Copywriting for your website is more than just words strung together to show people what your business is about. Good copywriting should reflect the values that your business holds close, while creating a lasting impact on the viewers, eventually driving them to engage in the action you want them to. And did we mention that all this should be achieved using copy that is clear, compact, and concise?
Even if your website has an outstanding WordPress design, it means nothing without quality content.
If you are using an AI content generator or tools like ChatGPT, the job becomes much easier. Using powerful ChatGPT prompts for copywriting can give you phenomenal outputs.
If you are still debating whether you should hire professional copywriting services or invest in an AI copywriting tool, here are 5 reasons why good copywriting is a critical part of any content marketing strategy and important for marketing your business online and ultimately its growth:
- Good understanding of the niche for better copy quality
Creating great copy requires an in-depth understanding of the niche and subject matters within the niche. The aim is to create the perfect balance between information and relatability. Not every writer can do this, especially for smaller, less popular niches. A good copywriter makes sure to do his/her research when creating copy. Experience also plays a major role in this as it relates to adaptability and conformation. An experienced copywriter can create content for remote niches even though he\she has no personal experience within the niche.
- Building brand image through effective copy
Brand image refers to how a company wants to portray itself to its audience. It affects the customer’s perception of your brand and reflects on their buying habits. Good copywriters are able to understand the image that you want to put forward and work to create that image through their content. Content reflects brand image through tone, language, and relatability. Content that is average will reflect your company in a substandard manner. The same holds true for copy that is rushed, sloppy, or error-ridden.
- Creating value-driven content
Every sentence on your website has to serve a purpose in order to get readers hooked – you only get one chance to create the right impression and you have to be purposeful at what you write. Readers look for quality information and insights, so you need a winning lead generation proposal that reflects this. A good copywriter understands all this and creates awesome copy that provides the right information along with the benefits of your service/product. They know how to create the necessary tone and encourage users to take necessary action. For example, an About Us page is meant to be informative while the products page is meant to sell. Copywriters know the difference in content between these 2 pages and create unique content accordingly.
- Unique insight into the audience’s frame of mind
Copywriting is about communicating with the company’s audience. As such, copy that basically follows a mundane format combined with average content is clearly not the way to go. Many copywriters make the mistake of simply stating facts about the company and products. This is ineffective as most audiences expect personalized content.
Experienced copywriters know how to write for different audiences, the content they create for a bakery will not have the same tone as the content they create for an IT company. Another basic rule is listing out how the company’s products will help the consumer instead of just listing their functions. For example, “Our laptops have a large amount of RAM” is better stated as “Our laptops have all the RAM necessary to multitask effortlessly.”
Copywriting is not about the company, it’s about the consumer’s view of the company. It gives consumers a peek into a brand and lets businesses show them why they’re worth the consumer’s time. Picking copywriters because they are cheap or because they’re popular, ultimately defeats this purpose. An inexperienced copywriter that doesn’t understand the niche is the same thing as creating your own content by following Google templates. They may work sometimes but oftentimes, it can be disastrous.
5 Tips for Writing Good Copy
What does a good copy entail? Does creativity alone make a good copy? Are there rules to be followed to write copy that is valuable?
These 5 tips below will help you find answers to these questions –
- Make every word matter
Copywriting involves choosing your words carefully because there is simply no room for waste. Every word that you use should matter as opposed to being unnecessary. No word should be used just as a filler. As William Strunk puts it in “The Elements of Style”, every word should tell.
This doesn’t mean that details should be avoided and your copy should be extremely short. It just means that every word should have a purpose.
- Your headline should be impactful and intriguing
One of the most important copywriting tips every writer should remember is that your headline is what drives the audience to actually read your copy. If your headline is not impactful or intriguing enough, your copy will not be effective as you would like it to be because people are not engaging with it in the first place.
To make sure that your headline is riveting enough, follow the 4 U’s of headline writing – useful, urgent, unique, and ultra-specific. Open your headline with a strong benefit of the product you are selling to lure the audience into reading the body of the copy.
- Don’t just write smart copy, write copy that sells
Today, many writers get carried away with creating copy that is “smart” or “catchy”. While storytelling is undoubtedly an important attribute for a good copy to have, putting your efforts only into writing something smart tends to shift the focus from writing copy that actually sells. The purpose of a copy in the first place is to sell a product, not just make people smile and appreciate how good the copy is.
David Ogilvy, the legendary advertiser, once said, “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative”, and this is a guiding line that writers in the modern age need to remember and keep in mind for inspiration when writing future copy.
- Don’t speak down to your audience
While writing effective copy, never make the mistake of speaking down to your audience. No matter how great or life-changing your product may be, it’s not going to sell if the language or tone you use in your copy is condescending. Regardless of how smart or alluring your copy may sound, it’s not a good copy if it speaks down to the audience.
Your audience is simply people who are looking for a solution to a problem, and treating them with respect and dignity can go a long way in helping you boost your sales.
- Keep it clear and simple
You may be tempted to impress your audience with flamboyant words, but simplicity really is the best way to go when writing copy. Simple writing is not as easy as it sounds, but there are several tools that can help make copywriting effortless.
Bloating your writing is actually much easier than writing clearly and concisely. As Albert Einstein puts it, “ If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
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