What Is Copywriting?
Copywriting is persuasive writing, for the purposes of marketing, written with the goal of convincing your reader to take a particular course of action. When writing your website copy, the course of action you are aiming for is to motivate the reader to buy into the product or service that you, or your business, is offering.
Writing website copy is something business owners find challenging. Many have never written in long form before, are unaware of what they should write or simply have no idea where to begin. This can make you feel more stressed than ScoMo at a Covid press conference, but it doesn’t have to! Fortunately, there are some tried and tested guidelines you can use when you are tackling your website copy. Follow the tips mapped out below and your website will be the talk of the town in no time.
Start With A Structure
Mapping out a step-by- step structure removes the overwhelm of copywriting for your website. Being able to visualise the “what goes where” makes for a really simple starting point. The layout of your writing should follow a certain formula to ensure the necessary bases are covered when leading your potential customer to the course of action you are aiming for. Usually, that desired action is to purchase a product or service.
Let’s Map Out Your Website Copy
Bold Statement
The goal here is to grab attention. A bold statement is a sentence or question that is thought-provoking and/or makes a big claim. It should be the first thing the reader sees when your page loads and should connect to what your business “does”. Make sure it grabs attention and highlights the main problem your business solves for your ideal customer.
Your Biggest Benefit (Unique Selling Point)
You have grabbed their attention. Now, you want to keep it. Here is where you showcase your biggest benefit. Your biggest benefit is, you guessed it, the biggest benefit your customer will enjoy when they purchase your product or service.
This can be in the form of a tagline or a sub-heading. Whatever makes the most sense for your brand and website design.
Bonus Tip – Have a “call to action” underneath your bold statement or biggest benefit. It could be “Shop Now” or a link to a lead magnet to build out your email list.
Solidify Your Biggest Benefit & Showcase Further Benefits
Think of your biggest benefit as handing an empty glass to someone who has told you they are thirsty. They get excited because they know if they have the glass, they are about to get the water. Expanding on your biggest benefit fills the glass halfway; adding your further benefits is the top-up that ensures the glass is full.
Explain Your Features
Explain exactly what your customer will actually “get” when they make a purchase. The features of your products and services. For example, a life coach could outline their packages and what’s involved in each. A houseplant business could showcase a price range click-through – “Small house plants for under $20”.
Build Trust
Building trust is a vital component of your website copy. By this point, you have shown your website the “what, why and how” of your business. Now, you need to focus on why you can be trusted to deliver all that you have promised.
There are a number of ways to build trust with your reader. The “safety in numbers” approach (trusted by X amount of people), showcasing partnerships and affiliations, testimonials, accreditations and awards, the list goes on.
Call To Action
You have got their attention, solved both their biggest problem and their additional problems then proved you are the person/business they should trust to do so. So now what?
Now you need to tell your reader to do the “thing” your website is designed to get them to do. You are literally calling them to action, telling them to take the action of purchasing. Your Call To Action needs to be authoritative and create a sense of urgency. Use words like “Now” or “Don’t miss out” to encourage your reader to step over the line and become a customer!
If you are looking for inspiration, Hubspot has a great article with 40 examples that you can check out here.
Congratulations! You now have the foundations for your website copy. This is huge and I am a great believer in celebrating your wins. Take a moment to recognise this achievement. Now it’s time to bring your website copy to the next level. It is important to remember that every single part of your copy does one of two things. Either it helps the reader learn something, or, it further motivates your reader to take your desired action.
The “So What?” Test
Your structure provides the bones of your copy. Once that is in place, it is time to put it through the “So what?” test. Often, when business owners write their website copy they fall into a trap of over-explaining, listing features in place of benefits or adding in a whole bunch of extra points they don’t need, that are going to send their reader straight to the “close tab” x button of doom.
To combat this, go through and re-read what you have written. For every section of your writing, ask yourself this question – “So What?”. There are two parts to this. The first is to eliminate any unnecessary sections or sentences that aren’t serving a purpose. The second, is to ensure you have shared the benefits by clearly showing the reader how you are going to have a positive impact on their lives.
Here Are Some Examples
Let’s say you sell Cakes and your bold statement is this.
The Best Gluten Free Cakes In The World
Cool…But So what?
Here, we need to think about how the reader will benefit from buying the best gluten free cakes in the world. Think problem-solution. What is the biggest benefit somebody will get from eating this specific gluten free cake? What is it about gluten free cakes that brings the biggest problem to those who eat them?
Let’s be honest… It’s that they taste like shit.
THAT is the “So What” we are looking for.
Cakes So Delicious, You’d Never Believe They Were Gluten Free
See the difference? This directly solves the problem that their target customer wants to be solved.
Let’s look at another example
Take a personal trainer. Under the benefits section on their website, it could say this.
Personalised weight loss diet plans
You guessed it… “So what?”.
This is a feature, not a benefit. The key here would be to ask yourself questions like – “Why would somebody want to lose weight?”. “What are the pain points of losing weight?”. The following statement showcases the benefits instead.
Ready to lose weight fast?
Get beach-body ready with personalised weight loss plans.
This shows the positive impact that the reader will gain by purchasing the weight loss plan. It also tackles a key problem in fitness, that losing weight takes time. It clearly displays the benefits the customer will enjoy when they purchase.
The Website copywriting checklist
Now your site has passed the “So What Test”, there is a checklist of key actions you need to take to ensure it is levelled up and ready to go live!
Below is a number of bonus points for you to use. Ticking them off is your ticket to guaranteeing your website copy has everything it needs to showcase your offering and convert your customers!
Many people find copywriting time-consuming and stress-inducing. Prefer yours was done by an expert? Reach out to the team at Creative Little Soul and let our team do the hard work for you!
