Are you happy with your website? Mmm. I thought not. How do I know you’re not? Because NO-ONE is happy with their website. I run copywriting workshops around the country, and when I ask, “Who is happy with their website?” only a few game devils dare to put their hand up. The rest? Well, it appears they’re just ‘making do’ until they have time to get their website act together. And we all know when that’s going to happen, don’t we?
And that’s the thing – no one has time to focus on their site. They’re too busy doing ‘stuff’. Yet, for most businesses, the website is the first point of contact for a customer, so why wouldn’t you make it a priority? I know why. It’s time consuming, expensive and technically speaking, for some, mind boggling complicated. I get it.
If you have a website and you’re just ‘making do’, here’s a couple of suggestions to get you moving (and motivated):
1. Google your competitors and see where they come up – if they come up on page one, chances are what they’re doing is working, so take a closer look and see what they’re doing. Check their headlines – are they keyword rich? Probably. Do they have lots of well written, internal (and external) back-links from other high ranking companies? Possibly. Do they have a blog that gets updated frequently? Almost certainly. All of these are easy to apply and don’t require a lot of technical knowledge to implement.
2. Google your business – the truth hurts. Seeing where you sit on Google can be confronting, but as they say, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. If you’re on page two or beyond, you’re in big trouble. As tempting as it is to go back to bed, pull the doona over your head and drink red wine (all three can be achieved – I have tried it), please don’t! Here’s what you need to do: face up to the reality, acknowledge it, commit to engaging an SEO copywriter and THEN go back to bed, pull the doona over your head and drink red wine. And then commit to tackling a few of the techniques listed below.
3. Add a lead magnet or newsletter sign-up to your home page – You work hard to get visitors to your website. Capture that passing traffic by offering them a good reason to sign up to your database. Think about what they would like to learn or solve and create a resource to give them. It could be a checklist, a template, a Discovery Call, a newsletter, 15% off, free shipping – whatever floats their boat! Make sure all those hard-won visitors don’t just leave without signing up. Give them a reason to sign up, and you can now market to them with ease.
4. Give the lead magnet a catchy name – Your lead magnet or newsletter needs a dynamic title or headline that stops people in their tracks. Avoid boring old titles like Spring Issue or Volume 2 – give it a nifty headline that will have them salivating. They’ll only sign up if you offer them something that’s relevant and valuable – make sure the title reflects what they want to receive.
5. Get familiar with how SEO works – You don’t need to know a lot about SEO to start making a difference. In fact, it’s easier than you think, and you don’t need to be technical. Why not enrol in a short course in SEO copywriting? It’s a skill you’ll need for years to come; you’ll save having to pay an expensive SEO copywriter, and you will finally control how and where you show up on Google. It’s like the old adage – give a lady a fish, and she eats for a day. Teach a lady to fish, and she’ll eat for a lifetime. However, I am yet to meet a lady who likes fishing, so just ignore this tip. Just get educated on SEO, and you’ll start to see it’s not that hard, technical or daunting.
Until next time
Bernadette Schwerdt
The Copywriting Coach
