I often get asked by my clients if they’re able to write their own content for their website because they either want to feel more involved or they want to save on outsourcing costs for copywriting. Whatever the reason, I always encourage my clients to write their own copy because at the end of the day, they know their business better than anyone else.
Sometimes though, my clients (usually small business owners) get a bit lost or they don’t know how to get started or they worry about writing content that’s great for SEO and they hit a brick wall.
But writing for the web is very easy. In fact, some argue it’s easier than writing for other mediums. So here’s 5 handy tips to great copywriting for your website:
1. Write for humans, not search engines
Yes, it’s important to have important keywords in your copy but if you focus more on Google and less on your customer, your copy will come across as spam-like and will be an immediate turn off.
2. Keep it simple and straightforward
On the Internet, you have mere milliseconds to grab and hold people’s attention. Keeping the content free from unnecessary jargon, buzz words and fluff will keep your reader interested and on your website for longer.
3. Choose a topic and stick to it
Doing this will help you keep your ad copy to the point and highly relevant. If you offer multiple services, have a page dedicated to each service and ensure all content is targeted towards that service alone. Relevancy = search engine goodness.
4. Don’t write essays (unless you need to!)
Why write 500 words when only 100 will do?. If you follow steps 2 and 3, you will be able to write good copy that is short, easy to read and to the point. People like to read things in bite sized chunks. Avoid the waffle!
5. Write for your audience
Think about how you would write to your best friend and how you would write to the Prime Minister. The tone will be quite different and the same goes for your website copy. Write in a way that resonates with your customers. If you’re selling skate gear to teenagers, your tone will be drastically different than if you were selling fine bone china. Don’t isolate your customer with language that doesn’t make sense to them!
and here’s an extra tip: PRACTICE! Writing may not come naturally but if you practice writing 100 word blurbs about your business, your background, services, products etc… you’ll start to get the hang of it, even if it’s never published. Writing is an art and can really make a difference to the website experience you give your customers.
Think before you ink and happy writing from 123SEO – your small business SEO specialists!
