Ignoring your website copy is a painful mistake so many companies make. Bad copy turns visitors and potential customers away. It makes your brand look outdated and possibly untrustworthy.
Think about it from a customer perspective: If you don’t take the time to keep your website copy current, they may wonder if your product or service is also clunky and dated.
Luckily, it's something you can fix if you take the time to do it right. Here are the top five ways you're screwing up the copy on your website and what you can do to fix it.
5 Ways You’re Doing Website Copy Wrong (And How to Fix It)
It’s fine — we all make mistakes, and fortunately, these are pretty easy to fix with a little time and TLC.
Mistake 1: You’re Not Writing For Your Audience
If you’re writing copy without first studying your buyer personas, you’re likely missing the mark. Avoid company jargon that is meaningless to your average website visitor — they don’t know and may not even understand your lingo.
Write about what matters to your audience — focus on their pain points and how your product or service can help. If the buyer personas or ideal client profiles (ICPs) important to your bottom line are not technical, leave the technical copy off the website. Instead, use that copy within blog posts or advanced content.
Another tip: Keep your tone conversational. If you prefer to be more formal, you can still do it in a way that reads like a human wrote it, not a robot. Tools like Grammarly or the Hemingway app can help you clear up your writing. Grammarly even lets you choose which tone of voice you’re going for.
Read on: How to Personalize Your Website Copy
Mistake 2: Your Content Isn’t Focused on the Page Goal
Consider the goal of each page of your website when writing copy. A pricing page, for example, will have a different copy length than a product or service overview.
For example, if you're working on your blog, come up with a list of potential topics before you start writing. If you're updating your website content, develop your sitemap first, and gather the content you already have to see what you can repurpose. From there, you can determine which pages need more work and what type of content each page should include.
Other tips:
- CTA buttons should use text that accurately describes the steps users are taking.
- Write just enough copy to provide the information users need to convert.
- Move lengthy product descriptions elsewhere, like product pages. Create new pages, put content in expandable text areas or create advanced content for download.
It’s also helpful to conduct keyword research so you can naturally work some keywords into your copy… which leads us to our next mistake.
Mistake 3: You’re Ignoring SEO
A detailed keyword strategy will help improve your rankings on Google which means more visitors will find you faster. Ignoring SEO means you will have a harder time bringing in organic traffic, and your bottom line will reflect this.
Start by thinking of a few words or phrases that people may search for when looking for your product or service, look up related keywords, and do an SEO audit based on those terms. You may even find more in the process.
Read On: SEO 101: What You Need to Know to Get Started
Mistake 4: Keyword Stuffing
We know… we just told you you’re not using enough keywords. At the same time, it’s really easy to use TOO MANY keywords, which is often called keyword stuffing. Taking this approach to SEO will hurt your rankings on Google.
Focus on your message and promote conversion opportunities within the main website pages by picking one or two keywords per website page. Use them naturally within your copy, headlines, and image alt tags — don’t force a keyword to fit.
Tools like SEMrush and thruuu can help you analyze your writing, and they’ll also tell you when you have too many keyword instances.
Mistake 5: Not Enough Content
You don’t want people leaving your website with more questions than when they got there. You may be weary of providing too much content, but better too much than too little. Consider adding blogs and content resources for each stage of the buyer journey: Top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel. Visitors come to your website at different stages of their journey — make sure you have the resources that answer their questions and help them convert.
Relatedly, make sure the content you have is still relevant. No one wants to get excited about a product only to find out you no longer offer them. Get rid of any mentions of products or services no longer available, and don't forget to check your About page. Does your mission statement still stand? Do all those staff members still work there?
Website Copy Tips
Writing for your audience, focusing on conversion goals, incorporating SEO tactics, and a content strategy will make your website look more credible to potential customers. Not ready to tackle this in-house? Lynton has a team of copywriters ready to help you meet your goals and bring your website to life. Reach out today!
