How to Create Effective Copy for Pages on Your Website
When you're getting ready to launch or update your website, you may think your work is over once you choose a design and a new layout. But, the work is just beginning. From there, you need to decide what pages you need and create copy for each of those pages.
Website copy isn’t something that should be rushed or overlooked. Copy on your site has the ability to move prospects closer to working with -- or drive them away.
Good copy for pages on your website:
- Allows customers to research your business and plan their visit or purchase
- Tells website visitors exactly what to do to take the next step toward working with you
- Helps search engines better categorize and rank your website so more people can find your business
On the other hand, bad copy --- rushed copy that is meant to fill in the blanks and simply get the job done -- can negatively impact customer experience, SEO, and conversion rates.
So, if you have a website build or redesign coming up, take time to plan for the copywriting phase of your page development, and use these tips to create copy for pages on your website.
Make a list of needed landing pages.
The first step to planning your business website is listing the pages you need. Almost all websites will need a homepage, contact page, about page, and service/product page. Beyond that, you will need to determine what pages will best suit your business and marketing goals.
To help you determine what pages you need, consider these questions.
What do you want people to do on your website? If a customer lands on your website, what are the actions you want them to take? Create a page that is needed for each of those actions, which may include:
- Place an online order
- Browse products
- View menu
- Plan a visit
- Schedule a consultation
- View a portfolio
- Review testimonials
- Make a purchase
- Read case studies
What information do customers need? Think about the questions customers frequently ask. What are the reasons why customers call your business? Create pages of content that answer their questions.
What ads are you running to your website? In most cases, if you are running Google search PPC ads, you do not want to point ads to a generic homepage. Search ads convert better when they point to a page that is directly tied to the ad copy. For example, a heating and air conditioning business wouldn’t run ads for A/C maintenance to their homepage. They would run ads to their A/C maintenance landing page. Create landing pages that are relevant for each of your ad sets.
Related: Why Marketing Campaigns Should Drive Traffic to Landing Pages Not Homepages
How many locations do you have? If your business has multiple locations, you don’t need multiple websites. But, you do need a landing page on your website for each location. Each location page should feature that location’s address, contact information, and details and photos that are unique to that location.
Related: How Can I Optimize My Brand's Website If I Have Multiple Locations
What keywords do you want to rank for? If a customer was looking for a business like you, what keywords would they search for? Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and create a list of terms. Then, conduct keyword research to see what terms customers are actually looking for. Plan to create pages that target the most searched for terms related to your business.
Define the call-to-action for each page.
Once you have a list of pages you need for your website, start to consider the purpose of each page. What do you want website visitors to do once they land on each page? The action you want people to take will turn into the defined call-to-action (CTA) for each page.
The call-to-action is the directive you give to customers so they move closer toward working with you. Every page on your site should include and end with a CTA. Go through your list of pages and define the CTA for each. This will help you determine what other copy needs to be on the page to move the customer through to your CTA.
Write the copy.
With your list of pages and defined CTAs, you can start to create the copy for pages on your website. Consider copywriting best practices as you go through this process.
Talk about benefits over features. When talking about your offerings remember that customers don’t care as much about features as they do about benefits. Show them how your offerings help and tell them what problems they solve, rather than only listing features.
Put the most important information at the top of the page. Attention spans are short so give readers the most important information at the top of the page. Lead with what website visitors will find the most useful and valuable.
Highlight the most important information. Website audiences like to scan pages to find the information they want and need. Don’t bury important details. Instead, highlight them on the page using bulleted lists, bolding, and call-outs.
Use headlines and sections. To make your pages more scannable, also use headlines and sections throughout long pages to break up information.
Speak directly to the audience, and know who you are talking to. Write in the third person, and speak directly to the audience. This means using the word “you” and writing as though you are talking to the reader. Also, get to know your reader deeply before you start writing to them. Create buyer personas that help you understand your audience and keep them in mind as you create the content.
Add in call-to-actions. As mentioned above, every page on your website should end with a call-to-action that tells the reader what to do next. In addition to ending with a CTA, also consider if you need additional CTAs throughout the page. If you have a longer page, interject CTAs throughout the page so readers don’t have to scroll all the way to the bottom.
Optimize the page for SEO. Choose a target keyword for each page and optimize the page using on-site SEO best practices to help the page rank in search.
Continue to add content to your website.
The work on your website content is never really done. You should continue to update, optimize, and add to the pages on your site. Make a plan to revisit your website and build out new pages that will improve SEO and provide more value for website visitors.
- Develop landing pages that go deeper into specific products, services, verticals, and topics.
- Write valuable local blog posts that link to the landing pages.
- Return to old pages and posts to see how you can update or add information to make the pages more useful and relevant.
Related: My New Website Doesn't Show Up in Search. Why?
Create new or improved copy for pages on your website.
You can’t rush through the copywriting phase on a website build or redesign. Copy is an important part of effectively moving interested prospects to become customers and buyers.
Use these tips to create a better plan for your website copy. Then, contact MyArea Network if you need help with execution. Our team of marketers can help you create a website designed to reach, impress, and motivate local customers. To see how we can help, contact us today for a free consultation.
