If you run a business, then you know the pain of website creation.
No, not the design or the development (unless you’re spectacularly talented, chances are you hired someone for this), but the overall message you want to get across to your customers. That is, after all, down to you, and it’s not easy to get right.
Surprise surprise, many businesses get it devastatingly wrong. I’ve seen it happen countless times, where the brand is amazing, but the homepage and crucial landing pages just don’t have what it takes to turn a visitor into a customer.
The more you agonise over your website, the more you tweak this, bodge that, re-read it until your eyes wish for blindness. The end result? An overcooked mish-mash which has lost its original message – and shock horror – it’s.not.converting.into.sales.
The good news is, there is a way out of this nightmare kitchen of overcooked content. You can get your brand message back to it’s delicious, simple self, you just need to follow the recipe.
Too many cooks on the broth
I promise this is my last cooking reference. But hands down, it’s the most important lesson you’ll ever learn with website content.
If you think that by spending more money on more copywriters, your content will get better, I’m afraid you’re doomed to commercial death. Quantity does NOT equal quality.
Don’t get me wrong, hiring a professional wordweaver is a very, very good idea, whether it’s in-house or freelance. The trick is to hire one or two excellent writers rather than 6 acceptable ones, and coach them carefully on your brand and objectives. The longer you keep a writer (in-house or freelance, doesn’t matter), the more likely they are to understand the brand properly. And a brand well-understood internally will be well-executed externally.
Make sure your copywriter can actually write
On a similar note, don’t be afraid to give any hired writers a writing test as part of the recruitment process. You’d be amazed by the amount of apparently professional writers out there are turning over less-than-adequate copy. In order to choose wisely, it’s highly beneficial to filter out the ones which are not of standard. A good writer will gladly carry out a test, and they’ll ask questions about the brand before they create something. These are the ones you want.
Here’s an example of some ways you can test a copywriter before investing in them.
Learn to use Google Analytics
This is not as scary as it sounds. While you may hire people who are hot stuff when it comes to data analysis, I can’t stress enough how much it pays for you to know the basics. You’d be surprised how easy it is once you’ve picked up a few bits. And if you have the power to observe your own website traffic, you have the power to make the right changes.
To add to this, nothing empowers a business owner more than understanding what the SEO and data staff are actually doing.
First thing’s first – check out this small business guide for Google Analytics. This is really useful, especially for those running a small business.
Ask an outsider what your business does
Nothing will bring you closer to how your website looks to a first-time visitor than, well, asking a first-time visitor.
This can be a friend or spouse who you trust to be honest with you, or it can be a stranger who has no reason not to tell you straight. This is the gold standard of market research – you’ll find out within seconds what is confusing, what appeals and what could be clearer.
Try to find out what they think your business sells, just by glancing at the homepage. Take notes, because what you hear could be crucial. Ask them how they would make contact and observe how they find your contact page, or how they treat your CTAs – this will indicate whether or not your site navigation could be improved. It’s perhaps a big favour to ask someone, so choose your people wisely. Friends who know very little about what the business does are a good way to go.
Write knockout landing pages that convert
For some useful tips on upping your landing page game, check out this useful guide.
Kirsty Rigg – 2022
Looking for a copywriter for your business? Drop me a line.
