Hello and welcome to the twelfth episode of the course “Copywriting from zero in 30 days”. Today we’re talking about website copywriting and different aspects of texts for webpages. We’ll learn what the conversion is, the main copy tasks, writing principles and key features. Subscribe to the channel and let’s begin.
Conversion in copywriting
The first thing you should know is that neither the site nor the copy exist on their own, in a vacuum. A website is always one of the stages in the sequence that the audience goes through. This sequence is also called sales funnel.
An example of the simplest sequence consists of three stages: advertisement, website and sales department. The audience goes through them in succession and turns into money.
However, not all people go through the sequence to the end. Some of them are lost at each stage. The percentage of people who move from one stage to another and perform the target action on each stage is called a conversion. For example, if 100 people saw an ad, and 20 of them clicked and visited the site, then the conversion rate of the ad is 20%.
If out of these 20 people, 5 made a purchase (or performed another target action), then the conversion of the site is 25%, and the conversion of the entire advertising campaign is 5%. That’s why it’s called funnel. The flow of the audience to the funnel is called traffic.
Two global tasks of website pages
Since both the site as a whole and any of its pages are part of the sales funnel, they have two key tasks. Global tasks.
- Attract audience. This can be done in a variety of ways: through advertising, search engine optimization, social media, site structure and so on. The main thing here is that the value of the content, motivates people to visit the page and read the copy on it.
- Convert audience. This means that the page must transfer readers to the next step of interaction and convince them to take some target action. If the page doesn’t encourage people to take a target action, for example, leave a request, order a product, or at least follow the link to another section of the site, then such a page is called a dead end.
That is why in copywriting when we create texts for websites, we must not only keep these tasks in mind, but also solve them with the copy.
Website copywriting principles and examples
A copy for a site page, as a rule, is created not as a plain text, but as a wireframe. We talked about what wireframes are and how to create them in the ninth lesson.
Any website page can be divided into two parts: the first screen and the main body. The first screen is what a person sees right after the page loads. The main body is all the rest of the content.
By the way, there is such a thing as adaptive or responsive design. This is when the page is shown differently depending on the screen size and resolution of the device. For example, smartphone or notebook.
Please note that a copywriter usually doesn’t develop adaptive layout in a wireframe. This is the task of a layout designer.
The first screen of the page
The main purpose of the first screen is to show relevance to what people are looking for, their interests. The first screen of the page should also attract attention and generate initial interest. If you carefully watched the previous episodes of this course, then you probably recognized the first stages of AIDA model here.
Since there may be no lead (the first paragraph) on the first screen, headline and bullets sometimes take over the function of calling interest. Bullets are benefits arranged in a list. For example, right now you can see a list of benefits. Each element of this list is a bullet. We talked about how to write benefits in the third lesson of this course.
A very important point relates to site navigation. These are the links that allow users to navigate to site pages or internal blocks within a current page. If we are talking about a multi-page site (for example, business card website or online store), then navigation is needed. However, if we are talking about a landing page that, say, works in conjunction with contextual advertising, then it is better to remove the navigation from it.
The logic here is simple: each person attracted to the page via paid ads costs money. And if this person leaves through navigation without performing the target action, then this greatly reduces the conversion rate and entails loss of money. That’s why the navigation is usually hidden for landing pages.
The main body of a site page
The main body of the page has its own tasks. In most cases, these tasks include providing the information the audience needs, invoking trust and goodwill, demonstration of competitive advantages and closing for some target action.
In most cases, when we create texts for web pages, we use the same principles as for any commercial text: AIDA model, sequence of blocks, benefits, objection handlers, answers to questions, calls to action, etc. We have already learned them in the previous lessons.
SEO in website copywriting
Many website pages are usually optimized for search engines like Google in order to attract additional search traffic. Therefore, the title on the first screen and the the text in the main body use the keywords from the queries. These are the words that people enter into search engines to indicate their need or interest. We talked about audience needs in the second lesson.
Moreover, promotion in search engines may impose additional requirements for the amount of text, its structure, images, subheadings and other aspects. That’s why a good copywriter needs to know the basics of search engine optimization (or SEO).
Types of pages on the site
A site can have different pages. For example, home page, product pages, about us page, blog article pages, portfolio page and many more. Each of them may have its own local tasks, but the general principles remain the same. First of all, because regardless of the page type and tasks, the site is viewed by a person, and the behavior of people is generally the same.
Practical task on website copywriting
Now it’s time to practice. Your task consists of two parts. The first part: you need to go through five pages of websites (any will do) and check how they perform their tasks. For example, whether they grab attention from the first seconds, arouse interest, meet the needs of the audience, stand out from competitors, build trust and goodwill, call to the target action, etc.
The second part is to develop a page wireframe that would solve all the tasks described above. You will succeed! Take care of yourself, subscribe and see you in the next lesson.
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