Table of Contents
Website Copywriting 101
This article will tell you everything you need to know about website copywriting. We will cover tips for website copywriting and how you can employ website copywriting services.Before we get into website copywriting tips and website copywriting services, let’s discuss what website copywriting is and why it’s important. 
What is website copywriting?
Website copywriting is the process of writing digital content for the web, from landing pages to blog writing, product pages, and more.
Why is website copywriting important?
Website copywriting is important for keeping visitors to a website engaged and for search engine optimization. Excellent website copywriting is persuasive and will convince the reader to do what the goal of the website is, whether it’s making a purchase or donating money or participating in a community event. You might have the most well optimized website for SEO in your industry, but if your content is good enough to hold your readers’ attention, it won’t matter. If people can find your site but aren’t interested once they find it, you’ll have a problem. If your website has a high bounce rate, your content could be the problem. Additionally, you can have all the best graphic design and custom photography on your website, but if the text on your website doesn’t connect with your readers, it won’t matter. Good website copywriting connects to your target audience and convinces them to trust you and buy your product or service. At the end of the day, copywriting is the most important component of your content. And content is king.
Website Copywriting Tips
Here are some tips for website copywriting from the experts at SEO Design Chicago.
Use the Active Voice
Using the active voice means using the subject of the sentence to do the action, rather than being acted upon. A good tip to write an active sentence is to begin the sentence with a verb.
Don’t Forget the Important Details
Who, what, when, where and why? The basic principles of good writing we all learn growing up also apply to website copywriting. It’s important to repeat the basic important information over and over in good website copywriting to make it hit home for your readers (and in case they missed it elsewhere on your website.)
Write Powerful Headlines
The goal of a headline is to entice the reader to click through and read more. Without a great, captivating headline, the rest of your copy is worthless because no one will see it.
Make It Easy to Skim
The sad truth about the internet these days is that our attention spans are very short. It’s hard for us to pay attention. So how do you make an article quick to read? You can break it up with plenty of subheads and links. One great tip is to use lots of bullet points and numbered lists. Listicles are also a great option to make any topic easier to read. Think Buzzfeed!
Be Concise
Along the same lines, it’s important to be concise. That means using the fewest amount of words possible to convey your point and persuade your reader.
Use Short, Easy to Understand Words
One great website copywriting tip is to always use short, easy to understand words. It’s best to assume that your reader is not as intelligent as you are, and write your copy so that anyone from a ninth-grade reading level and up can understand. If you’re writing about a very technical topic, use layman’s terms and real-world examples as much as possible.
Keep Your Audience In Mind
As you’re writing, keep in mind who your target audience is and what their interests are. Imagine one specific person who you’d like to read what you’re writing and write specifically for them. Yes, you want to incorporate keywords for SEO, but remember that you’re writing for a real person.
Avoid Jargon
As mentioned before, try to always write in layman’s terms. Avoid all kinds of jargon, legalese, and corporate speak that many readers might not understand. Never use overly technical terms.
Balance Text with Images
Internet users don’t like staring at big blocks of text. To mix it up, incorporate plenty of images in your website copywriting that are relevant to the topic. You can also use videos or graphics to help break up your text.
Use Positive Words
It’s important to speak positively in website copywriting, if at all possible. Readers remember negativity over positivity. Instead of saying something like “don’t fall behind,” say, “make sure to stay ahead of the competition.”
Create a Sense of Urgency
Especially if you’re selling a product or service, make sure to create a sense of urgency in your writing to persuade your reader to “buy now” or “call us right away.” You’ll see these tactics used a lot in advertising and there’s a good reason why: they work.
Incorporate Scarcity
Do you ever wonder why in advertising you hear phrases like “act now or it’ll be gone” so frequently? It’s a tactic called “incorporating scarcity.” Using words like “limited stock” on a product can induce the potential customer to hit “add to cart” quickly for fear of losing out on the possibility of buying the product. It’s another way of creating urgency.
Put Important Information in Graphics and Captions
As humans, we are very visual. One way to make sure our readers see the most important information online is by putting it in the captions of images or in graphics, where our eyes are naturally drawn when reading.
Write Conversationally
One of the best pieces of writing advice out there is to write how you talk. Basically, you should always write like you’re having a conversation with your reader in website copywriting. Be sure to use lots of “you” and “your” to connect with your readers. Like I’m doing with you now!
Add Compelling Calls to Action
Calls to actions are one of the most important components of website copywriting. No matter how great and professional your writing is, if it doesn’t compel the reader to do what you want them to do, it won’t matter. Make sure to use plenty of persuasive phrases like “call us now” and “buy now.”
Keep Tone In Mind
The tone of your website copywriting will depend, once again, on your audience. Are you writing a professional blog? Then you’ll want to keep your tone professional. Some other kinds of website copywriting are more casual and allow for humor. Expert website copywriters can write in any kind of tone for any kind of website.
Tell a Story
One of the best ways to keep a reader engaged is by telling a story. Storytelling is powerful. Whether it is your own story or that of a customer’s testimonial about a product or service, storytelling sells.
Keep It Consistent
Another important part of website copywriting is to keep it consistent. Whether it’s all the content across your website or across all of your social media channels, you want the voice behind all of your website copywriting to be consistent.
Be Emotional
It’s okay to use emotion in website copywriting. The majority of website copywriting is persuasive, and emotions are a powerful tool to persuade readers. Appeal to your reader’s emotions!
Back Up What You’re Saying
The goal of website copywriting is to cultivate trust between the writer and reader. One way to do so is by providing evidence for what you’re saying. You can do that by providing other sources, quoting others, showing statistics that reinforce your points, utilizing case studies, and providing testimonials.
Link to Other Reputable Sources
Another way to cultivate trust in your reader is to link to other reputable sources in your industry or area of expertise. This is also a great way to increase your search ranking! See more on that in the next step.
Optimize for SEO
Don’t forget to use the all-important relevant keywords and utilize other search engine optimization best practices. Every professional website copywriter is trained on SEO. It’s an important step to remember so that your copywriting finds an audience. These are only some of the best expert tips from the website copywriting professionals at SEO Design Chicago. There are plenty of examples of excellent website copywriting on the internet.
Website Copywriting Services
If you choose to employ a website copywriting service to help you with your content, here are some of the services you can expect to enjoy:
- Expert research of the topic your content is about.
- SEO optimization, including keyword research.
- Analysis and updating of older content on your website that is most like outdated.
- Adding custom photography and videography.
- Formatting, including heading headlines and subheads.
- Promotion, including on social media.
Website copywriting services are available to you to take the hard work of writing for the web off of your shoulders. Professionals are available at full service web design agencies like SEO Design Chicago to help you with all of your website copywriting needs. No matter what kind of website copywriting you need – from blogs, to home pages, to landing pages, and more – we can handle it for you.
Contact Us Today!