among other differences, testimonials are usually presented in a more polished, curated format than reviews. Testimonials may include customer quotes or longer-form stories about their experience, while reviews are typically shorter and more focused on specific aspects of the product or service.
An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page is essential to any website. Here are some reasons why:
An FAQ Page is a vital website component that can improve user experience, build trust and credibility, and reduce customer support inquiries.
You have to follow some best practices for creating an effective and user-friendly FAQ page:
Organize your content: Group your questions by topic or category to make it easier for users to find the necessary information. You could also consider using a search bar to help users find specific questions.
Use clear and concise language: Write your questions and answers in simple, easy-to-understand language. Avoid using technical jargon or complicated terminology that users may not understand.
Answer the most important questions first: Include the most important questions and answers at the top of your FAQ page. This will help users find the information they need quickly and easily.
Keep your answers up-to-date: Regularly review your FAQ page and update your answers as necessary. This will help to ensure that your information is accurate and relevant.
Use visuals: Consider using images, videos, or infographics to help illustrate your answers. This can be especially helpful for answering questions about products or processes.
Make it mobile-friendly: Ensure your FAQ page is optimized for mobile devices. This will ensure users can easily access your information from their smartphones or tablets.
Provide a way to contact customer support: While an FAQ page can help to reduce customer support inquiries, it’s essential to provide users with a way to contact customer support if they can’t find the information they need.
Your FAQ page may grow as new questions arise, so keeping it open to incrementation is good. But you should also aim to keep it concise and easy to navigate.
As technology evolves, some questions in your FAQ Page may become irrelevant while others may have to be added. Pruning your FAQ Page to keep up with the times is very vital. A dated FAQ Page is a brand credibility eroder.
Ultimately, the size of your FAQ page will depend on the nature of your website and the types of questions your visitors are asking. Regularly reviewing and updating your FAQ page can ensure that it remains a helpful and informative resource for your users.
Here are some common mistakes to avoid when creating an FAQ Page:
Overwhelming users with too much information: While providing comprehensive answers to common questions is important, keeping your answers concise and easy to understand is also essential. Avoid overwhelming users with too much information or technical jargon.
Ignoring user feedback: If users are consistently asking the same questions or having trouble finding the information they need, it’s important to listen to their feedback and make changes to your FAQ Page as necessary.
Not keeping your content up-to-date: If your answers become outdated or inaccurate, users may lose trust in your website. Regularly review and update your FAQ Page to ensure your information is accurate and relevant.
It sounds like an elementary question, but many marketers (especially those not in e-commerce) ask why they should have an FAQ Page. GoDaddy has the answer in this video: it’s to build brand trust.
Here’s what they say: “Proactively providing information on an FAQ page easily helps you build trust with your customers. If you’re positive and transparent in your FAQ answers, your customers get a good sense of how you’re going to behave in the rest of your business. By publishing these answers where anyone can see them – yes, even your competitors – you demonstrate that you have nothing to hide. Beyond the trust factor, you also establish your brand as an authority in your industry.”
Specific laws control websites. They have to display some statutorily required pages. From country to country, there could be marginal additions or deletions from the structure of these statutory pages, but their presence is important – both from a legal standpoint and to enhance brand trust.
There are many templates for these pages available online from legal professionals that you can customize … but still, you should get vetted by your legal advisers in your geography.
The four most critical mandatory pages include these:
Let’s look at some best practices for all these four mandatory pages.
When creating a Privacy Policy Page, it’s important to be thorough and transparent about how you collect, use, and protect user data.
Here are some things to be careful about:
Always remember to give a link to your Privacy Policy Page from any form on your website.
When creating a Terms Of Use Page for your website or application, it’s important to establish clear rules and guidelines for how users can interact with your service.
Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Remember, it’s better to include everything your legal advisor tells you to, rather than to dismiss something because the page is rambling. The more you cover, the safer you are.
A Disclosure Page is a crucial part of any website that provides transparency to your visitors about any potential conflicts of interest, affiliations, or sponsorships that might influence the content or recommendations you make on your website.
Here are some best practices to follow:
A Disclaimer Page is an integral part of any website that can help protect you from legal liability and clarify the terms and conditions of using your site.
Here are some practices to follow:
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It is a European Union (EU) regulation that took effect on May 25, 2018. It establishes a framework for data protection that applies to all individuals within the EU and European Economic Area (EEA), as well as to organizations that process the personal data of these individuals, regardless of where they are located.
If you do any kind of business online, you are bound to have customers from the European Union, so understanding the concepts behind GDPR and how to ensure you follow its mandates is crucial. Here’s a quick explainer video from Encryption Consulting you’ll find mighty useful.
1. Your website is often the first point of contact between your business and potential customers. But without compelling copy, nothing can save a website, not even eye-catching web design.
2. Great website copywriting is about creating a connection with your target audiences, building trust, and creating a more effective online presence that resonates with them. Many types of pages will reside on your website, and each needs a different angle of writing and some best practices to be followed.
3. Feel free to use my 8-way breakup of website pages and my recommendations on how they must be written. It’s a battle-tested plan I have used to grow my own entrepreneurial venture and my clients’ businesses.
When planning your website copywriting, remember there’s got to be a perfect balance between formality and informality. You want to sound friendly and trustworthy simultaneously, so neither extreme – being too casual or straitlaced – will work. Follow the unique imperatives of the different pages on your site, but keep the tone you have chosen “on-brand” and steady.
Branding and content marketing are tough because they require a deep understanding of the target audience, a commitment to delivering high-quality content consistently, and ongoing optimization to remain effective. This is where an expert hand can be invaluable.
With cutting-edge knowledge of the latest industry trends and best practices, an expert can help provide the guidance and support needed to achieve the desired results.
"I am committed to elevating my clients' branding and content marketing to a dominant position because I believe that a strong and distinctive brand identity, coupled with high-quality content, can be a game-changer for businesses. I've done it over and over for 40+ years and 125+ clients."
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Give yourself truly big benefits.
Get my weekly newsletter packed with cutting edge brand content tips, tricks, tactics, techniques, and trends. I scour the Net for you.
Use my Privilege Discount on all my products and services – at any time, without limit – as long as you’re uninterruptedly subscribed.
Just fill in the form to join my community … we have big and small brands for company. You’ll stay on the speedway to growth.
