By Scott Siders
Powerful search engine optimized (SEO) Website copywriting can have a tremendous impact on your sales and marketing. Here are 10 Website copywriting tips to create a more effective Website and dramatically improve the way you do business online:
1. Keyword research: This is step one of Website copywriting. There are many excellent free and paid services online that you can use to identify what terms your target audience is searching to find your competitors online. Targeted keyword research plus strategic SEO Website copywriting equals better search rankings than your competition on Google and other search engines.
2. Headline: The headline is number two on my list, but it's number one for SEO Website copywriting. You absolutely must include your keyword in the headline. If you don't, it's like putting up a "For Sale" sign without stating what's for sale. For instance, if you had a 2008 Black Honda Accord for sale but your sign said "Car for Sale," how much are you not communicating?
3. Keyword placement: In addition to the headline, your primary keyword should appear in the first one or two sentences, be sprinkled throughout the copy as much as possible without distracting from your message, and be included towards the end of the page.
4. Homepage copy: This is where we see some of the most problems with Website copywriting. You've undoubtedly seen sites with two sentences on the homepage, as well as sites with thousands of words on the homepage. Both strategies are unsuccessful. Too little copy doesn't allow for keywords to be used and simply doesn't persuade a visitor to take action. Too much copy can dilute important keywords, and usually bores a visitor into clicking away from the site quickly-a double whammy when you consider your Website copywriting goal was to attract the potential customer to your site with relevant keywords and then compel him/her to take some kind of action.
5. Persuasive copy: "Why am I here, and why do I care?" People are busy. No matter how great your site looks (put all the bells and whistles on it if you like), if the copy isn't engaging they will very quickly move on to a competitor's site. It's that simple.
6. Bullets: This is an often overlooked aspect of Website copywriting. The search engines pay attention to bullets because they call-out important items, so include a keyword or two in your bullets as well. Bullets break up chunks of copy and make information easier to digest. Since many Web users are skimmers, they may only read the bullets anyway, so make sure you include key benefits of your products and services.
7. Customer-focused copy: "What's in it for me?" Visitors to your Website don't care about you. It's the brutal truth. They care about your solutions to their problems. Your Website copywriting needs to reflect this fact. How does your product/service benefit them? Do they save money? Time? Get a unique product? Personal service? Give them the benefits before the features in your Website copywriting and they'll be more likely to take action.
8. Subheads: Are your keywords in your subheads? The search engines recognize keywords in subheads to be more important and, like bullets, compelling subheads help break up the copy.
9. Strong call to action: Your copywriting isn't complete without a persuasive call to action. Whether it's asking the visitor to contact you for more information or to purchase a product on your site, the call to action needs to specifically state what you want them to do in a way that reminds them of the benefits of your products/services.
10. Metadata: After you've completed your Website copywriting, remember to provide your Web programmer/designer with the meta title, meta description, and keywords to include in the code for the search engines.
There's still one question you need to ask yourself: What do I want my Website to accomplish? Figure that out, and you'll know your Website copywriting strategy.
Scott Siders is a marketing copywriter with Novo Writing, a full-service copywriting firm specializing in marketing. We bring creative thinking, persuasive writing, and tangible results together to make your business stand out from the crowd. Our strategic Website copywriting services help you reach your target market quickly and more effectively, communicate your brand and value to the marketplace, and sell more of your products and services.
Want to increase your exposure online and reach your target audience with Novo Writing's Website copywriting services? Call 714.335.5677 or email info@novowriting.com. Visit http://www.novowriting.com.
1. Keyword research: This is step one of Website copywriting. There are many excellent free and paid services online that you can use to identify what terms your target audience is searching to find your competitors online. Targeted keyword research plus strategic SEO Website copywriting equals better search rankings than your competition on Google and other search engines.
2. Headline: The headline is number two on my list, but it's number one for SEO Website copywriting. You absolutely must include your keyword in the headline. If you don't, it's like putting up a "For Sale" sign without stating what's for sale. For instance, if you had a 2008 Black Honda Accord for sale but your sign said "Car for Sale," how much are you not communicating?
3. Keyword placement: In addition to the headline, your primary keyword should appear in the first one or two sentences, be sprinkled throughout the copy as much as possible without distracting from your message, and be included towards the end of the page.
4. Homepage copy: This is where we see some of the most problems with Website copywriting. You've undoubtedly seen sites with two sentences on the homepage, as well as sites with thousands of words on the homepage. Both strategies are unsuccessful. Too little copy doesn't allow for keywords to be used and simply doesn't persuade a visitor to take action. Too much copy can dilute important keywords, and usually bores a visitor into clicking away from the site quickly-a double whammy when you consider your Website copywriting goal was to attract the potential customer to your site with relevant keywords and then compel him/her to take some kind of action.
5. Persuasive copy: "Why am I here, and why do I care?" People are busy. No matter how great your site looks (put all the bells and whistles on it if you like), if the copy isn't engaging they will very quickly move on to a competitor's site. It's that simple.
6. Bullets: This is an often overlooked aspect of Website copywriting. The search engines pay attention to bullets because they call-out important items, so include a keyword or two in your bullets as well. Bullets break up chunks of copy and make information easier to digest. Since many Web users are skimmers, they may only read the bullets anyway, so make sure you include key benefits of your products and services.
7. Customer-focused copy: "What's in it for me?" Visitors to your Website don't care about you. It's the brutal truth. They care about your solutions to their problems. Your Website copywriting needs to reflect this fact. How does your product/service benefit them? Do they save money? Time? Get a unique product? Personal service? Give them the benefits before the features in your Website copywriting and they'll be more likely to take action.
8. Subheads: Are your keywords in your subheads? The search engines recognize keywords in subheads to be more important and, like bullets, compelling subheads help break up the copy.
9. Strong call to action: Your copywriting isn't complete without a persuasive call to action. Whether it's asking the visitor to contact you for more information or to purchase a product on your site, the call to action needs to specifically state what you want them to do in a way that reminds them of the benefits of your products/services.
10. Metadata: After you've completed your Website copywriting, remember to provide your Web programmer/designer with the meta title, meta description, and keywords to include in the code for the search engines.
There's still one question you need to ask yourself: What do I want my Website to accomplish? Figure that out, and you'll know your Website copywriting strategy.
Scott Siders is a marketing copywriter with Novo Writing, a full-service copywriting firm specializing in marketing. We bring creative thinking, persuasive writing, and tangible results together to make your business stand out from the crowd. Our strategic Website copywriting services help you reach your target market quickly and more effectively, communicate your brand and value to the marketplace, and sell more of your products and services.
Want to increase your exposure online and reach your target audience with Novo Writing's Website copywriting services? Call 714.335.5677 or email info@novowriting.com. Visit http://www.novowriting.com.
