Your web copy is your company’s voice. Whether your visitors are conscious of it or not, they give your business a “personality” based on the tone of the words they read on your website, and they decide immediately whether you sound like someone they want to do business with. On the web, your copywriting represents you. MagicLamp can make sure you’re prepared for a good first impression. Writing effective web copy is much more than putting periods where they should be and not making any spelling mistakes. Good copy willseduce your visitors into becoming customers.
For powerful copy that gets you sales, you need a web copywriter, someone who knows how to write specifically for online media, which is different from any other kind of writing.
Copywriting is text that’s designed to make readers take a specific action, like clicking “add to cart,” typing their email address into a form, or just reading the next sentence. A good web copywriter will know exactly how to get people to do what you want them to. They’ll also know how to optimize your content for search engines, with keyword-rich headlines and meta descriptions that attract clicks.
Copy that makes you sound like you’re talking directly to each potential client, instead of delivering a generic marketing pitch, can be a major part of making your company stand out and setting you above your competition.
The Signs of Good Web Copy:
- Knowing who your audience is. Exactly who are you trying to persuade to buy your product? What do they want and why did they come to your website? Your copy should speak immediately to your ideal visitors’ goals & desires. Just changing your headline to something more pertinent to your audience can skyrocket your conversion rate. Carelogger’s results increased by 31% from a single smart change to their meta tag text.
- Your copy is tight and sharp. The text is simple, without unnecessary words, and it goes straight to the point. People can get to the information they want quickly and easily, without testing their endurance. Remember what the Talking Heads song says: “When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. Say something once, why say it again?”
- Your headlines are representative of the content and they command attention. Web visitors are constantly evaluating sites, deciding whether yours is what they’re looking for or not. You really only have a few fractions of a second to show them you’re worth their attention.
- Your copy communicates clear, specific benefits. The advantages of choosing your company above others are clear, and you have obvious calls-to-action so people know what to do next.
- You speak to your visitors with integrity and sincerity, like another real human being. If something’s not true, don’t say it. Your copy should induce a sense of confidence and ease, rather than desperation or anxiety. Web surfers can detect the faintest whiff of coercive, spammy sales tactics and they’ll run, not walk, away from your site if they smell them in your writing.
- You have the right tone for your business. Tedious sentences, hyperbole, dry business jargon, and overly clever headlines are generally to be avoided, even if you do have the greatest product since sliced bread. The wrong tone can make your site seem like spam and make you come off as an amateur.
No matter how thrifty your budget is or how pressed you are for time, your web copy is not where you want to cut corners.
Skimping on quality copy for your website is like dressing up for a big job interview, getting there on time, but then answering the interviewer’s questions with incoherent babble.
You look great, but you’re not getting the job.
Here’s the kind of thinking that could get you into trouble (and the kind that most unsuccessful website owners have, unfortunately):
“I read that you need tons of content for high SEO rankings. How can I generate that as fast and cheaply as possible?”
“Can we just pay someone minimum wage to get articles from other sites, slightly re-word them, and recycle the content?”
“Can we get a program to scrape content off the web and recombine it into a bunch of keyword lists that at least search engines will read?
It’s tempting to think this way, but no, you cannot safely do any of these things if you’re serious about running a business online. All of these practices severely damage the integrity of your site and actually lower your search ratings in the long run.
It’s as true in web copy as any other area of life: you get what you pay for.
At MagicLamp, we will take care to see that your voice is expressed and you come across the way you want to. We have copywriting experience in a wide range of industries, and we can help you with editing, eCommerce, blogging, product descriptions, mission statements, branding and messaging, and much more.
If you’re working on copy for a new site, you’d like a second opinion on some text, or you’re interested in an assessment of your current site, give us a call or email.
