4 Tips for Producing Effective Website Copy

Most businesses realize how important having a website and blog are to generating interest in their product and attracting new customers. They end up wasting a lot of time, effort and money producing a professionally designed site with lots of bells and whistles, but poorly written content. Here are some tips on how to product effective website copy:

1. Write customer focused content.

Many businesses make the fatal mistake of focusing all of their content on themselves. The language and wording they use reflects that. They talk about “us, we, ours, we can, we will”, instead of focusing on their readers. Don’t make that mistake. Write your web copy to appeal to your customer by using the words “you, yours, your, you can, you may” instead.

2. Write for your human readers first and search engines second.

While every business is probably now aware of the importance of search engine optimization for their visibility, it is best to write your content first and optimize afterward. It is difficult to write good content when your focus is all about the SEO. Yet, businesses continually try to do this. Spend your time and energy wisely by creating valuable content that will benefit your readers, and then add some mild optimization later. SEO is absolutely no replacement for valuable information.

3. Create content that speaks to your specific audience

If your audience is young executives, write your dialogue for that audience. If your main customers are seniors, make sure it will read well for grandparents. Make sure your content relates to your specific audience so that they will relate to you. Make sure your content, language and tone matches your target readers.

4. Don’t forget a call to action

Identify what you want your visitor to do when they have finished reading your content. Clearly lay out these options on each page, leaving nothing to chance or guesswork. Describe each desired action you want them to take, and explain how to accomplish it. Don’t assume your reader will be able to guess, or that your copy is so compelling that they will act on their own.

One thing businesses often lose sight of is that no matter how attractive their site is, nobody will stay on it long enough for it to be an effective marketing tool if it doesn’t have effective website copy to hold their interest.