Imagine this: You’ve put together an incredible marketing campaign that’s driving traffic to your website. Your audience is hooked by your messaging on social media or your latest commercial. But as soon as they arrive on your website, excitement dwindles. 

They’re disappointed by the disconnect between what they saw before and the lackluster copy on your site. This leaves a sour taste in their mouth, and they may choose to take their business elsewhere.

This is where the power of words comes in. Crafting compelling website copy is vital to the success of your business, as it affects your site’s search engine rankings, user engagement, and ultimately, your conversion rates. 

But how can you quickly revamp your website copy to maximize potential and ensure a cohesive experience for your visitors?

Website Copywriting Tip #1: Brush up on writing basics

Writing is a skill that takes time and focus to develop. If you haven’t done much writing lately, take some time to review writing basics before tackling a website copywriting overhaul. 

• Browse popular writing resources like Purdue Owl, Associated Press, Grammar Girl, and your own internal style guide for a refresher on punctuation, sentence structure, and other writing fundamentals.
• But don’t stop there! Writing for the web requires a unique set of skills that differ from traditional print media. To ensure your web copy is engaging and accessible, check out these Best Practices for Web Writing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore to get started. 

By mastering the basics of writing and understanding the nuances of web writing, you can create content that is polished and compelling. Take the time to refresh your skills and elevate your writing to the next level. Your readers (and your conversion rates) will thank you.

Website Copywriting Tip #2: Use writing tools wisely 

By utilizing editing tools, marketers can save valuable time and resources while producing high-quality content that resonates with their target audience. 

Let’s look at a few of our favorite editing tools — and how to get the most value out of them. 

Hemingway Editor

Clear, concise writing is key to helping your customers and search engine bots understand your content. Hemingway Editor will highlight common writing issues like passive voice and complex sentences to help you improve readability. 

Simply copy and paste your unique content into the app and Hemingway will give you a readability score and other helpful metrics. You can look at the highlighted areas to remove jargon, shorten sentences, and simplify your writing. 

Keep in mind that the tool doesn’t know who you’re writing for. You have to use common sense when deciding what readability score is appropriate for your target readers. 

Say you’re writing a post about the benefits of a new prescription drug. If the post was geared toward medical professionals, a higher readability score makes sense since you’d be using complex scientific terms a professional would be familiar with. 

On the other hand, those complex terms may confuse the average consumer dealing with a medical issue. You’d probably want to aim for a lower readability score when writing for that audience to ensure they will understand.  

Grammarly

Grammarly is a cloud-based typing assistant that looks at spelling, grammar, punctuation, and more. It’s a great defense against blatant errors in your content. 

Much like Hemingway, you copy your writing into Grammarly. The free version allows you to just see major mistakes and a few other key metrics. The paid version will offer you additional insights and writing suggestions, as well as a plagiarism checker. 

Take each suggestion with a grain of salt. While Grammarly can provide helpful suggestions, it also has a fair share of inaccurate and unnecessary changes. Only choose the ones that make sense for your brand and your audience.

It’s also important that you don’t use Grammarly as a replacement for a human editor. Things still slip through the cracks. Whenever possible, have someone else review your work as well. 

Website Copywriting Tip #3: Act like a reporter

Put on your journalist cap and act like a reporter as you dive into your website’s content. Interviews, keen observations, and a structured approach can make a big impact on content quality and conversions. 

Conduct interviews 

Reporters spend a lot of time interviewing and use quotes to make articles more balanced, engaging, and accurate. You can use that same approach to boost your website’s content. 

Spend time talking to employees, industry experts, and customers. Their perspective can help you craft content that’s easier to understand and better addresses key pain points. 

Observe 

Reporters are also on the front lines of newsworthy events, taking in the sites and sounds. You should also step away from your computer screen and observe your company in action. 

Use your product. Pretend you’re a customer and go through the sign-up or check out process or visit your manufacturing facility and retail locations. 

Whatever the case may be, you’ll find a lot of valuable insights and ideas to make your content more engaging. 

Structure

Journalists also use headlines and the inverted pyramid writing structure when crafting news stories. The idea is to put the most newsworthy information — such as who, what, where, when, and why — first, then work your way into more detail. This approach works well with online content too, since most readers are skimming rather than reading every word. 

Make it easy for your customers to find the “need-to-know” information about your product or service. 

• What does your product do? 
• How does it benefit customers? 
• How do they buy it? 
• How much does it cost? 
• How do they contact you? 

If customers can’t answer these questions within a couple of seconds looking at your site, they may lose interest or move onto the next thing. 

If possible, have someone not associated with your company take a look at your site or blog and see if they can answer basic questions at a glance. 

Website Copywriting Tip #4: Create an outline

Before you dive into writing your website copy, take time to put together an outline. Outlines help you focus and hone the structure and overall flow of ideas in your writing. 

Outlines help you avoid going off on random tangents that interrupt the flow of your piece. You’ll also minimize time wasted on researching and writing content that gets deleted or reworked later on. 

An outline should include potential headers and 2-3 bullet points of what you plan to talk about in each section. Don’t worry about spelling or complete sentences at this point, just focus on the main ideas and flow. 

Ideally, you’ll let this sit for 24 hours or so and then come back to it with fresh eyes. It’s also helpful to have an editor or fellow colleague to review your outline and offer feedback.  

Website Copywriting Tip #5:  Hire a professional

Sometimes the quickest and most effective way to improve your website content is to hire a content marketing professional. If you don’t have the time or energy to dedicate to content, bringing in an agency can be a great start. 

Crafting high-quality web content requires a keen eye for detail, a deep understanding of language, and years of practice. Professional copywriters, bloggers, and content marketers have honed their skills over countless hours of research, writing, and revision. 

These professionals can quickly assess a piece of content, identify key themes and messages, and optimize it for maximum impact.

But what if you prefer to write your own web content? That’s where an editor or content strategist can be invaluable. These professionals can provide an outside perspective, helping you identify areas for improvement and craft a cohesive content marketing strategy that aligns with your goals. 

By working with an editor or content strategist, you can elevate your writing to the next level and achieve even greater success with your content marketing efforts.

Start writing today!

Ready to take your website copy to the next level and drive more conversions? Don’t wait any longer. Start implementing these tips today! 

With a focus on crafting high-quality content, you can attract more visitors, engage your audience, and ultimately, grow your business. 

And if you need website copywriting support, we’re here to help! DAE & Company has a proven track record of success. Our talented team can help you craft compelling, conversion-driven content that resonates with your target audience.