If you are investing your time and money into building or hiring someone to build you a new website, you want it to win. In addition to good design and functionality, a well-written website can help you win. Users spend an average of 5.59 seconds reading written content, which means that in a very short amount of time you need to tell your users about your company and get them to where you want them to go. Writing website copy is both an art and a science and in this post, I'm going to tell you how to write winning website copy.
When I was learning to write, I practiced equal parts researching and writing. While I am no longer writing long-form essays on literary archetypes and philosophical inquiries, I still take time to research before I write. Part scrapbooking, part inquiry, for me, researching is a really fun part of the website copywriting process.
Winning Website Copy Has a Voice
Begin your research by diving into the business's brand. Some businesses will already have an established brand voice outlined as part of their brand book or strategy. Use the brand voice as your guide for word choice and phrasing.
If your client does not have a clear brand outline, this may be a good opportunity to have a brand call and work with them to create one. Stay tuned, I'll be creating a post on finding a brand voice soon! In the meantime, check out Donald Miller's StoryBrand, which is an effective approach to finding your brand's story and voice so you can connect directly with your customers.
Winning Website Copy is Informed
With a clear idea of the brand voice, your next step is to do some research. As part of your discovery call, ask your client for two or three websites they like as well as two or three websites they do not like. Discuss what they like and do not like about these sites to help inform your writing. For example, one site might have a clever "Contact Us" page but a really boring "About Us" page.
After collecting information from your client, research your client's target audience. What is important to them and what helps drive them to make decisions? Understanding what is important and what drives decision making tells you what information needs to be prioritized in order to capture and ultimately convert users. For example, if "low, low prices" are what stop your target audience in their tracks, then that's what your brand voice needs to say.
Winning Website Copy is Attractive
An important element of the brand voice to keep in mind is typography or the visual component of the written word. With this in mind, I spend some of my research time reviewing the brand's fonts, there are usually 2-3 fonts that a brand book will specify for use in headlines, body copy, and the logo. I use Pinterest to see how specific typography has been used before and to drum up visual inspiration to inform my writing.
Thinking about website copy as a visual element can assist in how you decide to prioritize information. Use headlines to be clear and concise about how you draw a user in. Use paragraph copy to expand upon your headline. Know that those who were captivated by your headline will move on to read more, so keep their attention by being specific and informative. Similarly, those who were captivated by your headline are also more likely to take action, so make sure your call to action button is in fact a call to action. For example, "shop now," "take me there," or "keep reading."
Write Winning Website Copy
Did this post help you to write winning website copy? Do you have other thoughts on how to write winning website copy?
Are you in need of winning website copy? I'd love to help. Check out my recent work or send me an email and let's talk about your project.