How to Write Website Copy for Your Small Business

Does your website look good but you still can’t seem to make sales or get clients? Your website copy may be the problem, but it’s easy to fix if you know how.

Being able to write copy that speaks to your audience is crucial for converting visitors to paying customers. And you can write the copy yourself.

Read on to learn how to write compelling website copy.

Before you write your website copy, you should consider which pages need copy. If you’re building a website from scratch, you may need to write copy for:

You may only need to write copy for one or a few of those pages if you’re updating your website. Either way, you should figure out which pages need copy so that you can create a plan and write them.

Different businesses also need different pages. If your business focuses on a mobile app, for example, you won’t need to write a services page. However, you may want to write a product page for your app.

Next, you should consider the goals you have for each page on your website. Some pages have clear goals already, such as an about page. Your about page should tell customers about you and your business or offer.

Meanwhile, you want your contact page copy to get people to send you a message. When writing copy for an app or another product, the goal is usually to get more downloads or sales.

A home page may have different goals, such as directing visitors to your app page or getting them to contact you. Consider where you want people to go so that you can choose the best goal for your home page.

If you have a goal for each page, you will be able to direct your writing more strategically. Then, you can make sure your web copy helps you reach those goals so that you can grow your business.

If you want to get more specific, a good goal for your about page is to be personable. You can use your about page to share your story and that of your company.

When customers read your about page, they can connect with your story and relate to you. That can be crucial if you have a personal brand or work closely with your customers.

Your about page can help you build trust and share your expertise. You can use the page to answer common questions about your business or offer.

If you have a small team helping you, you can share brief biographies. Then, you can include photos so that customers can know more about the people behind the app or program.

Consider why you started your business or app. If part of the reason is that you struggled with a similar problem, you can use that when setting goals for your website copy.

Perhaps you used to struggle with managing your time, so you create a calendar or digital planner. You can include your prior issues in your copy to relate to where your customers are now.

Then, you can make your customers feel less alone. And you can lead from that problem into your solution. Share how creating your business has helped you fix your problem.

Your web copy for small business services or products should clearly outline the problem and solution. That way, there won’t be any question if your business or product is what they need.

While you may be able to write a lot of copy for some pages, others should be short. If you write copy for your contact page, you don’t want to bore people or have them click away.

You can use some copy to explain how customers can contact you. However, keep it short and sweet so that you don’t prevent people from filling out a contact form.

Your copy can include how you’ll help your customers and when they can expect a response. But don’t go into detail on your processes on your contact page.

Instead, include links to your about or product page where customers can learn more. That way, you can give each page a different goal.

When writing your website copy, your goals may be clear to you. However, your customers may need more direction. Whether your goal is to get app downloads or sell a product, include that in your copy.

A CTA (call to action) tells the reader what they need to do when they finish reading. On a product or service page, your CTA could be to buy the product or book an appointment.

Your CTA for your home page or about page could be to view your products or services. And on your contact page, the CTA can be to send you an email with any questions or concerns.

People need to hear something, such as to buy your product or download your app, about seven times on average. Only then will they go through with it, so adding a CTA to each page of your website can help customers hear your message enough.

Knowing your target customer is also essential before you start to write website copy. If you don’t know who your target customer is, you will have a harder time writing copy that speaks to them.

When you know a lot about your target customer, you can write copy that they want to read. You can focus your copy based on certain factors, such as:

If your app focuses on time management for students, you may want to write in a more informal tone. However, that won’t work as well if your target customer is a mid-level employee already in their career.

Consider how your copy will resonate with your target audience and if it will get people to take action. If not, you may need to adjust how you write copy so that it does make an impact.

Another essential part of writing web copy for small business websites is to use SEO, or search engine optimization. Using SEO can help increase the chances of your website showing up on the first page in search results.

You can select relevant keywords that people might use when searching for something like your product or service. Then, your website might be one of the first ones to show up.

Include keywords on as many web pages as you can, especially your product or service page. That way, you can tell search engines about your copy.

Make sure you don’t overuse the keywords so that you don’t come off as spam. However, including them naturally in your website copy can help improve your SEO.

Using an outline can help you stay on track as you write copy for your website. You can include the different headers you want to use or the topics you want to cover.

When you go to write the page, you can use the outline so to help include everything you want. Then, you can make sure to answer any common questions people may have about your business or offer.

You can create an outline for each page, but it can be help pages with a lot of copy flow well. Outlines can also help shorter pages stay on track without getting too long.

Whether you want to write the outline and then the copy or take a break in between, writing an outline gives you a plan. If you need to change it, you can, but you may find the outline helps you write the copy without getting writer’s block.

Once you have an outline, you can start writing your first draft. Your draft doesn’t need to be perfect, but you should just get out all of your thoughts on paper or your screen.

Depending on the page you write, you can write the copy in a few ways. You can start with the introduction, or you can save that for the end if you can’t figure out what to include.

Figure out what works for you so that you can write copy that you love. Try to ignore small spelling or grammatical errors because you can always fix those later. However, you may not remember a way you want to phrase something. 

You can write the first draft right on your website, or you can write it in a doc. Consider how you can focus best and minimize distractions.

Next, you should read the draft to look for small and big things with your website copy. You can read the draft right after you finish writing, but taking a break means you can come back with a clear head.

Then, you can check for spelling or grammar problems. But you can also check for issues with the flow and structure. You can figure out if the copy is something your ideal customer will love to read.

If your customer won’t do anything with the copy, you’ll need to change something. That could mean changing how you structure the copy, or you may need to alter your tone.

Now, you can make the edits you find when you read your draft. Of course, fixing spelling or grammar issues can be easy or quick, but you may need to do a lot of rewriting.

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes to help make the bigger changes. That way, you can make the second draft fit better for your ideal customer.

You can do these edits right after you read the draft, but you can also take a break. Consider how much time you have and when you want to release your website copy to decide if you need a break or not.

If you wrote your website copy in a document, you’ll need to move it to your website. Now, you can format the copy so that it looks good with your website design.

Consider adding headings or bullet points to make the copy easier to read. Shorter paragraphs can also help you avoid walls of text, which can make reading the copy less enjoyable.

Your copy should look good on desktop and mobile views, so it shouldn’t run off the page or require a ton of scrolling. If you want to add pictures or videos, you should also make sure those look good with the format.

After you do some formatting, you can verify it looks good by previewing the page. You can test the preview before you publish the page, so you can keep people from seeing it if you have issues.

Make note of where the website copy looks good and where there may still be issues. Go back into your page editor and change whatever needs work.

Then, you can preview it again to make sure the copy flows well and is readable on different screens. Once you finish the preview, you can publish it, but you may want to wait.

If you want to make sure your website copy is as great as it can be, you should get a second opinion. Have someone else read your copy to help find small errors you may have missed.

You can get help from a business partner or employee, or you can ask someone in your target audience. Not only can they catch remaining spelling or formatting issues, but they can tell you if the copy speaks to them.

Getting someone else to read your copy can help because you’ve probably worked with it a lot at this point. That can make it easy to miss things that someone else can catch quickly.

Without good website copy, you will struggle to get clients and customers. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a professional writer to write copy for your small business.

As long as you have a goal for the page and follow a writing and editing process, you can make the copy stand out. Then, you can grow and scale your business.

Do you need help building or managing your website? Learn more and book a free consultation today.