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Are the words on your website working for you?
Here’s six basic elements of good writing I look at in a website copywriting audit…
🥇 1 | Your Unique Selling Point
The very first view of your homepage should tell visitors your unique selling point (USP).
What do you do
Who do you do it for
How do you do it differently
🙋♀️ 2 | You not We
Focus on the benefits not features of your products or services. If you’re doing this successfully, you should find more you than we through your webpage content.
Speak directly to the ‘pain points’ your visitor faces that you can solve. What are the common challenges your customers battle before they find you? What positive impact does your product or service have on their experience?
📢 3 | Consistent Tone of Voice
Your website should sound more like a conversation with your customers and less like an essay.
Try to always sound like yourself… on your best day!
Good copywriting is often about cutting words out to make your points clear, but including enough detail to make it interesting.
🌊 4 | Logical flow
Each page within your website needs a structure that guides visitors through what you offer.
These simple formatting tools are a great way to break up the information you want to get across:
Headlines
Use a bold headline to clearly tell visitors what to expect on that page. Take a ‘does what it says on the tin’ approach, but also use a tone that matches the feel you want for your website.
Subheading
Most visitors won’t read every word you’ve put on the page. Use subheadings to help them quickly scan to find the information they’re looking for.
If your subheadings are the only words a visitor reads, will they get a good impression of what you have to offer?
Bullet points
We find it easier to process and remember information displayed in bullet points.
Use bullets or numbered lists to highlight the most important points you want a visitor to take away from the page, for example the benefits of working with you, the steps in your process or the technical aspects of a product.
Bold text
Every industry has its buzz words and hot topics that any visitor will be hoping to see you know something about. Use bold to highlight these so they jump out from the page.
Blank space
Don’t underestimate the power of blank space! If your page looks too busy or has too much information in one place, it’s harder for a visitor to digest and you may lose their attention.
If you can’t cut down on the information you want to share, think about dividing it into more than one webpage.
⁉ 5 | Spelling and Grammar
You knew this one was coming. It’s so easy to make typos in your text… and so difficult to spot them in your own writing!
Read every sentence out loud, with care. Careless mistakes will harm the trust you’re building with your visitors.
🎆 6 | Call To Action
Remember to tell your visitors what to do next. At least every page (and probably every section) should finish with a phrase or button that takes them to the next step.
Here’s a few you could use:
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Take a look at the pages of your website…
How many teacherly green ticks would you get?