Ever wondered why some websites seem to effortlessly captivate your attention while others fall flat? The secret ingredient is high-quality website copy. It’s more than just a text on a web page; it’s the driving force that engages the audience, spurs action, and significantly enhances your digital marketing strategy.
Website copy refers to the text used on your website that communicates your brand’s value proposition, engages your visitors, and prompts them to take desired actions. It plays a pivotal role in shaping user experience, improving SEO ranking, and ultimately, increasing conversions.
In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into five key characteristics of effective website copy. We’ll dissect real-life examples, illustrating how thoughtful and well-crafted website copy can improve revenue by up to 20% and increase conversions by 202%.
So whether you’re new to the world of digital marketing or an experienced pro, you’re bound to discover insights that could propel your brand to new heights. Keep reading to unlock the power of persuasive website copy!
Key takeaways
- Effective website copy hinges on clarity, conciseness, persuasiveness, SEO alignment, and brand consistency, driving audience engagement and conversions.
- Optimizing your website copy with these characteristics can boost traffic, conversion rates, and customer engagement.
- Expert copywriting services, like Content for Creators, can help refine your website copy to maximize its impact and align it with these five key characteristics.
Website copy definition
Website copy is the collection of text or written content that appears on your website.
But it’s not just any text – it’s carefully crafted to speak directly to your audience, align with your brand’s voice, and prompt visitors towards a desired action, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or downloading a resource.
It forms the narrative of your website, serving as a guide that directs visitors through your site and influences their interactions.
Beyond engagement, great website copy is also designed with SEO in mind, leveraging relevant keywords to boost your website’s visibility in search engine results.
Ultimately, website copy is the silent yet persuasive salesperson of your online business, playing a crucial role in driving conversions and elevating your brand identity.
5 key characteristics of website copy
Before we can craft compelling website copy, it’s essential to understand its key characteristics. These attributes act like the framework that holds your message together, ensuring it hits the mark and resonates with your audience.
In the following section, we’re going to unravel the five key characteristics of effective website copy. We’ll explore how each element contributes to captivating your audience, boosting SEO, driving conversions, and amplifying your brand’s voice.
Whether you’re drafting your first piece of web content or refining an existing one, these characteristics serve as a guideline to achieve persuasive, impactful copy that sets your website apart. Let’s get started!
Key website copy characteristic #1: Clarity
Clarity in website copy means your content is easily understood and free from ambiguity. It’s about expressing your message and offerings in a straightforward and concise way, making it easy for visitors to grasp your brand’s value proposition instantly.
Clarity is crucial because online users typically have short attention spans. 55% of visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds actively on a page. If they can’t understand your message quickly, they’re likely to leave.
Consider the home page of Mailchimp, an email marketing service provider.
It reads, “Turn Emails into Revenue. Win new customers with the #1 email marketing and automations brand* that recommends ways to get more opens, clicks, and sales.”
This is a perfect example of clear website copy. It succinctly communicates what Mailchimp does, highlights a key benefit and offers a really strong value proposition, making it incredibly easy for any visitor to understand their offerings.
Key website copy characteristic #2: Conciseness
Conciseness in website copy refers to delivering your message in the fewest words possible, without sacrificing clarity or detail. It’s about being succinct, eliminating fluff and jargon, and making every word count.
Being concise is essential given the short attention spans of online users. As of 2020, the average attention span is a mere 8 seconds. Concise website copy caters to this by delivering your key messages quickly, facilitating better comprehension and retention.
An excellent example of concise copy comes from Canva’s landing page. It says, “Canva makes it easy to create and share professional designs.”
In just ten words, it communicates the purpose, benefit, and unique selling point of the product, proving that brevity can indeed be powerful. Given the simplicity and straightforwardness, visitors are more likely to grasp and remember the value proposition, leading to better user experience and higher conversion rates.
Key website copy characteristic #3: Persuasiveness
Persuasiveness in website copy refers to its ability to convince visitors to engage with your site and take specific actions. This can be achieved through a blend of carefully crafted elements – emotionally resonant language, powerful imagery, well-placed facts and testimonials, and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs).
Why is persuasiveness important? Website copy should do more than just inform; it needs to actively guide users towards your desired outcome. A Hubspot study found that personalized CTAs, a critical part of persuasive copy, can increase conversion rates by up to 202%.
Take a look at Dropbox’s landing page, which is an excellent example of persuasive copy. The heading reads, “Join over 700 million registered users who trust Dropbox.” It’s also followed by effective supporting copy and a concise, action-oriented CTA – “Find your plan”.
Here, Dropbox uses persuasive language in the form of social proof to build trust. Knowing 700 million people trust Dropbox immediately reassures potential buyers that Dropbox is a reputable company and provides a quality service. This puts online buyers at ease, it makes any potential transactions feel safe.
The supporting copy uses persuasive language to highlight key benefits a potential customer would love to experience; “Easy to use, reliable and secure”. The strong CTA – Find your plan – provides a clear and direct next step.
This example shows how powerful persuasive website copy can be when it comes to directing your audience towards desired actions.
Key website copy characteristic #4: SEO-Friendly
SEO-friendly website copy is text that’s designed to rank well in search engine results. It incorporates relevant keywords without sacrificing readability, and optimizes all content elements, including headers, meta descriptions, and image alt tags, to improve search engine visibility.
The importance of SEO-friendly copy cannot be overstated. It is crucial in attracting organic traffic to your website. BrightEdge reports that organic search drives 53.3% of all website traffic, which underlines the value of SEO optimization.
We can use Google to show us a website effectively applying SEO to their copy.
Search “family lawyer in new york” on Google. One of the top organic pages that pops up is the Gilmer Law Firm page.
Here we see the use of good keywords and their variations used throughout the website’s copy, “Brooklyn Family Law Attorney, New York Family Lawyer, New York family attorney”. All targeting a specific location.
When we look at the copy in the body, not only is this text helpful and clear for readers, but it also signals to search engines the primary keyword the page should rank for.
And to top it off, the page’s URL has also been optimized with a keyword, URL: https://gilmerlegal.com/practice-areas/new-york-family-lawyer/
This is an excellent illustration of how SEO-friendly website copy can drive visibility, help you rank on Google’s first page and consequently, get more traffic to your site.
It’s worth noting that keywords have not been “stuffed” and used excessively on this page. Keywords appear naturally throughout the text and headings.
Read our guide on What is SEO to learn more about optimizing your website!
Key website copy characteristic #5: Brand-consistent
Brand-consistent website copy maintains a consistent tone, voice, and style across all content that aligns with your brand’s personality and values. It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it.
Consistency in your website copy is essential for building a strong brand identity and establishing trust with customers. According to Lucidpress, consistent brand presentation across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 20%.
A perfect example of brand-consistent website copy is Apple’s site. Whether describing their latest iPhone or Mac, Apple maintains a consistent tone of simplicity, innovation, and elegance.
Each product is “more than just new,” it’s “the biggest leap yet,” highlighting their constant drive for innovation. This consistency not only makes their website copy compelling but also reinforces Apple’s identity as a forward-thinking, premium brand.
This demonstrates how brand-consistent website copy can amplify your brand’s unique qualities and foster a strong, trustworthy relationship with your audience.
Final thoughts on what website copy is
In conclusion, effective website copy is not just text; it’s an art that requires clarity, conciseness, persuasiveness, SEO-friendliness, and brand-consistency. These five key characteristics form the backbone of any successful website copy, impacting your digital presence in profound ways.
Why not take a moment to review your own website copy? Do you see these characteristics reflecting in your content? If not, it may be time for a revamp, and our team at Content for Creators is here to help.
Focusing on these characteristics could bring immense benefits, from improved traffic and higher conversion rates to better customer engagement and a more robust online presence.
After all, website copy isn’t just about providing information, but about telling your brand’s story, engaging your audience, and prompting them to action. Harness the power of persuasive website copy, and watch your brand gain real power and influence!
Also read our article on SEO for small business websites to learn how to get organic traffic quickly.