A business owner’s guide to DIY website copy

If you own a website, you need website copy. But… not everyone can afford copywriting services. I’ll let you in on some copywriting secrets that got me started on my copywriting journey so you can take a deep breath and start with these basics.

This is a beginner’s guide to copywriting that’ll save you from feeling (or outright flailing) your way through the dark.

VOICE

First, define your brand voice. Is it witty? warm? trendy? out-there? Understanding your brand voice is critical for so many reasons. It is the all-important vehicle for your messaging; it’s what starts a conversation with your audience and establishes a relationship. You need to authentically represent your brand and its mission.

I love brand voices that are, above all, human. Flush your brand with character because that is how you will stand out and build relationships.

Let’s look at a brand voice in the context of a website’s “about” page.

Read this:

“We founded Blip because we care about accessible technology.”

Kinda lackluster. It works, but it doens’t put in work. Here’s a rewrite:

“When we found out only 45% of schools have enough computers for each student, we knew we had to act.”

Okay, another one:

“Goldee is a one-stop shop for sustainable haircare products.”

And the rewrite:

“Hi, we’re Goldee! We help you treat your ‘do with kindness that nourishes your strands and the planet.”

We’re getting specific and putting in some personality.

Here’s a tip: watch out for the words “is” and “are” in your website copy. They signal that you’re telling the audience something rather than showing them. Replace them with active verbs to show, not tell.

In the end, it’s not about trying to impress the most people with your writing prowess. In fact, you should dumb down most of your copy to avoid sounding snooty. Uber-professionalism isn’t a huge “it factor” these days; we’d rather support a brand that sounds like a friend. We like our brands to be relatable and personalized. Human.

AUDIENCE

Once you have a voice all figured out, you’re gonna need to think about who your brand is talking to. Who will want your product or service? Who’s dying to have it in their life? The answer to that question is your target audience.

If your brand voice doesn’t align with your target audience, one of the two has to change.

Creating what we call a consumer profile will help you get to know your audience inside and out. It gives you an idea of how to navigate your brand messaging. You need to narrow the consumer pool so your target audience feels seen.

How old are they? Where do they live? What problems do they face? How do they connect with others? How much money do they make? Where do they buy groceries? What kind of toothbrush do they use?

Okay, okay — don’t get carried away. The goal is to simply consider how you’d relate to this consumer and start a conversation.

Take that info and think about what’s in it for them. I’ll show you what this means with a pretend product for dogs called Gentle Leash.

This is the product’s featured headline before they chose to define their target audience:

“Finally, a leash that makes dog walking better for everyone.”

It doesn’t put in much work. That’s because you generally won’t find success if you market a product to “everyone.” Imagine you’re on a stage, trying to tell a billion people that your product will solve their individual problems. You can’t possibly address the individual needs of a billion people. Many of them won’t even hear you up on that stage.

Now imagine you’re in a small room with a warm fireplace and cushy seats, and you have a handful of people there with similar interests. You’re all sitting around drinking tea with sweaters on. You have a product that will fill a gap in their lives. It’s personal; you have a conversation and they feel heard. I bet your conversion rate will be a lot higher.

So with some rebranding, the leash company chose to market their leashes to owners of anxious dogs. Their consumer profile looked something like this:

• Owners of anxious dogs

• Age 25 - 35

• City-dwelling

• Active lifestyle

They came up with a new headline that effectively solves a problem for that specific pool of consumers:

“A walk in the park with your anxious pooch shouldn’t be like navigating a minefield. Gentle Leashes help you and your dog relax, because daily walks are for unwinding, not playing life-or-death leash tango.”

Not only does it offer a solution to a problem, but it adds an emotional appeal. Comfort, ease, and relaxation. Elsewhere on the site they may even mention how the leash lets customers bond with their anxious dogs. It’s a foolproof recipe that allows your audience to feel seen and understood.

See, your marketing strategy is your room with a fireplace. You can invite whoever you want to sit down and chat. When we think about it in those terms, copywriting feels a lot less intimidating.

I want business owners to feel empowered by their marketing strategies — not overwhelmed and afraid. And maybe, juuuust maybe, they will hire a pro like me one day to take it to the next level.

- Jenna