4 Essential Strategies For Writing Engaging Website Copy

The saying ‘content is king’ couldn’t be truer in the digital age. More than 80 percent of smartphone users (Source: Forbes) now research online before ever making a purchase, and the internet has quickly become the primary source of information for most people.

This means that you must have a website. You also need to write a copy for your website that addresses your customer’s needs. In order to craft content that resonates with your users, there are certain elements you must incorporate into your process.

Research the Right Keywords

The very first place you’ll want to start is with keyword research. Basically, this will tell you what words or phrases your target audience is searching for most. Once you know what relevant keywords are most important for your particular topic, you can then begin writing your copy based around these particular words or phrases.

This is important as it allows you to tailor your copy in a way that gives your page the best chance of ranking high in the search results for whatever keywords your audience is actually searching for. In simple terms, even the best copy is mostly worthless if it doesn’t include the specific keywords that will actually help people find your page.

Craft a Catchy Title and Meta Description

Including the right keywords hopefully will help to get your page to appear on at least the first few pages of search results, but keywords alone won’t compel a person to click on your page. This is where having a catchy title and meta description will be a huge help.

Even if your website ends up in the first spot in the search results, the chances are high that people will pass it over in favor of some other page if your title and description don’t speak to them or grab their attention. Therefore, it is essential that carefully weigh and consider the impact of every word in both the title and description to ensure you maximize their effect.

Write Completely Original Content

Google, Bing and other search engine algorithms place a huge emphasis on original content. In fact, your page can be penalized and potentially even blacklisted from the search results altogether if it is found to contain content copied from another site. This doesn’t mean you can’t use information from other authoritative sources, but it does mean that you must cite and/or link to these sources each and every time. Duplicate content is one of the biggest no-no’s when creating website content, which means it’s vital you make sure everything you write is original.

Include a Compelling Call to Action

Your website may rank high in the search results and get a huge volume of traffic, but none of it really matters if your visitors don’t take the desired action. For this reason, it is essential that you include a strong call to action near the end of the copy. These statements are usually quite simple and are designed to compel your audience to take the desired action.

Take this example from R & S Garage Door Inc.: “We Service Most Clients Within An Hour of Their Call!
Same Day Garage Door Service! Low Rates & Best Warranties In The Area!. Call us at 630-357-5261 for first-rate customer service.” It’s short, simple and to the point—exactly what a good call to action should be.

Of course, there is much more to know when it comes to writing website copy. Nonetheless, even if you’re not the world’s best writer, with regular practice, even you will get better and you will likely see your copywriting skills continue to improve.