Writing copy that resonates with someone isn’t always the easiest thing to do. For example, when writing for your website, your copy needs to be intentional and get the point across. Whether it’s to promote sales, inform a researching customer, or convey a reason to donate to your non-profit, strong copy on your website can help make it happen. Let’s look at some ways to improve your writing and create more engaging copy that will improve conversions.
Start With A Style Guide
A style guide is essentially your company’s handbook on how to write copy in the same style and format across the board. It helps promote uniformity in both your digital and print copy, as well as provides a more profound sense of professionalism within your writing.
A good place to begin creating your style guide is with your company’s values and chosen archetype. By centering your style guide around your company’s values, you and your copywriters are all on the same page about your format, how formal it should be, and what you can and can’t say. Additionally, being in touch with your brand’s archetype can help with your overall tone. For example, if your business aligns with a Jester Archetype, be funny and witty. If your business is a Sage Archetype, be wise and professional. No matter how you decide to structure the voice of your business, consistency is key.
Try to Capture Intent In Your Writing
When a user reaches your business’ website, they almost always have a mission or something they intend to accomplish during their visit to your site (better known as user intent). Most users are looking for information to purchase something or to locate something. By writing copy that can satisfy these different types of intent, you’ll begin to notice increased engagement with your website. Increased engagement can come in the form of traffic, sales, blog shares, etc. Obviously, you can’t satisfy every user who comes to your site, but the more you try and write with the end-user in mind, the more likely you can gain further interaction with your brand.
Use Different Trust Signals To Help Your Overall Authority
Humans usually have a pretty good sense of when something isn’t right or trustworthy. If your site has copy that doesn’t look, sound, or read professionally, it likely won’t be considered a trustworthy site by the users who visit it. To improve the overall trust in your copy, try to include statistics, quotes from customers, and original data so you can show your users that you are a reliable source. Not only will this help with improving engagement, but it can also help tell search engines such as Google and Bing that your site is a reliable source, which will help improve your overall organic search rankings.
The Takeaway
Writing strong copy for your website can seem like a daunting task, but in our increasingly online world, it is a must. By incorporating some of these best practices into your copywriting workflow, you can begin to write copy that is more trustworthy, user-focused, and more likely to result in a user taking action on your site.
-written by Jonah Ericksen