You know your business
As a business owner, you know your business and your customers better than anyone.
So, surely, you must be the best person to write your website copy, right?
Well, yes, maybe… but also, maybe not.
You see, although you have all the knowledge and experience, you might not necessarily know how to translate that into content that works for your audience.
It’s not just about writing
Writing web copy is different to other forms of writing. To write a website that really works for your business, you need to understand how to:
- Search-engine-optimise (SEO) your copy
- Format your copy for reading on a screen
- Talk to and connect with your ideal customers
- Provide the right information at the right point
- Write copy that convinces, persuades and sells.
If you’re on the fence about whether to write your own web copy, here’s what you need to understand before you make a decision.
Why you shouldn’t write your own web copy
If any of the following apply, you probably shouldn’t be writing your own copy, because it’s highly likely you won’t get the results you need from your website.
You don’t have a strategy
When you’re writing website copy, or any other kind of copy, your strategy should dictate and underpin everything.
Writing without a strategy is like putting your message in this bottle and throwing it out to sea, hoping that someone — anyone — will find it.
Ultimately, it means your website won’t be as effective as it could be and it won’t work as hard for your business.
Web copywriters always have a strategy
Having a well-thought-out strategy means they’re:
- Writing with a well-defined and consistent brand message
- Differentiating your brand from your competitors
- Actively targeting the people you want to reach
- Creating a smooth and logical user experience
- Communicating with a clear purpose
- Converting visitors into customers
- Achieving your business goals.
You’re too close to your business
When you’re writing web copy, you need to be able to see your business as your customers do — from the outside. But, as a business owner working inside your business, this can be easier said than done.
You have a profound connection to your business and you’re emotionally invested in it, which makes it hard to be objective and see things from your prospects’ point of view.
Working inside your business is like working in a bubble — and this can lead to subjectivity and short-sightedness. It could mean you’ve lost sight of what makes your business special to your prospects because, over time, these things become invisible and unremarkable to you.
A web copywriter brings a fresh perspective
When you hire a freelance web copywriter, they’ll come to your business as an outsider looking in.
By questioning you and researching your audience, they’ll pull out all the most important and marketable points and put them front and centre.
You know too much — but not how to use it
You know your business and industry inside out. Your knowledge is precious and priceless.
But what you don’t know is how to take that knowledge and transform it into the audience-friendly copy your website needs.
And this means you might be:
- Assuming your visitors know more than they actually do
- Inadvertently using unfamiliar jargon or insider terminology
- Clouding your messages with too much unnecessary detail
- Overthinking your copy and being too indecisive.
A web copywriter will use your knowledge wisely
Your strength is knowing your business and industry. A web copywriter’s strength is being able to communicate that knowledge to your audience, clearly, concisely and captivatingly.
A web copywriter will tap into your extensive industry knowledge and extract the right information for your audience. They’ll then translate this information into language your audience will be familiar with and can understand.
You think your website should be all about you
Yes, it’s your website. But your website should actually be all about your customers and what you can do for them.
Lots of businesses get this wrong. They talk about our experience, our passion, our values… blah, blah, blah… and their ideal customers don’t even get a mention.
If they’re not being acknowledged, your ideal customers will feel ignored and unimportant. They’ll feel you don’t understand them and you’re not the best business to help them.
A web copywriter will write customer-focused copy
When a professional copywriter writes web copy, it’s always customer-focused. It speaks to your ideal customers directly and talks about you and your way more than it talks about we, us and our.
The copy also addresses your ideal customers’:
- Issues, problems and difficulties
- Wants and needs
- Objections.
This ensures they feel seen, understood and confident to buy from you.
You don’t understand websites
Writing communications for your audience is one thing. Writing websites is a whole other skillset — and it can take years to master. If you don’t understand websites, you could be working at a disadvantage.
When you’re writing a website, there’s so much to think about, including the:
- Structure and sitemap
- Site navigation
- SEO keywords and phrases
- Page titles and meta tags
- Page content and layout
- Heading hierarchy and formatting
- Internal linking
- Calls to action (CTAs)
- Features and processes.
Not paying attention to these things — or getting them wrong — could mean your website doesn’t perform as well it should.
Web copywriters understand websites
A specialist web copywriter, who’s writing websites all the time, will understand the importance of all these website elements.
And they’ll write your copy with these things in mind to give you a website that works for your business and gets you the best possible results.
You don’t understand SEO
If you want people to be able to find your website on Google — and you don’t want to spend a fortune on ads — you’re going to need to use SEO. It stands for Search-Engine-Optimisation, if you’re wondering.
SEO copywriting involves priming your website with the keywords and phrases your audience is using to find you. To me, it’s simple and makes to good sense. To my clients, not so much. In fact, over the past 15+ years, I’ve heard them refer to SEO as confusing, impossible, a dark art and a right ball-ache.
Without SEO copywriting, launching your website will be like setting up a shop in the outer fringes of cyberspace, where no one is ever going to find you. So unless you have the time and inclination to learn it, you might need some help with that.
SEO copywriters know their SEO
If you’re working with a specialist SEO copywriter, they’ll take care of the keyword research and implement it, using best-practice guidelines, as part of their service.
I need to add a disclaimer here.
SEO copywriting will make your website more visible on Google, but the results you’ll get are never guaranteed. This is because Google’s algorithm has the final say on where websites rank in the search results. And it can’t be bribed — trust me.
You have better things to be doing
If you’re not a copywriter and writing doesn’t come naturally to you, writing your own website will take time. That will either be your free time or time that could be spent running your business — doing what only you can do.
A web copywriter will save you time
If you don’t want to spend your evenings, weekends or work days writing, then outsourcing the job to a professional web copywriter could be the best decision for you.
You don’t know what should be copy/content
If you don’t know what should be web copy and what should be blog content, you’re probably confused about who you’re talking to and your messaging won’t land.
If you use what should be blog content on your main web pages, you’ll clutter them up with too much detail and dilute your sales message. So it’s important to understand the difference.
The difference between web copy and blog content
Your web copy is your sales message. This should be targeted towards people who are almost ready to buy and it should go onto the main pages of your website.
Blog content is more informational and explanatory. This should be targeted towards people who are still in the pre-purchase research phase — and it should go onto your blog.
A web copywriter will separate your copy and content
A web copywriter will objectively know how much detail you need to give your web page readers to make the sale.
Selling makes you uncomfortable
I’m just not good at blowing my own trumpet.
This is something several clients have said to me over the years. Selling their services made them uncomfortable because it felt like bragging — and they didn’t want to come across as boastful.
If you’re uncomfortable writing your sales copy, it will show. Instead of sounding assured and confident, your copy will give the impression of hesitancy and doubt. Like you don’t really believe what you’re saying.
Web copywriters write sales copy
Outsourcing your web copywriting makes a lot of sense.
First, because writing effective sales copy that’s designed to convert is one of the skills a copywriter has — and they’ll be good at it.
Second, because a web copywriter is an objective outsider. They’ll see your business as your customers do, so their copy will feel much less cringey and much more convincing.
And third, because when you read it, all that awkwardness and discomfort you feel about selling will melt away.
You’re not a copywriter
Writing copy might seem like an easy task. I mean anyone can write, right?
But effective copy should:
- Attract attention from the right people
- Generate interest
- Create desire
- Inspire action.
That’s not just writing — that’s copywriting. And it’s a whole other skillset.
If you don’t have the skills to make it work for you, you should know what to do by now.
Hire a web copywriter
A copywriter knows how to write engaging, on-brand copy that ‘speaks’ with the right tone and represents your brand in the best possible way. The kind of copy that connects with your audience. That gives them the information that helps them decide if what you’re offering is for them. And, if it is, persuades them to buy it.
4 Reasons you should write your own website copy
If any of the following apply, you would be better to write your website copy yourself.
1. You don’t have the budget for a copywriter
Effective SEO web copywriting is worth every penny, but the good stuff doesn’t come cheap. And if you don’t have the budget to invest in a decent copywriter who knows what they’re doing, it’s best to wait until you do.
2. Your business is new
If you’re starting a new business, it could be evolving at speed for the first few months. If this is the case, your website will need to evolve with you — and your copy will need to be changeable. Writing the copy yourself will give you that initial flexibility to make changes quickly and often.
When your business has stabilised and you’re in a better position, that’s the time to hire a web copywriter.
3. You want to have full control
If you like to have complete control in your business, handing the copywriting responsibility to someone else might not seem appealing. It could be a source of endless frustration for you — and a waste of time and money.
You’ll probably end up micromanaging your copywriter, questioning their expertise, not trusting the process and finishing with a never-ending cycle of revisions.
This will be a horrible experience for both of you and one that’s best avoided.
4. You’re prepared to learn
If you want to write your own copy, and you’re prepared to learn the skills you need, it can be an enlightening and rewarding experience.
Ready to work with a web copywriter?
Well, here I am!
I’m Jenny Lucas, a specialist SEO copywriter who knows websites and how they work.
I’ve been using websites daily since the mid 90s. I’ve been writing websites for the last 15+ years and I’ve even designed a few of them, too.
Your website should be your hardest working employee and should really make a difference to your business.
This is why, when I write websites, I consider everything, including the copy, the layout and the user experience.
Because when everything is working together in harmony, it gives you the best possible result.
Want to find out more?
Head over to my SEO copywriting service page >>
Get in touch about a project >>
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