• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

              

Kalie Berkey

Strategic branding and web design studio for entrepreneurs and small businesses in creative industries.

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • Services
  • About
  • Contact
July 15, 2021

Website Copywriting Best Practices

Uncategorized

Your website is such an important business tool. It’s crucial that you communicate the exact right message you want your target audience to see so your site can start working its hardest for you.

So, great! Just write up some copy, pop it into your website and that’s it, right? Well, unfortunately, not exactly. If you’re new to copywriting, there are a few important best practices you’ll need to keep in mind that can not only help you keep copy on track, but also equip your website with the information it needs to be that 24/7 salesperson you know it can be.

Take a look at these nine website copywriting best practices that every beginner should keep handy when getting started writing web copy:

Identify Your Audience

First and foremost, you gotta know who you’re talking to. Why? Because as a business, your goal is to create a website that is centered around your users, designed with an empathetic understanding of their lifestyles, needs, and preferences. With the creation of your brand strategy, I’ve already laid out your missions, vision, and values. Together we examined your ideal audience, competitors, and what makes you unique. Try to keep your ideal client in your mind when writing your web copy. This will help you to speak to exactly the right people in just the manner they want to see it.

Create Clear Concise Headlines

If you’re banking on your website visitors reading every page of your site (or even all of the copy on one page), then you may be disappointed. That means your first impression has to be great, especially on your home page.

Only 41 percent of Americans report that they watched, read or heard any in-depth news stories, beyond the headlines, in the last week.

So plan for scanning. Honestly, you’re probably doing it right now. Because with the saturation of content on the internet today, if you’re not scanning for the key takeaways, you’re in the minority.

Use your headlines as the prime real estate that they are and capture the attention of your visitors with clear headlines that are direct and to the point.

Avoid Using Negatives

When it comes to creating a tone for your brand, you want to be remembered for the positive, solution-oriented tone you set in your copy—not the negative stuff that might discourage a customer from learning more about your business.

Creating a positive tone for your users allows them to gain trust in your brand, as you provide a positive solution to their problem or desire. While there may be instances when creating a sense of fear or urgency to take action may be appropriate, a good rule of thumb is to start with the positive first.

Talk About “Them” More Than Yourself

Quite simply, using the word “you” makes people’s ears perk up a little. As a species, humans are wired to think about what’s in our best interest when making decisions—so naturally, we gravitate toward content that speaks directly to us. It makes us feel special, included and connected because the writing is more personal, conversational and relatable.

Relate To Their Experiences And Appeal To Their Emotions

Unbounce published a totally awesome article a couple years ago that helps writers know how to use content to appeal to users who may be experiencing one of the seven deadly sins. What they outlined was a short and sweet guideline to dealing with different emotions through content:

Are they feeling “lust”? Appeal to “desire” in your copy. How about “pride”? Dish back with “confidence”. “Gluttony”? Go with “self-interest”.

Speak Their Language

Some businesses use humor to speak directly to their target audience. This can add personality to their brand and creating a lasting impression on customers and prospects alike.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you are a technical business, you should have common technical language and jargon that’s used within your industry to create credibility. If you’re a personal injury firm, you should use language that’s sensitive to car accident victims or families of victims that may have just experienced a traumatic situation.

The goal is to speak to your audience in the way that they will receive your brand’s information best.

Trim The (Content) Fat Where Possible

Is it relevant? Is it necessary? Is it providing value to the user?

If the answer to these is “no”, then it’s time to get rid of the fluff. Some people get caught up in the misconception that a website has to have tons of content to rank well in searches, but the reality is that unless it’s valuable and clear to the user, a surplus of content is only going to prevent them from taking an action.

Use Hyperlinks Within The Copy

Try to make things as simple as humanly possible for website visitors.

Linking doesn’t just help you rank higher in Google search results—it also lets your users have the most fluid user experience possible. It empowers them to learn more about either your business. Your website copy should include links to other pages on your website.

Hyperlinks should never be taken advantage of. In fact, Google will likely penalize you for too many or irrelevant links. So only add them when it comes naturally to your copy.

Create a “Call to Action”

Businesses don’t usually create websites just so other people have something nice to look at.

Instead, they want something from the people that visit their sites such as making appointments or, even better, buying something.

The call is usually found in the form of a quite direct request, such as ‘click here’ or ’contact us now’ and they are typically placed in strategic positions where they are most likely to be noticed.

The least amount of ambiguity you can create for your users, the better. And the best way to do that is to use verbs as the first word of your “call to action” or CTA.

In addition to using verbs, it’s important to be very clear in your CTAs about what it is that you want them to do. Just writing the word “Submit” won’t necessarily entice someone to take action, especially if they’re scanning the page and don’t know the context of the ask. So you’ve gotta use two or more words to be clear about what you want them to do.

Give them a CTA that speaks to the action, like one of these: “View Our Case Studies”, “See Our Results”, “View Our Testimonials”, “Calculate Your Results”, “Start Your Free Trial”, or “Request a Consultation”.

READY TO TAKE THE first STEP?

Get IN TOUCH
I'm more of a behind-the-scenes girl. I prefer the I'm more of a behind-the-scenes girl. I prefer the viewfinder side of a camera but I know showing the personality behind the name is important. It's important because I am asking you to trust me to interpret and describe your business, your living, your passion in a way that you may not be able to. When I am designing a brand I get to know all the ins and outs of your business. I ask you a million questions and challenge you to dig deep for the answers so it's only fair that you get to know the woman behind the curtain a little better.

My day-to-day isn’t just about choosing color palettes and fonts: it’s about learning, problem-solving, and looking at things from a new perspective. It’s about delving in and revealing what makes your business tick.

But what lights me up?
Caramel coffee. Photo walks. Popcorn in a dark movie theater. Minimal typography. Sending postcards. Antiquing. Intimate gatherings. Muted tones. Road trips. Slow mornings. Tiramisu. Stamps in my passport. Vintage books. The rare lover of winter.

The design process doesn’t have to be scary. It can be accessible. It can be personal. It can be invigorating. My business model is not about quantity, it's about working with unique individuals who are excited about the design process and have a thoughtful approach.

Current client wishlist:
Restaurants / Cafes
Breweries / Wineries
Homeware / Clothing Boutiques
Bakeries

Now that you have a little more insight into my inspirations, let's build something beautiful together.

Photo by the amazing @hotmetalstudio
Congratulations to @BenjaminO'Leary on the launch Congratulations to @BenjaminO'Leary on the launch of his new brand.

Benjamin is a full-service real estate agent with a professional background, and accounting and advisory experience. He wanted his brand to feel classic and traditional yet still casual. He wanted a clean minimal feel that was friendly and professional. So together we built a logo system and coordinating elements that feel elegant but still approachable to clients of all budgets. It balances luxury with comfort and masculinity with femininity. The result is polished but approachable. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next for Benjamin and how we can continue to build his visual identity.
Client Spotlight: @randalladvocacy provides servi Client Spotlight:

@randalladvocacy provides services to parents of students having difficulty in school to help them successfully navigate the process with the school to address the issue.

Together we built out a set of logos, a new color palette a tagline and signature graphic, a typography system, and a set of hand-drawn icons. We then built out her website, business cards, and a set of social media graphics. Visit the link in my bio to see the whole brand.
This time of year I always find myself asking what This time of year I always find myself asking what's most important to me, what's a priority, what should I re-evaluate? Most people feel this way with the start of the new year or during the renewal in spring. But there is just something about the doldrums of winter that begs me to realign. So I’ve been absent doing just that. 

This week's reflection included future travel destinations. So I am letting my mind wander back to my last big trip. Prague. 

#wheretogonext.
#femalebusinessowner Spotlight: @silvermoonstrate #femalebusinessowner Spotlight:

@silvermoonstrategies collaborates with businesses, schools, universities, community agencies, and nonprofits to prevent violence and promote healthy relationships and a safer world.

The founder, Julie Evans, wanted the brand to feel approachable, sincere, and make it clear that she believes that prevention is possible. So together we built a logo system and coordinating elements to portray the stillness of prevention over the discord of treatment after an incident has occurred. The color palette and imagery are moody and are a nod to her unique business name. 

If you are interested in implementing innovative, research-based practices that prevent violence and promote safe and healthy relationships for your business or school, be sure to reach out to Julie for help.
A silver lining to staying home most of 2020 was t A silver lining to staying home most of 2020 was that I got into crafting my own cocktails at home. A sprig of rosemary from my garden really kicked this simple vodka, lime, and soda up a notch. Have any favorite at-home cocktails you'd like to share? Cheers to the weekend!
Congratulations to @Taylorfowler on the launch of Congratulations to @Taylorfowler on the launch of her new website! Taylor is a writing and communications consultant that strives to work with mission driven organizations and entrepreneurs. Together she and I crafted :

A set of logos, initials, a tagline graphic, custom icons, colors and fonts.
Business cards with a spot gloss that gave the pattern a little extra special touch. 
A brand new customized @squarespace website. 
(Not to mention my own website's copy.) 

To see more of Taylor's brand check out the link in my bio. And if you find yourself needing to find the right words to authentically tell your story hop over to taylorfowler.com
It's that time of year again where I’m taking my It's that time of year again where I’m taking my annual creative sabbatical - working on personal projects that inspire me, so that I can return to work full of fresh ideas. This year was certainly one that could use some extra reflection so I’ll be away until the start of the new year. In the meantime I'm wishing you all a wonderful holiday.

             

Pittsburgh, PA | Kalie Berkey © 2022