Craft irresistible website copy in minutes with these quick tweaks
Hey everyone!
This week I want to talk about how to use copy on your website:
- Understanding it’s an iterative process
- How to format it
- Why saying less is better
The reason is because I stumble upon many websites that seem to think copy only plays a minor role. But once you understand how website copy works, you unlock the ability to instantly connect with your ideal customer.
Let’s dive in!
Your website is only as good as the words on it
To use copy effectively on your website, you first need to make sure you don’t make a few of the most common mistakes:
- Focusing too heavily on design
- Trying to be too clever
- Writing for everyone
The reason people tend to make these mistakes is because they think people will read every word on their website. And as a result, they keep themselves stuck attracting poor quality leads.
So, here’s how to fix it:
Understanding it’s an iterative process
Your website copy is not something you write once and never look at again.
This is how people built websites in the past. You have the ability to update copy on your website easily. Which means you need to make improvements as you grow.
To do this, you have to understand what’s working.
You can only accomplish this once you have an understanding of your analytics.
(Note: If you don’t have analytics setup on your website, I highly recommend Plausible).
Over time, you will start to see patterns.
- Are certain pages getting more visitors?
- Does your contact page get visited often?
All this data is trying to tell you something. Don’t ignore it!
What resonates with your ideal audience is only something you can learn from trying new things.
Don’t be afraid to test and iterate.
Formatting your copy is crucial for getting people to read it
Did you know that according to Econsultancy, the average user will only read 20% of the content on your webpage?
Sadly, most people will skim your website. They look for details and information that pertain to solving their problem. If they don’t find it quickly, they will leave. Hopping right to the next website that could solve their problem.
What I see a lot of websites do is format their paragraphs poorly.
This means, a chunk of text in one large paragraph.
This is a huge mistake! No one likes to read content like this on a website. Here are some ways to break up the text on your website.
- Use bullet points (like this!)
- Create many small paragraphs
- Use one-liners to make certain sentences stand out
Say less
The reality is that most people don’t care about most of the stuff on your website.
They want to understand how you can help them and how to get started. Your website is not an art gallery, or a place for you to write a novel about your business.
It’s always better to say less on your website.
Save the details for when they reach out to you.
Your website should be a digital journey that you want to take your ideal customer on.
If you find yourself wanting to say more, start a blog.
A blog is a great place to talk about your company story, or what your logo means. These things don’t belong on your primary pages (i.e., homepage, about, services, contact).
Say less, and the things you do say will be more important.
That’s it!
As always, thanks for reading.
Hit reply and let me know what you found most helpful this week—I’d love to hear from you!
See you next Friday,
Luke
