You can’t hide from this. A solid online presence with well-structured website copy is crucial to the success of any business — and it’s only becoming more important. The days of typing up a few words about your business and emailing them to your web designer are gone.
The online space is crowded, and your success depends on adding the right words to your website. A skilled website copywriter plays a critical role in achieving this success. But what exactly does a website copywriter do, and why are they so important?
In this article, we'll explore the role of website copywriters, their skills and responsibilities, and discuss how they help businesses thrive in the digital world.
A website copywriter creates written content for websites. This includes homepage text, product descriptions, blog posts, and other text appearing on a website. The main goal of a website copywriter is to engage and persuade visitors, leading them to take desired actions, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Effective website copywriters are not just content creators; they're masters of persuasion. They use techniques to capture their target audience's attention, evoke emotions, and motivate action. These techniques include persuasive language, storytelling, addressing pain points, and highlighting unique product/service benefits.
If you’ve ever read a sales page and been compelled to buy, you’ve experienced the power of persuasion. But these techniques are not just used for buying products or services. They are also used to persuade people to sign up for mailing lists, make bookings or simply get people to make an enquiry.
Website copywriters also help businesses effectively communicate their brand message. They understand how to convey a company's values, mission, and unique selling points through persuasive and consistent messaging across all website content. This consistent message helps establish brand identity and fosters trust with the audience (and with trust comes loyalty).
Website copywriters are also excellent at writing headlines and subheadings that grab attention and encourage readers to continue. Plus, they structure content logically and make it easy to follow, using clear language, short paragraphs, and lists when appropriate.
If you’ve ever landed on a website and been bored to tears, it’s probably because the brand message was either non-existent or unengaging.
SEO is another critical aspect of a website copywriter's job. By incorporating relevant keywords and optimising meta tags, headings, and content, they can improve a website's visibility on SERPs. Higher visibility results in increased organic traffic, higher conversion rates, and greater revenue.
Skilled website copywriters understand how to balance keyword usage with readability and user experience. They avoid keyword stuffing and ensure content reads naturally while remaining optimized for search engines.
A website copywriter plays a crucial role in enhancing user experience. Clear and concise content makes it easier for visitors to navigate a website and make informed decisions.
Website copywriters consider the overall design and layout of the website, impacting how the message is received. A well-designed and easy-to-navigate website engages readers and encourages them to explore further.
Including visuals, such as images and videos, helps create a more dynamic experience. Breaking up large blocks of text with visuals makes content more appealing and digestible.
A website copywriter plays a vital role in establishing trust with your target audience. By crafting authoritative and informative content, they demonstrate your business's credibility and expertise.
In addition to producing high-quality content, website copywriters often incorporate elements of social proof. This includes testimonials, case studies, and industry accolades that showcase your business's success and the value of your offerings.
A website copywriter is essential for any business looking to establish a solid online presence. They combine persuasive writing techniques, SEO knowledge, and a focus on user experience to create engaging, informative, and compelling content that drives action and increases revenue.
By understanding the importance of website copywriters and incorporating their expertise into your website's content, you can create a more engaging online experience for your visitors, ultimately driving conversions and growing your business. Whether you're looking to get website copy or improve your copywriting skills, remember the power of well-crafted copy and its potential to transform your online presence.
Ready to transform your website copy into a powerful sales conversation? Drop me a message today, and let us help you craft compelling content that resonates with your target audience and drives conversions.
Dr Hannah Gibson
Founder of Gibson Copy
However, while a good sales conversation involves listening to the other person and guiding them with the right questions, copywriting must make the reader feel like they are being heard without them actually being in a real conversation.
Because you can’t sell anything with a one-sided perspective. Instead, copywriters must anticipate the reader's questions, objections, and fears throughout the copy. Allowing for the backward and forward dance that anyone looking to buy needs.
In this article, I will dig into the art of website copywriting and explore its similarities to a successful sales conversation. I’ll also discuss how understanding the ideal reader's mindset, addressing their questions, and creating an engaging website experience will help to convert visitors into enquiries and, ultimately, happy customers.
Gaining a deep understanding of your target audience, including their demographics, preferences, and pain points, enables you to craft a message that truly resonates with them. When visitors arrive on your website, they often have questions or concerns. It's essential to consider the emotional aspects of their experience. Connecting with their emotions can foster a stronger bond with your audience and make your copy more persuasive.
The easiest way to achieve this is by listening to people. Pay attention to their feelings when they first interact with you. What questions do they ask? What concerns or worries do they have? This will help you write website copy that is more engaging and more likely to have a bigger impact on your dream customers.
Anticipating and answering your ideal reader's questions is a critical aspect of effective copywriting. Your copy should address their concerns with clarity and conciseness, striking a balance between providing information and persuading them to take action. This includes highlighting the benefits of your products or services, addressing potential objections, and offering solutions to their problems. Remember, the goal is to guide your readers through a sales conversation that leads to your chosen call-to-action (usually more enquiries from eager people ready to buy).
What many people get wrong is thinking that their website copy is about them or their business. It’s not. It’s about how you help your customers and what problems you solve. And most of all, it’s about alleviating any worries or concerns they might have about taking the next step (call, book, contact etc.).
While the focus of this article is on website copywriting, it's important to acknowledge the strong connection between the copy, design and layout, and the way the reader receives the core message. A well-designed and easy-to-navigate website will keep readers engaged and motivated to explore further.
Incorporating visuals like images and videos also helps break up long sections of text, creating a more dynamic experience.
Another important factor is establishing trust with your reader. You can do this using testimonials, case studies, and other types of social proof to showcase your credibility and the value of your offerings. Again, this creates a conversational dance very similar to a face-to-face (or telephone) sales conversation.
The work doesn't end when your website copy is published. Continuously monitoring audience feedback and website analytics will provide valuable insights into areas for improvement. Refine your copy based on these findings to optimise conversion rates and better serve your audience's needs. Plus, staying current with industry trends and adapting your copy to reflect evolving consumer preferences will help you maintain relevance and ensure your sales conversation remains effective.
Website copywriting is an art that requires a deep understanding of your audience and the emotions they experience when visiting your site. By addressing their concerns and creating an engaging website experience, you can turn an otherwise uninspiring website into a powerful sales conversation that drives conversions and grows your business.
Ready to transform your website copy into a powerful sales conversation? Drop me a message today, and let us help you craft compelling content that resonates with your target audience and drives conversions.
Dr Hannah Gibson
Founder of Gibson Copy
Not convinced?
It’s an emotive topic for both copywriters and designers, but honestly, copy first is the key to successful web design — not just from a result perspective but also from a process perspective.
Why?
In this article, I'll explain.
When it comes to web design, time is everything. Clients want their websites up and running as quickly as possible, and designers want to sign off so they can move on to the next project.
By having the copy ready first, designers can speed up the process and avoid delays. Plus, having a clear brand message and tone of voice makes it quicker to create a design that fits the brand's vision and goals.
Since 2019 I’ve worked with countless web designers, and all of them have said the same thing: Having the copy ready to go before the design process starts makes life so much easier!
Copy is the foundation of any successful website because it sets the tone and voice of the brand. When designers clearly understand the brand message, they can create a design that complements and enhances it. Therefore, designing without copy is like trying to build a house without a blueprint - impossible.
Time and time again, the web designers that I’ve collaborated with say that working with my copy from the start of the project improves their designs. Because copy leads design, without it, you’re simply designing blind.
Good design is crucial because it attracts attention and builds authority, but it’s the copy that does the heavy lifting when it comes to sales. The right words on a blank page can be more persuasive than a pretty website with no substance. It’s the copy that connects with the audience, tells the brand's story, and encourages action. By starting with copy, designers can create a website that not only looks good but also drives real results.
For example, one of my consulting clients tripled their sales in just 24 hours after making some copy tweaks to their homepage. Something we see consistently across every industry.
Starting with copy doesn't mean that design takes a back seat. Designers can still use creativity to bring the brand's message to life. However, having the copy in place first allows designers to make more informed decisions and create a more cohesive design.
Pre-2018, when I was still designing websites, I took the copy I was given and shaped it into place. Better quality copy needed less tweaking, meaning projects were more likely to go live on time.
Copy first, design second is a critical step in the web design process. By starting with copy, designers can save time, create more strategic designs, and ultimately create websites that connect with the audience and drive results.
The key takeaway? If you're a web designer, remember the power of words when you get website copy for your next web project.
Want help? Get in touch today.
Brand messaging — the essential foundation of your marketing strategy because it communicates your company's values, personality, and unique selling proposition to your target audience. Done right, your brand message will create an emotional connection with customers and differentiate you from competitors. Done wrong, and you'll be deathly insignificant.
This article will show you how to create a successful brand message for your business.
Brand messaging is essential because it helps customers understand what a brand stands for, what it stands against, and what it offers. Customers who identify with a brand's values and personality are more likely to buy, develop brand loyalty, and become repeat customers.
To create a successful brand message you must first define your brand values and unique selling proposition. Your brand values should reflect your mission and vision, and your unique selling proposition should highlight what sets you apart from your competitors. Once these elements are defined, you can use them to create your brand messaging.
Here are three iconic brands that got their brand messaging right:
But there's more to a brand message than just a fancy tagline. Your business will need to communicate all of the components of your brand message throughout your website, social media and marketing campaigns if you're going to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd.
Brand messaging is critical to any company's marketing strategy as it communicates the brand's values, personality, and unique selling proposition to its target audience. To create a successful brand message, companies must keep it simple, be authentic, know their audience, be consistent, and use emotion.
While you can share snippets of your brand message when sharing social media content, your website must showcase your entire brand message.
Need help creating a strong brand message for your website? Get in touch.
If you take just one thing away from our time together on this blog, please, let it be this.
Write your website content in one document.
Sounds simple, yet almost everyone does the exact opposite.
This newsletter explains WHY writing your content in one document, away from your website, is crucial.
And is relevant for those who are designing a website for themselves, and those working with a web designer.
I will split this article into two parts:
Firstly, making for a smooth website delivery
In my very early years in business (think 2015/16), as a new web designer, I used to receive content from clients like this:
And this experience is a lot more common than you might think. It’s the same story I hear again and again from frustrated web designers.
I’ve even had a designer tell me they received content “Scribbled on a scrap piece of paper, and posted through their letterbox”.
Shocking, right?
I know some web designers have cracked this (especially those that are already collaborating with me ?), but many still haven't.
The trouble is, when clients aren’t given clear instructions and boundaries, they don’t realise they are doing something wrong. It’s not the client's fault. But they do suffer.
That’s why it’s important for the web designer to set expectations early in the relationship so that the project runs smoothly. By early, I mean before money changes hands.
Solving this content headache by writing in one document is absolutely crucial for a successful outcome for both parties. It will speed up the content collection dramatically and have everyone feeling relaxed about the process instead of stressed and confused.
A happy web designer equals a happy client and vice versa.
Win-wins are always the best outcome for doing business.
Secondly, the quality of your content will suffer if it’s not produced in one document
Writing copy, either directly into your website (if you’re building it yourself) or spread out in various different documents, will have a negative impact on the overall success of your website.
Here are four reasons why:
1. Your website is one living, breathing organism. Each page must speak to the other pages, connecting your message through a web of internal links.
This is exactly why I refuse to write two or three isolated pages from a larger website. Not only will the tone be inconsistent, but the pages will also be disjointed.
To help build a cohesive website, you must write in one document.
2. You need to keep your content concise while covering your entire message.
The only way to make sure you're covering exactly the right information, without waffling or missing bits, is to properly plan your content. This can only be accomplished by writing the entire website copy inside one document.
3. If you write content inside your website building platform you will get distracted by colours, fonts, and other design elements.
This applies to both web-designers and those who are DIYing their websites. You need to absorb yourself into the pain, struggle, hopes and dreams of your ideal client. You can’t do this properly inside your website platform without getting distracted.
Building empathy and understanding is one of the core values at Gibson Copy, this can only be achieved if all of the writer's focus is on writing.
4. Your content must be properly organised.
The first thing you need to do after opening that fresh website content document is to write a list of pages at the top (your sitemap). This is such a simple thing but absolutely crucial if you’re going to avoid random, disjointed pages and disorganised content.
This also applies to making sure all headings, subheadings and sections are positioned correctly (and nothing is missing!).
In my experience as a former web designer and someone who teaches people how to write website copy, most people either send content to their web designer in dribs and drabs (unless of course, the web designer already has clear guidelines to stop this from happening) or they write (tweak) the copy directly inside the website platform.
I hope this newsletter has shown you why both of these situations are detrimental to the success of your website.
Enjoy this article?
Visit Gibson Copy to learn more about what we do.
Dr Hannah Gibson
Hold on tight — it's going to be a good one.
First off, let's set the scene.
In 2019, I wrote an article, "Five reasons copy should come before design".
At that time, I'd recently niched my services from web designer to website copywriter, and my theory of content before design was just that, a theory.
Three years later, and after helping hundreds of web designers and their clients to get a clear, compelling and results-focused website, I'm sharing my updated thoughts.
(Second edition if you like).
So, jumping straight in with a plot spoiler.
In one hundred per cent of cases, COPY SHOULD BE YOUR FIRST PRIORITY when designing a new website.
Zero "tweaking" content (urgh, hate that word)
And zero pushing any old content into the design.
This newsletter will explain exactly why your website copy should be your FIRST priority.
To be clear (and to explain why I keep using capital letters), FIRST priority is different from top priority, and I use the word 'should' because I know not every project works out like this.
You might be in the middle of a website build now, wondering if you've given enough consideration to the copy. It happens, so no judgement. I'm here to help, whatever stage you're at.
Anyway, that said, here are your top priorities when creating a new website, in no particular order:
- Website copy
- Photography
- Visual branding, graphics etc.
- Technical set-up (platform choice, accessibility, speed, etc.)
- And SEO
(Feel free to add anything I've missed in the comments).
So, now to answer the why. Out of all of these priorities, why should website copywriting come first?
To answer that, we need to look at what a website IS.
A website is a 'hub' that all roads lead back to
I've been saying this for years, and nothing has changed about that.
Think of it like this; your website is the 'hub' for your business online. It should contain your entire brand message.
This basically means everything your audience needs to know about your business/product/service before they buy from you (or at least click your call-to-action anyway).
Including:
Here's where it gets a bit more complicated, so stay with me.
All of the information above MUST go onto your website.
BUT, there's a science behind exactly WHERE it needs to be placed.
If you don't follow this science, your website visitors will get bored and leave.
You can't make them dig for information. You need to get into their head and give them what they are looking for at the exact right moment they are looking for it!
I'll say that another way, it's crucial to understand the journey someone is taking through your website so that you can give them just enough information to lead them onto the next step in their journey and ultimately into your inbox.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE SCIENCE
That's why you need to make website copy your first priority.
There's a science behind how your content is structured, and you absolutely can not just squeeze your copy into a pre-made design.
Or "tweak" while you go if you're DIYing.
Well, I guess you can, but you certainly won't see the website results you so desperately want and need if you do that.
So I'll say it again.
Follow the process and DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE SCIENCE.
I'll share more in next week's newsletter.
Until then...
Dr Hannah Gibson
Director at Gibson Copy
************
When you join my self-study course Write Your Website Copy In 5 Days, you get an advanced website copywriting template so you can follow the science behind persuasive copywriting without getting overwhelmed.
Click here to find out more Write Your Website Copy In 5 Days
I spend a huge chunk of my week reviewing website copy (usually) for small service-based businesses that are in the process of getting a new website.
I've seen every mistake in the book (easy mistakes to make when you're not a trained copywriter).
So, I decided to share them in the hope you're inspired to avoid them!
1) No headline on the homepage.
2) A 'clever' headline that confuses the reader and does nothing to show what the business does and who they help.
3) No benefit led sub-heading on the homepage (missing a huge opportunity here).
4) Not making it immediately obvious what problem the business solves.
5) Not making it immediately obvious what solution the business offers.
6) Not giving website visitors a clear, consistent and COMPELLING call-to-action throughout the copy.
7) Boring subheadings (get creative and add some intrigue, please!).
8) Not overcoming objections/clearing up common misunderstandings.
9) Boring About pages.
10) About pages that forget to highlight the businesses USP.
11) No clear and compelling call to action on the about page.
12) No FAQ page (missing a trick there!)
13) No clarity between the sections (just repeating the same boring stuff without a well-defined structure to the points raised).
14) Not using the contrast principle (using contrast between sections keeps people on the website and engaged).
15) No personality.
16) Not enough text.
17) Too much text.
18) Not splitting up long chunks of text with subheadings.
19) Boring contact pages (another huge missed opportunity to give your visitors one final push to make an enquiry).
20) Being shy with your achievements (shout loud and proud about your skills, experience and qualifications. If you don't, who else will?!)
21) Focusing on the features instead of leading with the benefits.
22) Focusing on the benefits and forgetting to cover the features!! (Remember to add "What You Get" and "How it Works" sections).
23) Introducing the homepage with bullet points. I prefer a nice meaty paragraph to really draw the reader in.
24) Technical jargon that no one understands but the business owner.
25) The wrong tone, for example, a corporate tone for a personal brand.
26) Not using contractions (you're, it's, don't) which usually read better than the full words.
27) Not repeating the call to action enough (keep sticking it in there!).
28) Not making good use of adjectives (describing words that help the reader visualise things).
29) Starting sentences with "I" or "We". It's ok to use the first person sometimes, but try switching the sentence around so you don't start it with "I" or "We".
30) Starting HEADLINES with "I" or "We" is a big NO (in my personal opinion).
31) Burying your USP on the about page. I've seen this quite a few times - the big juicy thing that differentiates your business is hidden three-quarters of the way down the about page.
32) No thought of keywords (if SEO is a priority).
33) Keyword stuffing (although, to be fair, I've only seen this a couple of times).
34) Spelling mistakes (get a proofreader).
35) Really bad grammar (doesn't need to be perfect old school or anything, but you've got to get the basics right).
36) Page headlines that are too long (you can say a lot in just a few words)
37) Forgetting to add your brand values. Not just to "tick a box" but to really show people what your business passionately believes.
38) Not showing empathy. All businesses can show a bit of empathy for their customers, admittedly some more than others.
39) Not using second-person pronouns enough (you, your, you're).
40) Sentences that are too short with not enough details in them (details sell).
41) Sentences that are too long (no one wants to read a never-ending sentence).
42) Very long paragraphs (Short paragraphs are better for mobile, and since most users are on mobile these days, it's better to write with this in mind).
Woohoo!! I made it to 42 ✍️?
If you enjoyed reading this, come and say hi to me on LinkedIn
Hannah Gibson, PhD
Learn to write lead generating sales copy
Owner at Gibson Copy Ltd