Is Your Website Copy Missing One of these 5 Vital Elements?

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When you read your website content do you get the feeling that something’s not quite right?

If you’ve invested valuable time writing your website copy it can be disheartening to find that your content’s not quite hitting the mark. But instinctively knowing there’s something wrong with your website content and knowing how to fix it are two very different things. If you’re struggling to put your finger on what’s missing, try asking yourself these five questions.

  1. Have I got a clearly defined message?
    When you’ve got lots to say it can be tempting to try and cram everything onto one page. But this can make difficult reading for your website visitor. If you have lots of different messages, split them across several pages. A good rule to follow is just one key message per page.
  2. Am I selling benefits rather than features?
    Instead of describing the features of your product or service, it’s important to explain what the benefits are for the customer. So rather than focussing on the technical aspects of your product, explain how the product makes people’s lives easier or better.
  3. Is the tone of voice right for my brand and audience?
    Try reading your website copy out loud. How does it sound? Chatty? Straight-laced? Fun? Dull? If it sounds unnatural when you speak the words, chances are it sounds unnatural when people read them too. Think about your audience and how they would talk and then adapt your content to match their tone of voice. If your company has a set of brand guidelines, make sure you follow them when writing your website content. If you don’t have guidelines to refer to, spend some time thinking about the personality of your brand before sitting down to write (or rewrite) the content.
  4. Have I answered all of my reader’s questions?
    The perfect page of website copy should answer all of the reader’s questions. If they’re left with doubts or worries, they are likely to look elsewhere. Think about the basic questions your potential customer needs answering in order to have the confidence to buy from you and make sure you’ve addressed these.
  5. Have I got a clear call to action?
    If you’ve got everything else right and have successfully convinced your potential customer that they should call, sign up, or place an order; you don’t want to lose them at the final hurdle. Make sure you’ve got a clear call to action so that the reader knows what to do next.