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The importance of having a website is nothing new. After all, almost half of internet users say a website is the number one way they determine a business’s credibility. And they make this impression at lightning speed—50 milliseconds, to be exact.

Besides helping prove your credibility, you can use your website to showcase your brand, drive leads, and provide information about your products and services. When you use it to provide basic information – like your location(s) and hours of operation – you reduce your time doing customer service, increasing internal productivity.

But just having a website isn’t enough – it must be SEO-optimized to maximize its potential. When you have an SEO-optimized website, you’ll start ranking on Google search results and can drastically increase your customer base. 

Even knowing the benefits of websites, countless companies still need a great one. And when it comes to creating strong websites, there’s more to it than just design.

As much as design matters, the words on the pages do, too.

Thankfully, some experts specialize in just that – website copywriting. Known as website copywriters, they work with clients to thoroughly understand their brand and product/ service offerings and use this knowledge to craft compelling content.

Below, we’ll unravel more about what website copywriters do and why you should consider hiring one. Let’s get started!

The Importance of Partnering a Great Website Design with Strong Copy

Sure – an aesthetically appealing, user-friendly website needs to be a priority. But even with the most beautifully designed website, you can instantly turn away prospects if the content is lacking.

Whether it’s riddled with spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors or fails to address customer pain points, the words on your pages are critical. According to Forbes, your content only has 5.59 seconds to engage your audience and effectively communicate your brand’s message. When it doesn’t, website users will likely head elsewhere – likely your competitor.

Then, there’s the fact that much of the website content out there is outdated. Forbes also found that 82 percent of websites are inactive, meaning their owners fail to use and update them regularly.

If you have one of these inactive sites and wonder what’s causing your poor search engine optimization (SEO), this is likely why. Google craves fresh, engaging content that meets user behaviour and search intent. By failing to update or add new content to your site, you’re basically telling Google your site is outdated. As a result, your Google rankings will take a hit.

One of the easiest ways to improve your SEO rankings is to address your copy. Review your website analytics and meaningful metrics, like Average Time on Page, to identify what’s working and what’s not. Where is most of your website traffic hanging out? Are they staying there for long?

If you’re seeing traffic land on a page and then leave instantly, you’ll want to see if your content (or lack thereof) is causing this effect.

For seven out of 10 small businesses, a poor conversion rate is likely because their websites lack a call to action (CTA). These essential elements prompt users to take a particular action, like downloading an e-book or making a purchase. They’re one of the best ways to encourage website traffic to do something that will benefit your company.

Once you can narrow down some opportunities for improving your copy, you’ll have to tackle your keyword strategy. The proper short and long-tail keywords can help you rank and attract your target market. Since they’re longer and more specific, long-tail keywords are especially helpful.

So, in short, you’ll need to follow two steps when addressing your website copy:

1. Determine why your copy isn’t getting you results, and
2. Create a strategy to improve your copy.

That’s where a website copywriter gets to shine.

Responsibilities of a Website Copywriter

A website copywriter’s biggest responsibility is to produce words that convert traffic into customers.

And that’s not a straightforward process.

Crafting compelling copy takes skill, time, and hard work. A website copywriter must develop an understanding of your business, its offerings, and what sets you apart from your competition. They get to know the pain points of your target audience and how your business can help address them.

Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is also crucial to understand. A talented website copywriter showcases this information in a captivating way to sell your company’s offerings.

And they must do all that while staying true to your brand. You’ve likely spent years developing a brand image, including the voice in which you communicate. A website copywriter must integrate this Tone of Voice into their copy to match the rest of your branding.

Sometimes, that Tone of Voice needs some finessing – especially if there wasn’t a solid strategy in the first place. A website copywriter can often help with that, too.

Expectations from a Website Copywriter

If you’re considering outsourcing your website copywriting, you’re not alone. This Gitnux Marketdata Report found that almost 65 percent of B2B marketers outsource this task. Unfortunately, 22 percent of the companies that do outsource report finding quality writers as their top challenge.

If you’ve decided to outsource your website copy, we want to make it as easy as possible for you (just hire us, then, ya?!). This blog post can also help if you’re still trying to decide whether you need a copywriter.

The list below summarizes some attributes you should look for when hiring a website copywriter for your company.

Strong Writing Skills

There’s no doubt about it: a website copywriter’s writing skills need to be A++.

Take a look at the prospective copywriter’s website portfolio. Does it contain well-worded content without spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors? Is it keyword-focused? If you’re tech-savvy, you can even use platforms like UberSuggest to see how well the website ranks on search engines.

Also, review the copywriter’s education. Do they have formal SEO training? Are they staying up-to-date on their skills? Copywriting techniques constantly change, and you need someone current.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are essential regardless of who you work with at your business. You’ll want to work with a freelance copywriter who outlines the project timeline, provides updates when necessary, and promptly replies to your inquiries. Staying up-to-date on project status will make you feel more at ease with the process.

Professionalism

Your website is your reputation – bottom line. Your website copywriter must take the copywriting task seriously and ensure they spend the time necessary to do it right.

Even how the prospective website copywriter writes their emails can say a lot. Do they greet you warmly, answer all your questions, and invite clarification? A great website copywriter should provide as much detail as possible to make you feel confident in their abilities.

No Red Flags

Sometimes, it just comes down to a good old ‘gut feeling’ about a prospective website copywriter. If they have the skills outlined above and lack any of these red flags, you’ve likely found someone worth trying out. Before you do so, review their contract in detail and ensure the project scope is just like you envision.

What a Website Copywriter Needs to Know

Once you’ve found a website copywriter you want to work with, you’ll have to provide some background information before they can get to work.

Project Overview

Often, a website copywriter will jump on a call to get clarification about the project. They’ll want to know what you like about your current copy and what you want to change. They’ll also want to collect the information they’ll use to create the new copy.

Other times, the website copywriter will have you complete detailed questionnaires that help gather these insights.

No matter which method they choose to use with you, provide them with as much detail as possible. You never know what tidbits of information the website copywriter will use to craft your new copy!

Brand Guidelines

The website copywriter must also understand your value proposition, brand perception, and target audience. It’s essential to share even simple things—like your preference for Oxford commas, CDN, or US English.

They’ll also need to know more about who you want to reach with your new content. If you already have audience personas, hand them over!

Keyword Research

Many times, a client will already have a keyword strategy in place. Your website copywriter can review it and ensure it’s still up-to-date.

If you’ve never heard of keyword research before, don’t sweat it. A website copywriter who specializes in SEO can do that for you.

Calls to Action

Discuss with your copywriter what you hope to gain from this new copy – is it more newsletter subscribers, e-book downloads, client consultations, or something else? Each piece of copy they create should include a CTA to help capture as many leads as possible.

Deadlines and Delivery

You’ll also want to work out a delivery date with your website copywriter so you know when to expect a first draft. Share your preferred format – Google Docs or MS Word are the most common – so that edits can be easy.

Tips for Working with a Website Copywriter

Working with a freelance web copywriter may be something you’ve never done before – and that’s okay! Here’s what you should remember when partnering with a website copywriter.

• Experience Matters: Find someone with experience in your industry. Many website copywriters are generalists and have plenty of samples to show you from previous work. The process is much easier when they have experience writing website content that matches your industry. They’re likely already familiar with the industry jargon and may have completed some background research (like competitors). Hiring a website copywriter who has written for your industry gives you a great head-start.
• Reviews Say a Lot: Hiring a website copywriter you’ve never heard of can be scary. But that’s where your due diligence comes in handy! Research the website copywriter online and review multiple sites (besides Google Business) – think LinkedIn and platforms like Bark, too. Don’t be afraid to ask for testimonials from past clients. You can always contact them to feel more confident before signing a contract.
• Remember They’re a Freelancer, Not an Employee: There are several significant differences between freelancers and employees – with the largest one being they have control over their work hours and location. When you hire a freelancer, do so knowing they’re their own boss and need breathing room to do their job well.

The Key Takeaway: Hiring a Website Copywriter

It’s never easy to let go of some of your business’s responsibilities – and writing your own website copy is one of them.

But remember: you can’t be an expert at everything. By hiring the right website copywriter, you’ll get someone familiar with crafting engaging copy and helping you rank on Google.

It’s an investment that will pay off hugely.

Knowing how to write copy for your blog or website is one thing. But understanding how to write great copy efficiently is entirely different.

At Sarah McKenzie Copywriting & Web Design, we’ve been writing copy for almost 15 years – all sorts of copy (short-form, long-form, website content, etc.), for all sorts of clients and industries.

We’ve been doing this long enough to now know several tips and tricks to produce killer content consistently.

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing content for a non-profit organization, fintech company, or SaaS business – the same principles apply to writing exceptional copy.

Lucky for you, we’re here to share what you should do when crafting your own copy. Below, we highlight five of the most essential SEO copywriting tips we use each time we work on a project.

Let’s get started!

Know Your Target Audience

One of the first and most important copywriting tips doesn’t involve adding a single word to the paper!

Understanding who you’re targeting with your product or service is essential before starting the writing process. Your target audience has specific pain points – or problems that they face. And your job, via your writing, is to figure out how to address them with your business’s offerings.

For example, a lot of our blog subscribers are business owners. Running a business is time-consuming and challenging, leaving many company owners struggling to prioritize copywriting. They understand the importance of it, and want to ensure the time they spend crafting copy will produce results.

So, when we wrote this blog post, we kept this target audience in mind: busy business owners who value copy but often lack the time to prioritize it.

This post helps address that pain point by showcasing some tips on writing better copy in a shorter time. Not only do business owners learn more about crafting captivating content, but they can also learn how to do it quicker. And that’s a win-win!

Batch Your Work

Task batching – which involves completing similar tasks simultaneously – is known to increase productivity. But how can you apply the productivity strategy to copywriting?

Topic brainstorming is a great place to start. Many companies research one blog topic at a time, write the blog post, and then return to the first step for a new topic. But think of how much time you can save if you brainstorm in one sitting. That way, whenever you have to write a blog post, you’re ready to go – without contemplating a topic.

You could hire a blog writer for this research phase and streamline the process further. They could provide you with a list of trending blog topics related to your industry and research the short and long-tail keywords you should include in each relevant post.

And if you get a couple blog posts written in one sitting, then why not schedule them all at once in your website platform? Talk about gaining more time in your day!

Proofread, Proofread, then Proofread Again

Publishing content full of spelling, punctuation, or grammatical issues is one of the best ways to harm your company’s reputation. Within seconds, your target audience may think your business isn’t credible, and some of the worst errors can actually offend your reader!

Some of our best advice when it comes to editing your work is as follows:

• Never edit your content the same day you create it. Instead, wait a day or two, then look at it with fresh eyes.
  
  We know that sometimes, that’s not possible – like when you need to send out an urgent newsletter or update your website about a store closure. But even during same-day publishing, wait a couple of hours (if possible) after writing your piece to hit that “publish” button.
  
  
• Don’t completely rely on editing software. Sure, proofreading software like Grammarly and MS Spellcheck is helpful, but understand that they aren’t error-free. Consider their suggestions as simply that – suggestions – not hard and fast rules to follow.
  
  
• Print a hard copy you can mark up. For some reason, we notice more errors on a hard copy than on a screen. Sure, it may seem like a waste of paper, but try it first. There’s something so satisfying about marking up the paper in red ink, too!
  
  
• Proofread your work and make sure it’s error-free. The smallest error may slip through even if you look at your work 100 times. To help avoid that from happening, review your work a couple of times yourself, run it through editing software, and then have a trusted co-worker, friend, or professional copywriter complete one final edit.

Don’t Be Afraid of SEO

You don’t need years of education with SEO to write an SEO-optimized post. Actually, many of our clients only have a basic understanding – but they know that writing copy with SEO in mind is crucial for ranking on Google.

Developing a basic knowledge of how to conduct keyword research, knowing the best places to integrate your keywords, and including appropriate internal and external hyperlinks are great starting blocks to SEO expertise. Thoughtful Call to Actions (CTAs) throughout your writing is paramount to nudging your reader toward a conversion.

SEO changes regularly, and Google doesn’t even publicize all of the ranking systems (previously known as ranking factors) it considers when ranking content. But we know high-quality content and keyword optimization are two of the most crucial.

If you want to tackle SEO on your own, various SEO tools are available to help you. Choosing the right one depends on your budget, skill level, and software preference.

But if you’re like many of our other clients – and have no interest in learning about another topic – you can leave the SEO optimization of your copy to us.

The #1 SEO Copywriting Tip from the Experts

We can’t be great at everything in life – and SEO copywriting is no different.

It isn’t easy to craft copy that helps engage your target audience and convert them to a lead. And when we lack the knowledge to do it well, it takes even more time, yet typically leads to less results.

Like other tasks in life, you need to know when to throw in the towel and admit that copywriting is not your strong suit. Maybe you’re getting frustrated with writing content that doesn’t get read, or perhaps you dread each time you need to write a blog post.

Finding someone you can rely on to do this important task can pay off big. After all, your company’s SEO copywriting helps you rank on Google, builds authority in your industry, and convinces your target audience to choose you over your competitors.

Ready to free up some more time in your busy day? Reach out to us to book a free consult and learn more about our services.

This year, you’re committed to writing regular blog content. After all, search engine optimized (SEO) blog posts are one of the best ways to help improve search engine rankings. With fierce competition in your industry, you need to do everything possible to stand out.

We may be only two months into the new year, but that’s enough time to realize writing regular blog copy is a big commitment. From brainstorming a topic to completing research to actually writing a compelling post, you can spend hours before hitting that publish button.

After devoting that much time to crafting a piece of content, you want to ensure people will read it. But what’s the best way to make that happen?

In this article, we’ll outline some tips to master SEO writing so that your content ranks higher on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). In turn, SEO writing increases the chances of readers viewing your site – potentially leading to more sales.

Continue reading “Drive Traffic and Conversions: Essential SEO Writing Tips for Success” →

With the excitement of the holidays now (sadly) behind us, it’s time to look forward. It’s a fresh new year, after all!

So, what does that mean for you and your business?

Our most recent blog article discussed some of the biggest challenges when writing fresh copy or content. If you DIY your company’s marketing, that article is a great place to start heading into 2024.

But there’s another solution for those who don’t have the time to do their own marketing (or simply prefer not to). And it’s something that you should’ve asked Santa to bring you!

Below, we dive into some of the biggest reasons you should consider hiring a copywriter or content writer this year.

Continue reading “This Year’s #1 New Year’s Resolution for Businesses: Hire a Content Writer” →

In a matter of days, another year’s behind us.

And what a year it’s been! For many of us, it’s been a year filled with quickly returning to normal after the pandemic took us on a rollercoaster trip.

For others, it’s been a year spent building a new brand, company, and goals.

Whether you’re relatively new to the business scene or are a seasoned professional, this time of year is a great time to reflect. Sure, most posts about new year’s planning happen in January, but the year has already started by then.

And if you know us at Sarah McKenzie Copywriting & Web Design Services, you know we’re always planning. So that involves planning for the year ahead right now!

As we finish our last-minute holiday shopping, it’s a time to assess our achievements, learn from our failures, and contemplate the growth and changes that have occurred. Each year provides valuable lessons and opportunities for personal – and business – development.

For many, marketing presents one of the biggest business challenges year after year. Content managers and business owners frequently wonder where to spend their marketing dollars and what will generate the best ROI.

A recent HubSpot survey found that generating traffic and leads was the top priority for 19 percent of respondents this year. If you’re in the same boat, we have the information that will help ease this worry. Let’s dive in together!

Understanding The Vital Role Of Compelling Marketing And Sales Copy

Think back to when you first turned on your laptop or desktop earlier today.

• How many emails were patiently waiting to be opened?
• What type of ads popped up when you typed a search into Google?
• Which search engine result had the most captivating description to click on?
• Have you made it through all your latest social media notifications?

Information overload – it’s no joke. In today’s world, filled with a non-stop barrage of data, facts, opinions, news, products, services, and ideas, one thing is consistently clear: effective copywriting is crucial.

Copywriting – or the process of writing words that help motivate a target audience to take action – makes you choose particular search results in Google, open certain emails based on their subject lines, and click on relevant pop-up ads.

It keeps your focus long enough to elicit a well-defined (possibly sneaky) action: to sign up for a blog newsletter, download an e-book, or – the holy grail – purchase a product or service from a website.

Great copywriting helps a brand stand out from the competition and creates a loyal following of customers. It helps get your company heard – even during a time known for overconsumption of information.

Most importantly, it takes your target audience on a journey that hopefully ends with some type of ROI.

In short, copywriting must be a priority – not just in 2024, but every year.

But since copywriting is basically on every type of marketing material available, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to place your focus. No need to worry; we’ve prioritized them for you.

#1: Website

It may seem unbelievable, but even in 2023, some businesses have no online presence.

How they’ve made it this far is a mystery, but one thing’s for sure: the days of not having a website – while still having a successful, long-term business – are over.

As Forbes points out, a business’s online presence – no matter its industry – can have a massive impact on its success. Almost every consumer (92 percent) heads to a company’s website before purchasing. As such, there’s a lot of missed business potential if you don’t have one.

Then there’s the matter of credibility. Having a website is an opportunity to prove your company’s legitimacy and create a great first impression. If consumers compare identical products or services between websites, having an impressionable site can make you stand out.

Websites can also help showcase your brand while keeping your business open 24/7. Plus, they’re a great place to send your target audience for information and answers to questions you would otherwise need to answer by phone or email.

THE BIGGEST REASON FOR HAVING A WEBSITE IN 2024

But perhaps most importantly, having a website increases your chances of getting leads. It helps get your brand in front of people who may need your product or service but don’t know you exist.

If your site’s SEO optimized, the opportunity for getting leads increases even more.

When you show up high in Google search results, the chance of being clicked on by someone looking for your type of business increases exponentially. A 2020 survey from Sistrix found that the first organic result in Google has an average click-through rate of 28.5%.

The further down the search results page you’re found, the lesser chance you have of being clicked on. Websites in Google’s tenth position have only a 2.5% click-through rate.

For websites that appear on pages 3, 4, 5, and beyond? Best of luck getting clicked on.

If you already have a website and think you’re exempt from spending dollars on this copywriting tool in 2024, think again! This blog post outlines everything you should do to improve your rankings on search engines.

And if you’re already at number one? Well, you’ll want to keep your rankings there, won’t you?! Continue practising smart SEO tactics, like SEO blog writing and on and off-page SEO.

#2: Blog

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: having an SEO blog is one of the best ways to improve your website’s SEO.

Why? Because Google loves to see that you’re regularly publishing fresh content to your site.

A blog is one of the best ways to add new content to your site without clutter. When you publish a new post, Google returns to recrawl your site and update your search engine rankings.

If you have yet to start a blog for your business, 2024 looks like the perfect year to make it happen! Like your website, your blog provides an excellent opportunity to

• Build brand awareness and communicate with your customers,
• Create shareable content for other marketing platforms (like social media and newsletters), and
• Build authority in your industry.

If you already have a website, starting a blog is as simple as adding a new page to your site.

But then comes maintaining your blog.

Perhaps our clients’ biggest challenge (and why they outsource to us) is remaining committed to blog writing.

Because it’s not something that can ever be marked “complete.”

SEO blog copywriting should be done regularly – as often as possible. At the very least, try to publish 1-2 new monthly posts.

At the start, coming up with ideas and keywords is typically easy. But the ideas tend to slow down once you’re 10 or 20 blog articles in. Blog writing may not be seen as fun anymore and, instead, takes up waaaay too much of your time.

We’ve found that our clients simply get busy doing everything else in their business over time. In the process, they let their blogging slide to the side.

Like most other things in life, consistency is key. Staying committed to writing blog posts isn’t easy, but the hard work pays off.

Company blog pages remain the most effective form of content over email, e-books, and white papers. And businesses with up-to-date blog pages see 13 times the ROI compared to companies that don’t.

#3: Email Campaigns

Remember when businesses were panicking not that long ago due to a WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram outage? Some even sustained substantial losses, such as this business that saw their sales plummet by 25 percent. Even Facebook lost a lot. Besides $100M in lost ad revenue, the media giant’s disruption greatly affected its reputation.

Luckily, the outage only lasted one day. But in the blink of an eye, business owners quickly saw what happened when they relied entirely on these channels for sales.

It was more important than ever to put marketing in the power of your own hands.

That’s where building your email marketing list comes in.

Not only does email marketing help avoid unforeseen social media disruptions, but it’s also more effective. According to McKinsey, email marketing is 40 times more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook or Twitter.

Nurturing your current leads, rather than attracting new ones, is also easier. The Harvard Business Review found that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.

So, long story short, it pays to stay in contact with your previous or existing clients. After all, you’ve sold them on your business already once – and if you left a good impression – it will be easier to do so again. With the help of an entertaining newsletter or engaging sales campaign, you have a good chance of making sales happen.

But crafting compelling emails is an art in itself! Although it may take some time to master, the results pay off. To improve your open rates, keep the following tips in mind:

• Use Personalization: 88% of users agree they’re more likely to respond to an email favorably if it looks like it’s been created explicitly for them. Including “you” can increase conversions by up to 47 percent!
• Keep It Short: According to LXAHub, sales emails with 200-250 words witness the highest response rate of 19%.
• Make Your Subject Line Simple: Rather than be overly creative, keep your subject line simple to get 541 percent more responses.
• Include Special Wording: CoSchedule found that using time-sensitive verbiage like “limited,” “exclusive,” or “free” can increase open rates by up to 29 percent.

Revisit Your Content Marketing Strategy

Reminder: You need a current content marketing strategy before creating great copy. Without that, how will you be able to execute any of your copywriting tools properly?

A content marketing strategy provides clarity when executing your marketing campaigns and forms the foundation for your copywriting tools. In addition, it helps you

• Identify business goals,
• Get a clear understanding of your target audience, and
• Create quality content.

Even if you already have a content marketing strategy, the end of the year is a great time to revisit it. Review what worked and what didn’t this year and make any necessary changes.

Combine the insights from social media sharing metrics and your website analytics to craft even better copy in 2024.

The Key Takeaway About 2024 Copywriting Tools

We’re guessing you want to make 2024 your best year yet. As discussed in this post, prioritizing the right copywriting tools – your website, blog, and email campaigns – will help take you there.

If this all seems too daunting, we can help. Contact us for a complimentary consultation to prioritize the key copywriting tools for your business this year.

You spend hours and hours writing a blog post that you find great, heck, even amazing! You’re so excited to publish it and patiently wait for traffic to flock to your website.

But surprisingly, when you do hit publish, barely anyone goes to read it. No matter how often you refresh your website analytics page, that statistic isn’t changing: your blog traffic remains low.

Wondering what you did wrong? Before you attempt to write a new blog post, here are some tips to remember for writing blog posts that get read.

Continue reading “How To Get Customers to Actually Read Your Blog Posts” →