How to write web copy that brings home the bacon
Picture this. Your website looks like the dog’s proverbials, and you’re really happy with how the copy sounds. It tells your readers all about your brand and why it’s so bloody brilliant, and it’s full of nice photos and designs.
But there’s one problem: the site isn’t actually doing anything for you. With bounce rates that high, you might as well open a trampoline park, and your inbox is collecting cobwebs, not enquiries.
The truth is, great web copy doesn’t just sound good. Every line has a job to do, whether that’s leading your reader to the next line, next page, or encouraging them to say ‘yes’ to whatever it is you’re offering. If it’s not doing that, it’s as good as pointless.
But don’t despair! Creating quality copy that converts isn’t rocket science. It just requires some extra thinking time. Luckily for you, we’ve got your web copy cheat sheet right here so you can get your brand’s web copy to work harder.
Questions to answer before you dive in
If you think you can just start writing your copy (or briefing a copywriter to write it for you) without doing some serious thinking beforehand, prepare to be disappointed with the results. The key to copy that converts is the work you do before you get going.
Who are we talking to?
Hopefully, you have clear audience personas for your brand. If not, get on that ASAP. And when we say audience personas, we don’t mean ‘women over 40’ or ‘men called Jeff’.
Get specific about:
What each audience group values.
Why they’d care about your brand.
What problems they’re dealing with.
What ‘ideal’ looks like to them.
Once you can picture who you’re talking to, you have more of a chance of writing in a way that connects with them and keeps them reading.
What do they need to know?
As nice as it can be to write an aimless stream of consciousness, this is your brand’s website, not your journal. So, before you start, get clear on the key messages you need to convey through your copy.
Think about:
What you get asked about most often.
What you wish your customers knew before they came to you.
What makes you different from your competitors.
Then, when you’re planning your web copy, you’ve got a clear direction about what you actually need to say.
How should we sound?
We could talk about the importance of brand voice until the cows come home. Just like your visual brand, it’s part of what makes you recognisably ‘you’. It’s how you make sure you’re speaking a language that resonates with your audience, how you build trust and, ultimately, how you make sales.
If you haven’t already got clear brand voice guidelines in place, think about:
Where your brand sits on a scale from Ryanair to Emirates.
How you want your audience to feel when they’re reading your copy.
Words that you love and words to avoid when writing for your brand.
Jot those things down and keep coming back to them to keep your voice consistent.
What do I want them to do?
Remember, every line of web copy has a purpose, and you’re always leading your audience somewhere. So before you start, map out what pages you’ll have on your site, and how you want your readers to move through them. Then you can make sure you have the right navigation in the right places to make that happen.
Structuring web copy to convert
Once you’ve answered all of the questions above, you have the basis of a great brief that you can pass on to a copywriter (ideally before you get started on web design!) or use to guide your own writing if you’re taking on the challenge yourself.
If you’re taking a crack at your own copy, you’ll need to know a thing or two about how to structure each page for maximum impact. Let’s take a look…
Headers
We’re going to hold your hand when we say this. “Welcome to [brand name]” is not an acceptable use of your header. And neither is anything that starts with the word “we”. This is your opportunity to grab your reader’s attention, so don’t waste it.
As a rule, use your value proposition or a heading that makes the benefits of your brand, product or service clear from the get-go. You might also want to add a subheading or call to action (CTA) in your header if it makes sense at this point in your customer’s journey.
Body copy
Your instinct will probably be to dive straight into what makes your brand so great. It makes sense, you know your reader probably has a short attention span, and you want to get right into the good stuff.
But if you really want your reader to listen to what you have to say, you have to earn their trust first. That’s why you need to start by talking about them, not about you. Cover their pain points. The solutions they’ve tried that haven’t worked. Their dream state. The time you spend showing you understand them will pay off when you finally get to your solution and they think, “Yes! This brand really gets what I need!”
Social proof
Speaking of trust, social proof is your not-so-secret trust-building weapon. Use it strategically to show your reader you’re great without having to tell them.
Examples of social proof include:
Testimonials or reviews
‘Featured in’ sections
Logos of other clients (if you’re B2B)
Social proof sections work especially well after you’ve made a bold claim and want to back it up – just make sure the proof you choose is relevant to the point you’re making.
Calls to action (CTAs)
You’ve hooked your reader with your header. You’ve built trust with your body copy and secured that relationship with social proof. Now’s the time to seal the deal with a call to action (CTA) they can’t resist clicking.
This is where a lot of websites will go with the easy and predictable options (“learn more”, “find out more”, “buy now”). But easy and predictable don’t convert.
To encourage your readers to click, make it as clear as possible what will happen once they do. Specificity beats vagueness every time, here.
To get you started, think about finishing these sentences:
“I want to…” (discover new styles/book a boat tour/find my new favourite mocktail).
“I want you to…” (show me sofas/send me the article/create my personalised quote).
Writing web copy to be found
Of course, we couldn’t write an article about web copy without mentioning SEO (search engine optimisation). It’s one of the main drivers for brands having a website in the first place these days – being found through search engines.
This isn’t the time or place to go too deep into all the technicalities of search engine optimisation, but here are some of the key points to think about to help boost your site’s rankings:
Ask an SEO expert to provide search terms and include them throughout your copy.
Write to demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
Make sure each page is at least 300 words long to help search engines index.
Add links in your content to other pages on your site.
There’s a lot of talk about GEO (generative engine optimisation) out there now, too. This just means ranking when users are searching on AI-driven engines like ChatGPT. Your normal SEO strategies will go a long way for GEO, too. But you might also want to think about:
Using long-tailed, specific keywords as well as broader search terms.
Including FAQs and answering them directly.
Being really clear about who you and what you do.
What have we learned?
As you can see, there’s a whole lot that goes into writing web copy that actually converts.
It needs:
Clear understanding of your audience, messaging, and voice.
A structure that guides your reader through the journey.
To build trust first and sell second.
To be found on search and generative engines.
If you’re taking on the challenge of writing your web copy yourself, we wish you the best of luck. But if you’d like a crack team of copywriters to take it off your hands and produce web copy that will drive results without the headache, we’d love to help. Get in touch and let’s get started.
