According to an article on eMarketer.com, 77% of the U.S. population is expected to be active online in 2014. If this is the case, then it’s likely that your target audience will be online.
If you want to make the best first impression on these prospects, you’ll need a website that accurately reflects your brand message and encourages prospects to take your desired action. Although the visual aspects of a website work to build a connection between your brand and the site visitor, your web copy also plays a vital role in creating an emotional response within your audience.
Here are 5 web copywriting tips for business that want to succeed online:
1. Understand your target market: Get clear on who your customers are. Note: They are NOT everyone and anyone. First, come up with a general description of your audience, including their age, income, family status, occupation, net worth, attitudes, and geographic location.
Then, outline your market’s psychographic description, which includes their attitudes, decision-making processes, perceptions, and subconscious and conscious desires.
When you know who your target market is, you know what your target market wants, and why.
Knowledge + Understanding + Clear Message = More Clients
2. Speak to your target market: Avoid industry jargon and speak to your target market using Layman’s terms. If you own a website design company and your target market is comprised of business owners looking to put their business online for the first time, and your web copy focuses on the intricacy of coding and programming, you’ll lose your audience within seconds.
3. Create client-centric copy: Optimized web copy that talks about how great your company is, isn’t going to resonate with customers. What’s in it for them? Tell them exactly what benefits they’ll receive from purchasing from you. Always keep the focus on the client. You can talk about your company all you want on your About Us web page. That’s what it’s there for!
4. Get Clear on your products / services: To the surprise of many business owners, there are tons of companies out there that are unclear about the product / service they offer. When this happens, it becomes extremely difficult to market your brand online because you’re not clear on why prospects need your product.
Here is an example of a company that is unclear about their product:
“I own a travel company that specializes in family vacations to the Grand Canyon.”
Here is an example of a company that is clear about their product:
“I own a travel company that helps families create memories that last a lifetime in one of the world’s most spectacular adventure regions.”
5. Encourage prospects to take action: What is the end action you want prospects to take once they have landed on your website and browsed?
Do you want them to . . .
• Purchase from your website?
• Call you for a quote?
• Request more information?
Whatever action you want your visitors to take, your web copy must navigate them and encourage them to take this action. Tell prospects what you want them to do. For example, if you own an ecommerce site and want your site visitors to purchase online, make it easy for them by placing calls to action on the top of the homepage and the bottom. You might use a call to action that says “Ready to start shopping? Click here.”
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