Your Target Audience Can’t Read Your Mind…

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Your Website Copy Needs To Tell Them What To Do

Don’t get me wrong, it would freaking amazing if your target audience were mind readers. 

They could instantly recognize how your creative business makes a difference in their lives, understand how your prices reflect your value, and know that Ted Lasso references are the way to your heart. 

But your target audience can’t read your mind.

This means your website copy not only needs to answer any questions your visitors may have but also explain the next step they should take on the path to working with you. 

Writing website copy that takes your readers from your homepage to your services and through to the grand finale – your inquiry form – is one part strategy, one part messaging, and one part direction. 

Pull up a chair, friend, and let’s walk through this three-step process that’ll make your dream clients believe you’re the mind-reading superhero they’ve been looking for.

 

1. Easy-To-Navigate Website Strategy

Your website must make it simple for readers to move from being captivated by your homepage to selecting the best-fit service to completing your contact form.

An easy-to-navigate website strategy makes sure your readers don’t get distracted, overwhelmed, or lost as they explore your website. 

Step number 1 in building a website strategy? 

Create a simple site map.

Grab a scrap of paper and list your main pages across the top of the page. If you’re a service provider, these will include your Home, About, Services, and Contact pages with possible additions like Blog, Portfolio, or Freebie pages.

After you have listed your main pages, outline each individual page and determine what information goes on each of them.

Let’s look at your homepage as an example.

Picture your homepage as a hotel lobby – inviting and informational – and your website readers are your guests. 

It’s important to include clear signage about everything your hotel offers, whether that’s your freebie, services, or rooftop swimming pool. But, you don’t want to overload your guests with info about every dish on the buffet, how long the pool stays open, or every detail about your business.

Instead, your homepage is the place where your website visitors can scan all the options, decide what to explore, and know there’s a central hub they can return to.

On your site outline, your homepage might look like:

A Strong Welcome

• A clear and compelling headline
• A one-line description of what you do and who it’s for
• An opening paragraph that elaborates on your business

Clear Signage

• A brief overview of your main services
• An intro to you, the person behind the biz

Other Happy Guests

• Testimonials that show you’re too legit to quit

A Direct Line To You

• A freebie or email opt-in to keep your readers learning
• A call to action that tells your audience to get in touch

While every individual has their own way of digesting information and making purchasing decisions, outlining your website strategy involves imagining what your dream clients need to know to feel confident they’re in the right place. 

 

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2. Clear As Day Website Copy

Now that you’ve listed all the parts of your website, it’s time to start drafting your copy. 

Hopefully, you’ve already done some in-depth brand strategy to get a clear understanding of your business, positioning, values, and personality. If not, pause now and take the time to truly understand what makes your brand remarkable. 

Once you’re clear on every part that makes up your brand, start turning your outline into bullet points, your bullet points into sentences, and your sentences into paragraphs. 

Before you know it, it’ll be time for the fun part. Adding personality and razzle-dazzle to your website copy. 

There are two things to keep in mind as you’re writing your website copy.

Clarity and Empathy.

Understandable copy sells far more consistently than quirky stories. If you have to pick between clarity and cleverness, pick clarity. At the same time, be sure you relate to your audience’s struggles, hopes, and values without shaming them about their position. 

This is the hardest and most time-consuming step in the process so celebrate once you’ve come to the end!

The next step is easy as 1, 2…

 

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3. Impossible To Miss Calls-To-Action

You have your site outline, all the information your clients need, and personality-packed website copy that describes your services, your benefits, and you.

But what’s next? 

Where should your readers go? What should they do? 

Tell them!

Calls-to-Action are buttons that direct your website visitors to the next step and eventually lead them to your lovely client inquiry page. 

Your Calls-to-Action should be scattered throughout every page of your website in convenient and frequent locations, only ever a scroll away. 

Since some buyers are shy, they need to be encouraged to take that next step multiple times. Other buyers, however, are impulsive. Once they read a statement that resonates, they want to buy straight away. So let them!

Not sure how to actually tell your website readers what you want them to do? Take a peek at these plug-and-play Call-to-Action buttons.

Call-To-Action Templates:

Straight Forward: Work With Us

Fill In The Blank: I want to…DIY My Website Copy

Personality-Packed: Gimme All The Deets!

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Does Your Website Copy Guide Your Readers?

What about when you’ve written your entire website copy but you’re hesitating on tapping that ‘publish’ button?

Do you wish you had a second pair of eyes on your page? Someone to look it over with a professional eye and offer advice?

I’ve got you, boo. 

My Website Audit is for DIYers like you who are tired of generic templates and how-to guides. Instead, they crave personalized guidance on their strategy, brand voice, and website copy. 

So go ahead and send me a note to book your Audit today.