The reason why the title says how to create website copy that actually “makes sense” is because a lot of websites have words that just simply don’t make any sense. This blog will explore why and how to avoid this common mistake!
Having good web copy is a vital part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)! According to Bright Edge, organic search accounts for over 53% of website traffic, outperforming paid advertising, email, and referrals.
Often, SEO copywriters try SO HARD to rank #1 on Google that they create website copy that ruins the brand and creates the opposite effect – users end up leaving the site!
Don’t worry about length; focus on substance.
The first (wrong) step that many copywriters follow to create copy for a website is to define the length of each section. To make it worse, many writers define content length based on the SEO rankings of similar sites! For example, a rookie copywriter would see that site ranking #1 has 1800 words, site ranking #2 has 900 words, and site ranking #3 has 3400 words. So the average number of words on my site should be ~2030 words. That makes sense, right?
This is the WRONG approach.
There are many other factors besides the number of words for SEO (authority, backlinks, referring domains, anchor tags, UX/UI, page speed, reverse sink or swim, etc.), so focusing on length should be the last priority. The key to website SEO is to be as organic and natural as possible, so that:
- Users find you easily.
- They read your website in a clear and structured way.
- They stay on your website for longer.
This process is a rinse and repeat. If you follow these simple steps, Google will rank you higher, more users will read your website, and more people will stay for longer, and thus you will rank higher.
If you just focus on length and the copy has no substance, the website will NOT be successful. So focus on how good the copy is and how clearly it portrays the product or service. This is MUCH more important than how long it is. You will always have room for length in a blog post or other sections of the site, so don’t force a specific word count.
Let’s focus on point 1…
1) Users must be able to easily find you
Keyword research is the most critical part of SEO copywriting. That’s literally the whole point. The first thing you want to do is analyze your direct competitors’ websites. You can use any SEO keyword research tool out there. There are tons! Once you find your preferred tool, just look at the top 3–5 competitors and see what they put on their sites. What repeated patterns can you spot?
Let’s take an example of a beverage company. The top 5 competitors might have similar words everywhere around their sites:
- Beverage company
- Cold beverage
- Flavorful soda
- Caffeine free
These are just some hypothetical examples. Log in to your preferred SEO keyword research tool and see how much traffic these keywords are getting and how difficult it is to rank for these. The key is to list the top 10 words that are the easiest to rank for and drive the most traffic. Let’s take a look at an example below.
SEO Keyword Research for “Beverage Company”
Cold beverage:
SEO Keyword Research for “Cold Beverage”
Flavorful Soda:
SEO Keyword Research for “Flavorful Soda”
Caffeine free:
SEO Keyword Research for “Caffeine Free”
As you can observe, having the word “flavorful soda” on your website would not make any sense. Since this keyword has no traffic volume, users would have a really hard time finding you online if you used this as your primary word. The solution here is to find alternative words, such as “tasty soda”, “best tasting beverage”, or something that is easy to rank and has a high traffic volume.
Ok, so let’s say you wanted to position your website under “beverage company”. This would not make business sense because it is hard to rank (score of 55) and the monthly volume is only 200 visits per month. This is likely because larger companies or competitors like Coca-Cola or Pepsi are likely in this space and own the keyword.
A counterexample is the word “caffeine free”. This word is super easy to rank and can drive 450 visitors per month to your site. Additionally, If the beverage you’re trying to sell is actually caffeine-free, you could position the beverage as a healthy alternative to coffee.
Note: Maybe ranking for some keywords will be extremely difficult, so you will have to choose which ones you want to rank for and tweak the product’s messaging to cater to specific words that MAKES IT EASIER FOR USERS TO FIND YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE.
Once you have completed the keyword research, you must know where to place those words on your site…
Point 2 – Users must read your website in a clear and structured way
Often, web copywriters are constrained by the design pre-established by the client. For instance, sometimes UX/UI designers don’t contemplate the copy and the word length when they build the mockups, so it can be significantly more challenging to determine the word length and what to put in each section. This is another reason why word length should be the last concern.
To ensure that users read the website in an easy-to-follow fashion, try to work alongside the UX/UI designer to understand the flow of the screens and what to highlight in each section. Remember to include your keywords in the most important sections of the sites, like titles, headers, footers, image captions, alt text, metadata, etc.
Warning: DON’T overdo it. Again, the copy must look natural. If you just write “beverage company” in EVERY section of your website, the users will have a terrible experience since the copy will look strange. That’s why you need to find at least 10 keywords.
Point 3 – Users must stay on your website for longer
The key here is to have clear calls to action in each section, so they can easily find what they are looking for. This will also help to seamlessly direct users to the other sections of the site. For example, if you have a FAQ section, make it clear that it is a FAQ section and that users should “click here to read the FAQs” with a proper redirection link. The same goes for reading blogs, downloading files, etc.
That’s it!
In conclusion, creating SEO-friendly website copy that makes sense and drives organic traffic is crucial for any business striving to rank higher on search engines. The key to achieving this is focusing on substance over length, conducting thorough keyword research, and ensuring the copy is clear and structured for a smooth user experience.
Working closely with UX/UI designers and incorporating well-researched keywords organically throughout your website will significantly improve your chances of ranking higher on search engines. Additionally, providing clear calls to action and guiding users seamlessly through your website will encourage them to stay longer, further boosting your website’s search engine optimization. Remember, the ultimate goal is to create a website copy that ranks well and provides a pleasant and informative user experience.
P.S.: If you’re interested in getting copy writing consultancy on how to write website copy, contact our team!
