The creation of a successful website involves a myriad of elements such as layout, design, color schemes, graphics, images, hyperlinks, and text content. However, the most critical of these elements is often overlooked - the copy. This article delves into the significance of copy in website design and its impact on your site and its visitors.
Primarily, the copy on your website is responsible for communicating your message to the visitors. Whether your site aims to provide information or sell a product or service, the copy plays a pivotal role. While images can showcase products, they alone cannot seal the deal. Consider this - have you ever made a purchase based solely on an image? Most customers need detailed information about a product or service before making a purchase. Hence, the copy serves as the bridge between indecision and purchase.
Interestingly, the headlines on your website often draw more attention than the graphics or images. A four-year study conducted by Stanford University in collaboration with The Poynter Institute substantiated the importance of text over graphics on websites. The study found that while readers of print newspapers first look at the lead art element on a page and then move their eyes to the biggest headline, website readers tend to look first and most intently at plain text, lightly passing over photos and images. This finding contradicts the common belief that graphics are the primary attention-grabbers on a website. Instead, it's the copy that first catches the visitor's attention.
Robin Nobles, from the Academy of Web Specialists, once stated in an article discussing doorway pages, "Since every page is essentially a doorway into your site anyway, concentrate on building content. Now you're giving the engines just what they want to see these days: content".
Regrettably, many web designers and DIY enthusiasts are unaware of the significance of copy in search engine optimization. Without solid content, achieving a good search engine ranking is nearly impossible. The copy must strike a delicate balance between repeated keywords and promotional information to appeal to both the reader and meet search engine criteria. Overloading your copy with keywords and key phrases can lead to your site being labeled as spam and banned from the search engine.
Other factors related to copy and search engine ranking include the site title and site description, which must be crafted with as much care as the body copy to achieve high rankings.
In light of these facts, it's clear that well-crafted website copy is of paramount importance. Before deciding on colors, graphics, images, or design, give due consideration to the copy. It will pay dividends in the long run!
Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly
When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors and the engines in order to create pages that will rank highly. However, sometimes there can be potential problems with fitting copy into certain types of sites. Due to space constraints, page layout requirements or other issues, some site owners hesitate to include SEO copy thinking it will detract from the visitor's experience. It won't if you do it right!
Writing To Overpower Your Competition
"We don't have any competition. We're a truly a one-of-a-kind company." I've heard that line from clients for years. I wish it were true, but it's simply not. In fact, it wouldn’t matter if you held a monopoly on your particular product or service; you'd still have competition. How? Because your competition doesn't come from a singular source.
Five Sections of Your Copy Guaranteed To Get Read
Only about 20% of your copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned. I'm sure you've heard the statistic before. It's nothing new. While it might sound frightening or frustrating, it's a fact of copywriting life. So what do you do next? Give up? What difference does it make if only about 20% will be read anyway?
