10 Tips & Tricks for Writing Your Website Copy with Ease
Writing website content can be intimidating, tricky, and anxiety-inducing, but it doesn't have to be! After years of working with folks on their websites, we’ve composed a series of tips and reminders that will help you tackle your copy with ease.
01. Start with movement
Go for a walk. Do some dishes. Stretch. Have a dance party!
It's really difficult to write when we're feeling stuck/anxious/pressured, and the best way to combat that is to move your body! I recommend a little bit of movement before each writing session. Get out of your head and out of your way the best that you can.
02. Get Centered
Reminder yourself that you are the expert of your business.
You know your process, clients, and work better than anyone else. You know what questions your clients ask you, what obstacles they need to overcome to book you, what work might resonate with them most. Let that knowledge empower & center you!
03. Get Structured!
Make a rough outline for yourself. Something like…
Homepage
Catchy intro
About me blurb
Work samples
Call to action
About Page
Catchy intro
About self & work
Professional bio
Photo of pug
At Happenstance, we include a detailed content outline as a built-in part of our web design process. Not only does starting with an outline make it easy for you to fill in the blanks as you write, it sets easy anchor points for your web designer to work from. It can be as simple or detailed as you like.
04. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes
What does your audience need to know in order to work with you? Think about questions potential clients often have for you. Do they ask about process? Make a process page! Do they want to be assured you’re an expert? Throw a testimonial on your homepage!
Considering your clients' needs is an excellent place to start when developing your content. Do they need to see that your work is excellent? Show pictures. Do they need to know if they can afford you? Add a range of prices to your site. Do they need to feel confident in choosing to work with you? Mention your experience in your very first line of copy. These needs should be what drives your website content (and the design, later down the road), so your audience can find what they're looking for quickly and easily.
05. Pomodoro!!!
Use 20 minute timers to do some power-through writing. Don’t judge yourself. Edit later.
Nothing kicks the butt of procrastination like a Pomodoro timer. Give yourself a short interval of time to focus in on your writing. If 20 minutes seems unbearable, go with 15 or 10. Afterward, give yourself a 5 minute break to do literally whatever. Dance, eat a snack, go hug your cat, etc. Let your brain rest, then do it again!
06. Be concise
No one likes a movie trailer where all of the good parts are spoiled! If you’ve written 16 pages, pare it down to 4.
Give your website viewers and yourself a break by being as concise as possible with your copy. This doesn't mean it has to be boring or voiceless, just shorter! You may have heard that stat that you only have 2 seconds to make an impact when folks land on your website— if the heart of what you do is buried underneath 7 paragraphs of dense text, you’re losing that chance! Remember, the easier your clients can find the information they're looking for, the better.
07. Get it out of your head
Send your content to your friend, coach, designer, or trusted past client to make sure it’s saying what you want it to say.
Sometimes we are way too close to what we are writing to make sense of it and understand its effectiveness. Get it out of your hands and let your brain rest by sending it to a trusted extra pair of eyes. Chances are your friend/client/coach/whoever will give you a new perspective on your content and that rest you gave your brain will give you fresh eyes as well. We love taking a peek at our clients’ copy to give them that outside perspective!
08. Outsource
You don’t have to do everything yourself. Hire a copywriter!
It’s okay to ask for help! Copywriters are an incredible resource. They know the ins and outs of writing both strategically and with impact. Plus, you get the bonus of supporting fellow business owners and freelancers. Take a load off and let someone else do the work for you, shame free!
09. Remember: your website is not set in stone
Your website should grow and change with your business. Copy, images, and calls to action can all be changed after you launch. Embrace that now & let it be imperfect!
What your website says right now is not (and should not be) what it will say a year from now. As you focus and grow, your business is going to change, and your website copy should change to reflect that. Things don’t have to be perfect from the get-go. If an audience member chooses not to work with you because of a single tiny typo… did you really want to work with that person anyway? Let your website grow with you.
10. Let it go (for now)
Give that content one more look and send it on over to your website designer, knowing that you can fix all of your typos and past-participle whatevers later.
Eventually, it's time to hand off your content. You might not feel like it's perfect or even ready, but chances are that it's in a good spot to give your designer something to build off of. Plus, most website platforms make it extremely easy to tweak wording later on. This is a big reason why we encourage our website clients to use Squarespace. It makes editing your site unbelievably easy!
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