Entries Tagged 'website copywriting' ↓

Whenever I do a copywriting project, I always look forward to writing the About Page. It’s the one opportunity for my client to let rip.

Every other page has to be totally focused on their customers, but the About Page is more about them (although still selling the benefits of working with them, which is a very fine balancing act).

As a copywriter my mantra (well, one of many to be fair) is ‘write for your reader’, but the About Page is the place to go wild – within reason.

Many companies don’t see it as being a vital page. OK, it probably won’t be one of the main landing pages, but it is essential to show potential customers who you are and what you’re like.

That’s why it shouldn’t be left to the last minute and hastily cobbled together, or be rigidly corporate stating “We have been in business for 30 years…”

Instead, it should be well thought out following these 5 pointers.

1. Show

An About Page that’s full of big words and adjectives that attempts to tell the reader how great you are isn’t fooling anyone. All it shows is that you have a thesaurus and you know how to use it.

It’s far more effective to show them how great you are by mentioning the awards you’ve received, any press coverage you’ve had and, if you have any major clients, a bit of shameless name-dropping.

2. Personality

Companies are quite wary of this one. They think that they have to show a corporate image to be successful. Well they don’t.

People buy from people (excuse the cliché) so show that you are human. Make your tone personable and friendly. Ditch the corporate speak for something more day to day that your reader will relate to.

3. Show off your people

If there’s one thing companies hate more than showing their personality, it’s showing their pictures (the people in the company that is, not the actual company itself, that wouldn’t work). But showing off your staff is a great way to make a personal connection with the reader.

They can see who they will be dealing with and, rather than just adding a professional bio about them, add details about their hobbies, dreams, likes and their Twitter handle.

This is a great way to open up your company to build trust.

4. SEO

Boo hiss, we’re all fed up with those initials, but they are important.

Even though it’s not a direct sales page, your About Page should still be optimised for keywords.

5. Don’t hide

Once you’ve actually gone to the trouble (or cost) of creating your About Page don’t hide it.

Make sure it’s clearly visible from your navigation bar so potential clients can find it and take a look at what you’re like. It could just swing things in your favour.

There you go, your About Page IS important so make the most of it and use it to show the human side of your business. Have some fun putting it together and get the real essence of your company out there for all to see.

Faceless corporate businesses are impersonal and unfriendly, especially when they are Internet based. You can’t go and meet every potential client, so your website must convey your personality and the About Page is the perfect vehicle for that.

A question about website copywriting was raised recently on a Facebook group that I am part of.

It was more like “I’m writing some copy for my new website, should I write it in the 1^st or 3^rd person?”

My answer was “neither, you should be writing it in the 2^nd person.”

Let me explain.

The 2^nd person builds relationships

Why do you search the Internet?

I’m guessing because you need to research something or have a problem that you’re looking for a solution to.

So, when you land on a website you’ll be looking for one that tells you the answer you’re looking for. Not one that immediately starts:

“We are a well established business based in Norfolk with 25 years experience in our field.”

So what?

That’s not what you want to know, you want to know how they’re going to help you. And that’s why it should be written in the second person.

Let’s say you’re looking for someone to build you a new website because yours just isn’t working because it’s not bringing in the traffic, you have to go through your web designer every time you want to change something and it is generally out of date.

Rather than seeing something like the ‘we-fest’ above, would you react more favourably to something along the lines of?

“Do you want more traffic?

Are you fed up because you can’t update your website whenever you want to?

We’ll help you by creating a modern, flexible website that can be updated easily and that will attract visitors. What’s more, because you’re unique your website will be designed to suit your needs; we won’t shoe horn you into any pre-existing templates

Call us today for a chat.”

It immediately shows you that they understand the issues you face and that they will work with you to resolve them.

The approach is conversational and as no jargon or technical terms have been used it’s easy to understand. The company comes across as being approachable so you’ll probably add them to your shortlist of companies to get quotes from.

Even your About Page should be written in this style – although it will have more information about your company, the second person will still work because you are still selling your company to the reader.

With regards to how you refer to yourself, there was quite a debate on the Facebook discussion about whether it should be “I” or “we”, especially for sole traders. My advice is simple, if you want to create the illusion of your business being larger than it is to attract larger clients, use “we” (also if you’re planning to expand your business in the future). If you work alone, especially if you’re a business consultant or something along those lines and you trade on your reputation, use “I”.

So if you want your web copy to work for you:

• Write in the 2^nd person
• Write in a conversational style
• Avoid jargon and technical terms

Sally Ormond – Copywriter and MD at Briar Copywriting Ltd

Clarity – copywriting – images – scanable text – clear navigation – easy on the eye

These are just a few things a successful website needs. Although the title of this blog post is ‘Engaging through web design’ it will delve deeper to look at the elements of a successful website, including web copy, layout and colour.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Plain English

When someone lands on your website (assuming they are English) their eyes will automatically be drawn to the top left and scan in a left to right motion, from top to bottom.

The first thing they’ll want to know is that they’ve arrived at the right place. That’s why your company name and strapline must be at the top of your website. After that there should be some well written words highlighting what you can do for them – yes, afraid so, this isn’t the place for a long essay on how great your company is.

It’s essential your opening gambit is powerful as this will determine whether the visitor will remain on your site to find out more, or navigate away to find another website.

But powerful doesn’t mean ridiculously complex words and sentences in an attempt to show your intelligence – it won’t.

What it will do is show you as a company that is far more interested in its own importance than it is it’s customers. That’s why you should always use plain and simple English to get your point across succinctly.

Clear navigation

The ability to easily navigate around your website is vital to enhance the user experience.

For example every website needs an “About Us” page so the user can learn a bit about the company they may be about to do business with. The name “About Us” fits this purpose perfectly. So why then do you find websites that use other, more obscure names for this page?

If you have a page that talks about your services, call it the “Services” page – it’s not rocket science.

By keeping your page names simple and obvious your visitors will be able to find their way around your website with ease – don’t make them hunt for information.

The other aspect of your navigation is to keep it to a minimum. There’s nothing more frustrating than landing on a website that’s full of hyperlinks – how will your visitor know where to click? Make sure your navigation is clear and simple to make moving around your website as intuitive as possible.

Readability

Earlier we mentioned the importance of using plain, simple English on your website, but you also need to make sure that it’s laid out in such a way that reading it is effortless.

The best way to achieve this is by including plenty of white space on your page. Taking this post as an example, you can see that I’ve used lots of short paragraphs and sub headings to help you, the reader, find the information you need.

The white space breaks up the text making it appear easier to digest. But it’s not just layout that you need to consider, colour also comes into play.

Have you noticed the number of websites these days that are using grey text on a white background? Yes, they look very modern, but for some readers this can pose problems because of the lack of contrast. Try and stick to high contrasts, like black on white, to make it easier for people of all ages to read what you have to say.

Prioritise your information

As with everything in life the most important stuff should come first.

When laying out your text, prioritise the order in which it will appear with the main benefits first leading on to the features and finally any other supporting information you have.

This will make sure the reader is hit with the important facts (the benefits) first, which will ultimately help them make their buying decision.

If you leave these until the end, you run the risk of losing them before they reach them.

As you can see, an effective website is a lot more than just an eye-catching design. Every aspect of your site, from its content to it’s images, layout and navigation, will have an impact on its success.

Take a few minutes out now to look at your website. Does it tick all the boxes, or is there room for improvement?

Promoting your business online needs a lot of content.

Your website copy, blogs or articles must be relevant, interesting and useful to your readers otherwise they will be no more that just a collection of words.

When you’re a sole trader it’s very easy to fall into the trap of writing about yourself.

Hang on a moment…

Oh, hi Joe (Joe’s a self employed plumber), how’s it going?

What? Yeah, fine. What do you mean trap? Of course I’m gonna write about myself, I am my business and people want to know about me.

Are you sure about that Joe?

Are you taking the p…

Hang on, there’s no need to be like that. Look at it from your customer’s prospective for a moment.

Yeah, they want to know about me, who I am and what I do, obviously.

No, they don’t. They want to know what you can do for them.

Same thing.

No it’s not. Look, the fact that you’ve been in business for 10 years, you drive a blue van and your favourite pizza topping is ham and pineapple is of no interest to your customers. They want to know how quickly you can get to them, and the type of work that you do.

Really?

Yes, really. If they’re searching online for a plumber it’s generally because they have a leak, need a new bathroom installing or something else along those lines. In other words, they have a problem to which they need to find a solution – you. That’s why your web copy, articles and blogs all have to be focused on what you can do for them.

OK, you may have a point.

There’s no maybe about it Joe. If you want your content to be read and you want people to come to your site and think ‘hey, Joe’s the guy for me, he offers the service I need and can come out to me quickly’ then you have to write it for them. If you just fill it with loads of information about you and only you, you’re not giving them what they want.

Joe…hey Joe, where’ve gone?

Just looking at my web copy again…don’t suppose you want to write it for me?

Writing for your readers

Separating yourself from you business and writing about it as though you were a customer is difficult.

You have to place yourself in the shoes of your readers and think about what’s important to them.

These are the basis of the benefits of your product or service – the things that add value to your customers. Keeping them at the heart of everything you write will keep you on track.

One final word – to make sure you don’t deviate, make sure you use ‘you’ instead of ‘we’ on your website, even on your About Us page.

Here are 3 takeways to remember when writing your content:

1. Always write for your reader not yourself
2. Use a lot of ‘you’
3. Write conversationally to boost engagement

The art of website copywriting is a complex one.

Many website’s that have been written in-house tend to make the same mistake.

No, we’re not talking about bad grammar or blaring typos (although that may be true in some cases), the problem is with the actual content itself.

You see, although your website exists to bring your company to the attention of your market place, it isn’t there to shout about you.

Confused?

Think about it this way. Imagine you’re out looking for a new pair of shoes. As you walk down the High Street you spot a gorgeous looking shop with oodles of ‘must have’ shoes in the window.

Its upmarket feel and the immaculately displayed shoes, boost and sandals seduce you. Before you know it you’ve walked through the door and an assistant is approaching you.

You expect them to greet you, ask how you are and what you’re looking for – are you looking for shoes for a special occasion….really, a Ball? How wonderful, what’s your dress like? You know, niceties like that.

But what they actually do is tell you all about the company, how long they’ve been trading, what car the MD drives and how they believe they are the most unique shoe retailer in the country.

I don’t know about you, but I would be out of there faster than a fast thing.

The same thing goes for your website.

Your Home Page is likely to be the page that most visitors arrive at, so it’s the first impression they’ll get of your company. But rather than reading about how amazing your company is, it needs to be focused 100% on the needs of your customers.

Why should they buy from you?

No, not because you’ve been in business since 1889….They should buy from you because you offer unique shoes, shoes that will make them feel special, shoes that people will stop and stare at, shows that will show the world how successful they are, shoes that will make people stop and stare wishing they could be just like them.

OK, a bit OTT, but you get the picture.

The copywriting on your home page must be all about the benefits your customers will enjoy if they buy your product (or service). It must communicate to your reader that you’re a company that puts its customers first.

Over to you

Take a look at your Home Page – who is the main focus on, you or your customers?

If it’s you, it’s time to change your copy – if you need a hand, get in touch with a professional copywriter and get your copy working for you.