Add more value to your website with great copywriting

Copywriting isn't just about writing. Otherwise we'd just call it writing. At its core it's about creating a strong message and communicating it to your target audience in the shortest time possible. It sells your business, your services and your message in the most concise way.

Good copywriting gets straight to the point.

Unfortunately, all too often words are just used to fill spaces. We invest in excellent websites that look and feel great. We grab the attention of our audience with the imagery, then fall down on the words leaving our audience uncertain, unclear, and unimpressed.

So when is it the right time to invest in copywriting?

1. When you need to create a strong message

Creating a strong message is essential. If you don't, it's hard to convince your audience that you're the right choice for them. A weak message leaves people in limbo, hesitating and searching for reassurance.

Leave them searching on your website too long, and they'll search elsewhere.

This is at the heart of good copywriting. It's knowing how to create the right message about you and your business to your target audience. It's knowing how to reinforce and strengthen that message, reassuring your audience in each and every piece of copy that you are the right choice.

Create a strong message and you're creating emotions that give you a connection with your audience. Once you have an emotional connection, you're starting to build a profitable relationship.

2. When you need to rank on page 1

If you don't appear on the first page of Google for your keywords, you're missing out on hot leads. The simple truth is people are actively searching for your products and services but visiting one of your competitor's websites first.

Copywriting is an essential part of working your way up to the top spot in search engine rankings. By investing in optimised copy around your keywords you are making it easy for Google to see that your content is relevant and beneficial to those that search for it.

Yet, there's more to it than that. A key factor to how successful you are in search engine rankings is to do with the quality of your content. So by producing beneficial, interesting and purposeful copy on your web pages, more people will read it, share it, like it and link to it. Those people are holding big neon signs pointing to your website.

Any expert will tell you, improving your search engine ranking isn't just about the copywriting. There are many factors that influence your performance, but without copywriting the challenge is greater.

3. When you need to engage your audience

The internet is a cruel and competitive place. Attracting the attention of your audience is difficult, so you've got to work hard to stop their attention drifting to your competitor's website.

Great copywriting hooks your visitors and entices them to read more, guiding them through your website to all the relevant and valuable content. You may have a weekly blog that answers their question, a free eBook with a fresh and interesting approach to a common topic, or even some detailed and captivating product descriptions.

Whatever it is, the more you engage your audience, the longer they will stay. The longer they stay the more value you can give them. And when you're giving so much value and such a great experience, you're winning custom.

Better still, you're taking it away from your competitors.

Google and other search engines love engaging content. So the more people you engage through likes, shares, tweets, links and conversations, the higher up the search rankings you'll go. This is also one of the best ways to stay higher up the rankings, especially when Google change the rules. Like they do.

4. When you need to concentrate on what you do best

Writing good quality copy takes time. The research, planning, and fine tuning of every page can take huge chunks out of time that you could spend on doing what you do best.

If you want it to add value to your website, you've got to understand not only how to write, but what works best. How do you get your readers to read past the title? How can you make it stronger for search engines? How do you create the voice for your business and your audience?

A quality 5 page website might take a couple of days to write for an experienced copywriter, and the fact is that your time could be better spent bringing in new clients.

5. When you're investing in a great website

Good copywriting isn't an unnecessary expense. It doesn't run out after 12 months. It doesn't need re-writing every time Google has a shake-up.

Every time you add a new blog to your website, it adds permanent value. Every time you write a new business eBook, it's there for your visitors whenever they arrive. Every page that's written works all day, every day.

Websites are no longer designed to sit there to prove you exist. They're designed to be functional, practical and purposeful, and without the right message created in the right way, it's hard to reach their true potential.