In a dream world, we would all have the means to hire a professional copywriter to help us out. However, the vast majority of small business owners start out wearing all the hats, and trying to figure out how the heck to connect with your dream customers in a meaningful way can feel crazy overwhelming at times.
You know you're a rockstar at what you do — but how do you communicate that without coming off as salesy or pushy?
A good friend of mine (Ben Watson of Fiscal Fluency) recently started helping me out with my business finances and when I found out that his wife, Casey, was a copywriter who is familiar with the StoryBrand framework, I was over the moon.
I recently picked up a copy of Don Miller's book and fell in love with his down-to-earth, authenticity-driven approach to brand messaging and I've been sharing it with many of my clients as we've embarked on their website design process. If you haven't familiarized yourself with the StoryBrand framework yet, grab a copy of the book!
In the meantime, I've asked Casey to provide her five best tips for writing effective website copy.
You might think in today’s visual world, the copy (or text)
on your website might not be that important for selling your products and
services. If so, you’re wrong.
It’s true that photography and video have become major
components of every successful site. Yet, the copy still tells your customers
what you’re selling and how to buy it—so you had better make it good.
This seems counterintuitive, I
know. You’re creating a website to sell a product or service, so you need to
tell your customers all about your company, right?
Yes and no.
Many businesses craft narratives
about their exemplary records and their amazing products. They write sparkling
stories about their excellence—but they forget to include the customer in the
tale. As a result, they cast the customer as a spectator in their journey
toward success. And, that’s a huge mistake—because people like to read stories
about themselves.
Bad Home Page Blurb:
Braggart & Sons
Construction has served this area for 40 years and earned 6 awards for
exemplary homebuilding. We’ve built 340 homes in the tristate area, and we’ve
never received a complaint from a single customer.
Good Home Page Blurb:
Relax in the bedroom that you
design. Cook in the kitchen that meets your every need. Call Guide & Sons
Construction today and use our 40 years of experience to build the quality home
you’ve always wanted.
See the difference? The first blurb certainly gives important info, but customers want to know how you’re going to improve their lives.
I know it’s tempting to write fun headings for your copy or
play around with creative language. Don’t. Attention spans wane these days. To
make a sale, you’ve got to make your point, and you’ve got to make it quickly
and clearly.
StoryBrand’s Donald Miller uses a technique he calls “The Grunt Test.” He says your customers should know the following within 5 seconds of viewing your website …
1. What you offer.
2. How it will make their lives better.
3. What they need to do to buy it.
In other words, you need to create copy and design that are so
simple a caveman could communicate your point with grunts.
As I said before, attention spans are short. You don’t need
a lot of copy to tell people about your product or service. Most customers
don’t want to read a lot of text, and they often click off a site that contains
too much of it. That’s why one of a copywriter’s most essential skills is to
condense a paragraph into a sentence.
You have an important point to make, but every noun, pronoun, and adjective is precious because each one costs you. Cut out the extraneous info and whittle your copy down to its bones.
A website may paint a poignant picture about how its product
or service can change a customer’s life, but it falls short unless it actually
pushes the customer to buy—or call or schedule an appointment or whatever.
People need to know how they can get what you’re selling, and most won’t take
the time to figure it out for themselves. So, you need to tell them.
There’s going to be a big button on your homepage that will
sum up the entire point of your website. It’s going to say, “Buy now,” “Call
today, “Schedule an appointment,” or maybe “Learn more.” It’s called a “call to
action” button, and you need to sprinkle those words throughout the site. Add them
to your homepage. Insert them at the end of your about page. Use them here and
there on blog posts.
Just make sure you give that extra nudge to act.
I know you will spend hours or even days getting the language on your website just right. Yet, you have to accept that people won’t read every word. This means you (again) should keep your copy short and then add headings whenever you can.
Make those headings as clear and direct as possible to serve as a roadmap for those who are skimming through your pages.
Remember that great copywriting is a skill you develop over
time. Be patient. Keep reviewing and refining your copy to cut the fat and
clarify your text because direct and clear messaging will work wonders for your
bottom line.
Casey Watson has worked as a journalist for ten years and a copywriter for nearly as long. She has traveled throughout Asia and Southeast Asia, writing stories for a missionary agency, and has served as a staff writer for Baptist Global Response. Casey now writes entirely on a freelance basis and produces social media content as well as website and fundraising copy. When not writing, she’s scheming about how to have the most fun life possible with her husband, Ben.
Connect with Casey: caseywatsonwrites(at)gmail.com
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