Creative writing tips for producing impactful web copy

Want to write more impactful web copy for your business website? Great. Content can create conversations. And conversations can create conversions.

So getting your web copy right is important.

One of the biggest web copy mistakes many businesses make is talking just about themselves. Sure, you're awesome at what you do. So, why wouldn't you want to tell the world? Reality is though, your website is a tool. It is there to help your buyers. To answer their questions and to guide them towards profitable actions.

So remember: make it about them, not you.

In doing so, think of your website as a car, then consider web copy to be the key in the ignition. Fuelling your website with content optimised for your user helps power traffic, leads and conversions. That's why you should consider creating rich and valuable web copy. It doesn't matter whether you're creating blogs or product pages, the trick is to always produce content which both search engines and your buyers love.

Here are a few tips to help you do just that.

Web copy tip #1: write for your audience

When you’re writing product descriptions or blog posts for your business website, it really helps to think about who will be reading, why they are reading it and, therefore, what they want to read.

The reality is that you’re trying to appeal to two different audiences at the same time.

The first audience is the search engine web-crawlers. Googlebot and the like are looking for your web copy to contain certain ingredients which will help it rank on the search engine. Ensuring you’ve included those elements is what we call Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO. If you can successfully include SEO, then that significantly increases the chances of the search engines actually showing your web copy to your second audience: people.

So, you have to balance the needs of both audiences.

Web copy tip #2: use keywords

Do your keyword research to ensure you are using the terms people search for. Want to brush up on your SEO skills? Then check out this article where we introduced you to some essential keyword search tools to empower your SEO.

Study your competition for the keywords they’re targeting and conduct a keyword gap analysis to find out where you could aim to rank that maybe your competitor doesn’t. Use this information to compile a list of chosen (relevant) keywords and ensure that you use them within your web copy.

It is important to make sure your keyword is in your heading and at least some of your subheadings. You can then also add it to the metatags of any images you use. In this way, you are getting the benefit of using your keywords, without ruining the readability of your web copy.

Long tail keywords generally boast lower search volumes, however the audience for these keywords will be much more relevant and likely to stick around to read your content (which will also have a positive impact on your bounce rate).

The focus word for this piece is ‘web copy’. See how often we’ve used it. We included it in our title, our opening sentence (that’s important) and subheadings; otherwise it’s peppered throughout our piece. We’ve also included this behind the scenes in our ALT tags and meta description.

If you’re publishing your web copy (there it is again) through WordPress, you can install a plugin resource like Yoast SEO, which will help ensure that your keywords are present enough to be of use.

So, both of these tips are about how to get the best benefit from the search engine bots. Assuming you’ve done that, you want to make sure that your web copy also works for your human readers. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Web copy tip #3: write about benefits

Think about why people will be visiting your website.

When potential customers read your web copy, they aren’t looking for SEO cues; they’re looking for their questions to be answered, their problems to be solved or their curiosity to be satisfied. They’re looking to see what benefit your business will add to their life.

You can mention the quality and excellence of the features of your product or service but, when you do, try to mention the benefits customers will feel from these features when they buy your product or service.

Whether they’re looking for a builder or a baker, a plumber or a pet-walker, potential customers have a problem they need solving. If your web copy can reassure them that you can solve their problem effectively, then you’ve probably got a sale.

Quick web copy tips

Web copy is one of your most valuable assets. It has the power to make your website speak in a language buyers understand. Creating content people care about can therefore turn you into a trusted online resource, build brand awareness and loyalty whilst driving traffic from search engines.

So keep this handy quick-fire checklist in mind before you create your next piece of web copy. Always: