Having great website copy does more than you can imagine for your business. It helps you rank higher on Google search results pages, attract more traffic, create a stronger brand image, and stand out from your competitors.
Although we’ve spent plenty of time discussing how to write effective copy – including writing website copywriting that converts – it’s also important to know what to avoid writing. Below, we’ve outlined five crucial errors you should keep in mind when completing website copywriting.
Although we often discuss the value of great website copywriting, we know that it’s impossible to do without effective branding.
And that starts with choosing a great brand name.
How you name your brand can make or break your business in many ways. Whatever you decide to name your brand, you must note that it’ll affect how much sales and profits you generate, how much buzz your brand creates, and the level of success you attain.
In addition, what makes a business grow is the association between your company name, its vision, objectives, and, finally, its tone. If you want to make all these features attractive to your target audience, you should put diligent efforts into developing a brand name.
Read on as we dive deeper into what it takes to create the perfect brand name and all you need to know before searching for the right brand names for sale.
How To Make Sure Your Brand Name Is the Right One
This brings us to one core aspect of brand naming – validation. So, what is validation, and why should it never be skipped in the brand naming process?
When we say validation, we refer to the proofreading section of your brand naming process. When you source brand names for sale, you don’t just send them out to the world and hope for an instant hit; that’s like sending out an essay project after creating the first draft. The process is incomplete without validation.
Take, for instance, Problogger; a brand that offers blogging trends and advice. Do you think this was created in one try? Of course not; the name had to go through a series of trials before it was declared the one.
There’s also Design Sponge, an entrepreneur-based website that still managed to make its name catchy and fun yet perfectly depict the brand.
There are also a few validation processes your potential brand name should undergo before the crowd can recognize it. Let’s have a look, shall we?
Audience Reviews
An important test your brand name must ace. Remember that your brand naming process is centred around its impact on your target audience. In essence, your target customers must become fans of your brand name before it’s made permanent.
So how do you achieve this? Try out your brand name on close friends and family members who aren’t part of your team. Hand out flyers to unsuspecting individuals in places like restaurants, arcades, and parks. Make it look like a survey exercise where a response from the audience is necessary.
For excellent results, ensure your brand name is unambiguous and void of negative connotations in other languages.
Domain Compatibility
After evaluating the results of the audience feedback, you should move on to check what available domains fit your chosen brand name. This can be tricky to an extent because you have to play around a bit by mixing up different spellings, syllables, vowels, word combos, etc., before figuring out the domain name that’s a perfect fit.
After this, you move on to add a URL suffix such as ‘.biz’ or ‘.co.’
Trademark
This is the last box you need to check during the brand naming test list. Here, you diligently search for what names have been trademarked to avoid any legal setbacks.
Conclusion
What happens when you create a unique business idea and employ the best methods of operation, but your brand name lacks the edge it needs? It’s all downhill from there on various platforms, including social media, and in your copywriting.
That’s why proper care should be put into naming your brand. With the above criteria in place, you can be sure of building the foundation of a successful business.
If you’ve been struggling with writing copy for quite some time, what if we told you there was an easier way? And that – even better, it didn’t involve any extra expense?
Sure, the most sure-fire way to get great copy is to hire a professional copywriter. But for business owners just starting out, doing so is often out of financial reach.
If you’re looking for a way to make copywriting a less dreaded task, then we’ve got you covered! Below, we’ve outlined the four most helpful copywriter tools to help you write better copy – starting today.
When done well, copywriting can bring a load of benefits to your business. It can help you attract and retain a loyal customer following, build your brand image, and earn a reputation as the go-to source for your product or service. But most important of all? Copywriting can persuade readers to take action, which increases the profitability of your business.
To get the maximum ROI for your copywriting investment, you need copy that converts. The following four copywriting tips outline how to make that happen.
So you’ve finally decided to hire a freelance SEO copywriter? Congratulations! You’re now on your way to improving your Google rankings, attracting more traffic to your website, increasing your sales – and so much more.
Maybe you hired your copywriter after hearing a fellow business owner rave about theirs, or perhaps you got fed up trying to create the copy for your business. Whatever’s your reason, know that hiring a copywriter can play a big part in the success of your business.
Together, let’s unravel what exactly a copywriter does and then discuss which tasks you should outsource to them right away.
Your website designer has put together a beautiful template for you but needs the content – or copy – to finish it up.
Not a big deal, right?
Until you realize the importance of your website content.
Sure, design is important – and you need one that incorporates a great user experience (UX). But the words on your website pages themselves? They’re what actually influence website traffic to convert into a sale.
And once you find someone you’re interested in working with, you’ll need to lay the groundwork for success. Here are six tips to keep in mind when working with a freelance copywriter.
After putting it off for some time – or forever! – you’ve finally started making search engine optimized (SEO) copywriting for your business a priority. That in itself is worth celebrating – but celebrating is the last thing you feel like doing. That’s because no matter what you do, you’re not getting the results you’d hoped for.
Maybe you were hoping for more subscribers to your blog subscription, or additional inquiries about your business, or an increase in website orders. But you’re not seeing any of these outcomes, and you’re starting to get discouraged.
Before you throw the towel in on SEO copywriting, let’s figure out what may be the reason for it – together. Below, we’ve tried to make copywriting as simple as possible by outlining the top three problems many business owners face, plus how to fix them easily.
You’ve done everything you can think of to bring in more money for your business.
You have a well-designed website.
You send out email marketing campaigns regularly.
You’ve even invested in Google ads!
But no matter what you do, you aren’t noticing an improvement in the number of leads you’re getting – and you’re starting to question what you’re doing.
Before you spend any more time or money, it’s time to hire a freelance copywriter. Their expert writing skills will drive more traffic to your website and convert that traffic into sales.
Let’s dive in and see how freelance copywriters can help you do what you’ve been trying to do yourself: increase business profits.
But writing copy that has a chance at showing up on Google, engaging with a target audience, and converting into sales?
That kind of copy takes time. It takes practise. And it takes experience.
One or more of those three reasons is why many of our clients seek out our services. But as small business owners ourselves, we understand that not all businesses have the budget for copywriting – especially when they’re just starting out.
If you, too, are attempting to complete copywriting for your business, some tried and true methods can help you along the way. Below, we discuss four of our top tips for producing your best copywriting on your own.
Simply having a website is no longer an option for you to remain competitive – your website needs to stand out. But with the variety of website builders, templates, and features available, it can be challenging to know what will work best. Here are five easy-to-follow steps when designing a website for your small business that will create winning results.
Step #1: Choose the Right Website Building Platform
WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly, and GoDaddy. When it comes to building a website, one of the first decisions you’ll have to make is choosing a website builder. And there are plenty of options out there – all with their own pros and cons.
Selecting the right website builder for your business comes down to evaluating your website goals. Are you looking for a quick, simple-to-use platform and don’t plan on growing your business? The drag and drop user interfaces on Squarespace or GoDaddy may be great options for you – but offer limited features.
Want something that offers extensive designs and customizations but requires a little more of a learning curve? WordPress (what we most often use – and for good reason) is your best bet.
Step #2: Invest in Great Copy
Sure, your website needs to be user-friendly and eye-catching, but what’s even more important?
The words found on the pages.
Having strong search engine optimized content helps your website rank on search engines and drives organic traffic to your site. Your content is what informs readers of your business’s offerings and helps convince them to contact you for more information, become a loyal brand follower, or – even better – purchase your product or service.
Poor copywriting does the opposite. It can quickly drive traffic away from your site (and to your competitors), lower your SEO rankings, and hurt your brand image.
When working with small business owners on limited budgets, we always suggest, at the minimum, investing in copywriting. The website design is easier to DIY than the content, which typically creates the conversion.
Step #3: Make It Stand Out
Your website needs to be aesthetically appealing, but also user-friendly. So when it comes to creating an eye-catching design, put yourself in the shoes of your customer.
With your traffic spending only 50 milliseconds to form a first impression of your business, no detail is too small to overlook. Does your website load correctly on mobile devices? Research shows that as of 2017, mobile has taken the lead as the global source of traffic. What about your layout – is it easy to navigate? Users want to find the information they need on your site quickly; otherwise, they may move on to your competitor’s website instead.
Security also needs to be paramount – and is especially important for businesses that are accepting payments online. Ensure your site has the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) protocol. If it doesn’t, website traffic will receive a “Not Secure” warning and be given the option to proceed to your site. Most of the time, they won’t want to take that risk.
Other tips for creating an amazing website design include integrating a modern look, matching your branding to your site, and using professional photography rather than stock images.
Step #4: Integrate SEO Strategies
Whether you’re working on your website design or copy, search engine optimization (SEO) needs to be a priority. This is typically where things start to get more confusing.
SEO is what helps your website rank on Google and other search engines. Regularly, Google changes its search algorithm – or the process used for ranking websites. This means that completing SEO is never done; it requires constant work to have your website rank and continue to rank.
Both your website’s design and content play key roles in creating a solid SEO foundation. On-page SEO factors include title tags, headings, URL structure, page load speed, and internal linking. The copy on your site should integrate keywords that your target audience is searching on Google and include helpful, relevant, and valuable information.
To help improve your rankings, you should make changes or updates to your site’s design and content regularly. Doing so flags Google to come back to your site and re-evaluate your site’s position on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Step #5: Trust the Professionals
As a small business owner, you’re well known for your versatility – and it’s no surprise why. Daily, you constantly face new challenges such as managing a product shipment delay, proactively handling a customer service complaint, or dealing with a bylaw issue. For many of your challenges, you must figure out solutions on your own. But that’s not true when it comes to building your website.
If you find it difficult to create your own small business’s website, you can always hire an expert. Sometimes, the time to learn a new skill – especially one as extensive as website design and copywriting – is not available to you as an already busy business owner. And even if you do manage to find the time, the result will likely not be as effective when compared to a professional creating it for you. So why not save yourself time, stress, and disappointment by hiring a website expert from the start?
At Sarah McKenzie Copywriting and Web Design, we act as your one-stop-shop when designing a website for your small business. From completing the design or copywriting to launching an entirely new website, we’ve got your website needs covered.
Schedule a free consultation with us today to learn more about our services as Toronto copywriters and website designers.
