• By michelle
• In Copywriting
• Posted Oct 30, 2014

How DIY Website Copy Kills Sales

Important announcement about DIY website copy: doing it yourself may mess up your website.

Can you write your own website copy and have it convert for you? Absolutely.

But I bet that if your website was converting like you want it to, or if you really had the time, the drive, and the professional copywriting skills to create website copy that brings in clients and cash, you wouldn’t be reading this.

You could write the copy yourself, especially if you have staff that have experience in writing marketing copy. However, have you ever heard the phrase “can’t see the forest for the trees?”

That’s the dilemma you and your staff face.

You and your team are too involved in your business to be writing your own website copy.

Think about this…

• Doctors have other doctors take care of them.
• Novelists get their work critiqued by other writers.
• An interior designer may decorate offices, but not his own house.

Most experts hire outside experts and copywriting consultants because they know they’re too involved in their own business to see the issues and problems they face.

Sometimes it’s best to bring in the professional copywriters who see what you cannot see. They get the job completed faster. They save you time and energy.

Copywriting that converts takes trial and error. Our copywriting team is constantly testing what we write, and then we test and rewrite, again and again.

We know what works, but we get our best and most jaw-dropping “let me fork over my credit card right now because I am DYING to work with you” copy onto our clients’ sites that we test and tweak based on the results.

We make mistakes. We correct those mistakes. We rewrite. We refine.

In this way, we’ve learned how to write website copy that doesn’t just sound good—fit converts. Just ask our client, The Analyst Coach, who went from a 70.46% bounce rate to a 17% bounce rate, and saw an increase of 118% in site visits. (No that’s not a typo; it’s fact).

The truth is that you and your team don’t have that kind of time to make sure it’s right. We do—and we love it.

Professional Copywriting is Much More Than Writing

As copywriters, we learn everything we can about your ideal customer. We research. We ask questions. Then we write copy that marries your message with your mission.

Through story, we engage your site visitors, provide them information they are seeking, and encourage them to take action.

We pay full attention to what the Google powers-that-be want from your website and your business.

Actually, it’s pretty darn difficult to pigeonhole one definition for website optimization. There’s a reason for that. SEO trends are called trends, because Google is constantly changing the rules, and just when you think you’ve figured it out, the next update comes out.

Do you actually have the time to spend hours writing and rewriting new headlines for split-testing?

Do you have an extra 7 hours in your workday to determine landing page variables, drive traffic through social media and PPC, measure the audience’s behavioral patterns, and then come up with a plan of action?

Uh, no, you don’t.

If you don’t have time, someone needs to because Google really wants you to spend the time (and money) figuring out what content benefits your audience most.

The Honest Truth About Website Copy that No One Tells You

Full disclosure: some copywriting guidelines will always remain true, no matter how many analytics spiders Google sends crawling through your content. For one, it’s ALWAYS about the audience, not your business. Sorry to burst your bubble on that one.

Secondly, your website content must be helpful, original, and unique so that your business stands apart in a sea of repetitive crud that permeates your marketplace.

To be honest, successful SEO is more about human emotions (i.e. relevance), than it is keywords. In fact, keywords are something that King Google will penalize you for, if not done properly.

And to do all that, it takes more time than you have. After all, you’ve got a business to run. Don’t force yourself and your team into time poverty. Just say no.

Too Close For Comfort

As the business owner, you’re also too close to your company to be able to focus on anything other than what you think is important to include in your copy.

Sorry, but it’s true. (We’ve been doing this for a while.)

We’re not saying that you don’t know what your clients need–I mean, that’s exactly why you’re a great, successful expert, because you do solve their problems.

But, we’re talking about what they need to see when they first jump onto your site, when they open an email, and when they read your latest blog post.

Professional copywriters know how to attract more leads and capture the attention of your ideal clients.

You know who those people are and what they want, but you don’t know how to get them onto your site. (Again, you wouldn’t be reading this if that website copy you wrote was working for you.)

Professional copywriters know exactly how to do that for you.

You may think, “My site is converting. It’s doing its job. I mean, we generate some leads, but it’s not bad.”

Not bad? Not bad?? This is your business. This is your lead generation machine. This is your success

If mediocre results are what you really (really) want, you should stop reading this right now.

We’re not cool with mediocre. We prefer “spectacular,” “superb,” “beyond expectations,” and “quantum leaps.”

Okay, so your site might not be working because you’ve set it and forgotten about it, but at one point in time it did convert. You’ve used it in your business for so long, and it’s bringing you some business, but isn’t the point to drive MORE business to you?

An outside expert can see what you’re not seeing, and that includes ways to improve (or trash) the strategies you’re already using. Hiring a professional copywriter will give your copy the facelift it really deserves, and they know exactly how to position it so the leads start pouring in.

Sign up here for our November 5th webinar, “Sell Your Story, Grow Your Business.” 

 Photo credit:  Andre Maritz | Dreamstime Stock Photos