Good copy can make the difference between a business and a successful business. It’s an incredibly underrated tool when it comes to digital marketing, and once you get the hang of it, copywriting can become a simple one too.
But how exactly do you formulate amazing copy?
What is Copy?
You know the words you read on a website? From blog posts to your landing page, that’s copy!
Copy is the core text that tells your website visitors everything they need to know about your business and your products or services, and directs them to the right page that’s full of… you guessed it… more copy!
How to Start Writing Copy
Writing amazing web copy is a process and often requires a lot of reading through and editing.
The first stage of copywriting is to list out all the important information, call to actions and subject lines you want to include on each webpage. For example, on your homepage you might want to have a small section about your business, another section about your products and services, and a final section on why people should choose your business over competitors.
Involve Your Brand
Good copywriting isn’t just words on a website, it’s the voice of your brand. Do you want it to be professional, or would you rather a more colloquial tone?
Defining your tone of voice is incredibly important. For example, if you’re an accountant targeting business owners over the age of 40, you want to keep a professional tone to build trust and show them you have experience and industry. However, if you are an accountant targeting university students to help them keep on top of their finances, using slang, trending words and phrases and having a casual tone is likely to make them choose you over competitors because they can relate to you more.
Keywords and Phrases
You’ve probably heard of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), and copy plays a huge role in this.
You know your business and you know you’re industry, so now create a list of all the keywords and phrases that people might search for if they wanted to find your website.
Now you have your copy for each webpage mapped out, have decided on your tone of voice, and a list of keywords it’s time to start putting each point into sentences.
As you write, be mindful to include keywords and phrases when it feels natural. Try not to go overboard as you can end up with very odd sentences that make it difficult for people to read! Just make sure that you pop a keyword in every now and then so Google can recognise what information your website contains and can begin to show it to people searching.
What not to write:
We’re a Hastings marketing agency in East Sussex that designs and builds websites with website design using WordPress, Shopify, SquareSpace and other website builders. We can build your website.
What to write:
We’re a marketing agency based in the sunny town of Hastings. We have a fantastic team of web developers and marketing specialists allowing us to design you a fantastic new website! We have experience working with WordPress, Shopify, SquareSpace and plenty of other website builders.
Spelling, Grammar & Editing
Now comes the tricky part… You’ve written out all your copy for each webpage and it needs to be checked.
Start by rereading through yourself to see if you can pick up on any spelling or grammatical errors and make sure it reads well. It can be tricky to edit your own work, so share the copy with a member of your team or close friend and ask them to read through as well.
Make any edits to ensure keywords and phrases are included, the tone of voice remains consistent, and the overall flow of copy reads well. Once you’re happy, it’s time to upload your copy to your website!
Need a Hand?
Creating excellent copy is time consuming, and can be very difficult to achieve if you haven’t got experience. It can also be difficult to get the right message across as a business owner, so having a third party write for you is always a good idea!
Here at MJS Media, we have experience writing copy for all sorts of industry, all sizes of website, and all tones of voice! We’d love to help you create an excellent website through your copy, and excel in SEO, something that can be difficult to achieve.
If you’d like us to give you a hand when writing your website copy, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
