3 tips for writing great copy for your small business website

As a small business, it’s really important to have a website to showcase your products or services, but having a website with poorly written copy can have a negative impact. As the face of your business, you want your website to make a great first impression, whilst attracting your ideal customer. To do this, your website needs to be well designed, with good photography, a beautiful layout, easy to use navigation and finally, great copy.

What is website copy?

Website copy is the written content on your website, that communicates information about your products, services or brand. Think blog posts, product details, home page info, about page, anywhere that you have typed out words on your website, this is your website copy and it needs to be considered and well written. Effective website copy is essential in capturing the attention of website visitors, giving a flavour of your brand and keeping their attention.

How do I write great website copy?

Your website copy should be concise, informative and easy to read, using language that resonates with your target audience. A strong headline and well-structured content will help convey your message effectively and inspire your visitors to take action. Good website copy should also take into account SEO (search engine optimisation) by including important keywords to help improve your chances of ranking in search engines (but more on that in another post!). Overall, your website copy plays an important role in defining your brand's voice and informing your visitors of what your business offers.

3 tips for writing great copy for your website

1. Write as you would talk

Years ago, the done thing was to sound as professional as humanly possible on your website, to really give off a professional vibe, but this just isn’t necessary anymore, or liked even. Your potential customers don’t want to come to your website and read copy that could have been written by any old faceless bod or copy that’s difficult to read and stuffy. Instead, your customers want to get a feel for you and who you are. You can do this by writing as you would talk (within reason of course). Keep the tone chatty and informal, like you are chatting with a friend. It can take a bit of practice to get this right, but the more you do it, the easier it will come and your personality will start to shine through in your writing (or typing!).

2. Don’t use industry lingo

Whilst it’s good to sound knowledgable, using words the average person wouldn’t understand is pointless. It will only serve to confuse them and force them to look elsewhere, so try to keep industry jargon to a minimum. Instead choose words that everyone will understand. If you do need to include jargon for some reason, make sure you’re giving an explanation with it too. A good tip is to imagine you are writing your copy for a 12 year old. Would they be able to read it and understand what you’re talking about? Would they be able to understand your business and your products and services?

3. Keep it simple and concise

With the exception of your blog, where would count is important, you don’t want to get too wordy with your website copy. Try and keep it simple and to the point. People aren’t going to read pages of text, so if you can sum it up in one or two sentences or a couple of short paragraphs, then do. This is particularly important when you’re writing headings and subheadings. These need to be snappy and get the message across within a few words.

If you need any help with your small business website, get in touch today and I’d love to help you create the website your amazing business deserves.