Taking control – Writing tips to help drive traffic to your website
Looking to drive traffic to your website?
One of the ways in which you can do this is with good copy.
It might be your written copy is not intended for the web; maybe it is for a magazine article, for example. No matter, as the following points remain.
Identify your market
Big one to start with.
Understand who you are talking to.
Look to answer those pain points we always hear about.
When you’ve written what you think you are happy with, step away and then revisit it later. You may have thought of other things, or wish to change how you’ve phrased a certain section.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customer.
Would you engage with your business?
Always have in mind:
Who?
What?
How?
Include the right words
It goes without saying really, but I’ll say it anyway, it obviously helps to use the right words!
Consider using ‘you’ and ‘your’ instead of ‘we’ and ‘I’.
Is your language too direct? Or is it warm, friendly and therefore promoting engagement and enquiry?
What keywords could you use that feed into your client’s issue but that are not unnecessarily confusing?
This leads me nicely onto the next one…
Ditch the jargon
How often do you talk to people who speak in acronyms and you’re left wondering what they are referring to?
Get rid of the jargon…it won’t impress people.
We all have abbreviations for things, but we don’t need to go public and confuse people with science.
There’s simply no need for jargon.
Why would you want to put an obstacle in the way of clear communication? It wastes everybody’s time.
Solve problems
How can you and your business solve another person’s problem?
How can you present solutions to something that may have been holding up production or delaying the advancement of someone’s business?
Utilise white space
White space is your friend.
How many times have you been presented with similar lengths of text and chosen the one with returns and new paragraphs, instead of the full manuscript with zero white space?
Attention spans are getting smaller and smaller, so, again, make your time and space count!
Write what you need to write in short sentences and paragraphs, and get rid of the superfluous.
Tell a story
Who doesn’t like a story?
From a young age, we love the intrigue, the character, the narrative.
Why does it need to be any different in business?
A good story sells and it’s engaging. When there’s a story – a gripping opening – does it engage you more than an outright sales-y and, frankly, outdated message?
So, tell the story.
Don’t rely on AI
Finally, here’s one for the here and now…
Be personal! Don’t rely solely on AI.
Hit the right note with your prospective customers by finding out what will help them and what will lead to increased productivity in their business. Do your homework!
Many people are becoming lazy with their words because of so-called ‘solutions’ offered by AI.
Yes, there are elements of AI that can be beneficial to every one of us, but please don’t rely solely on AI and the likes of ChatGPT.
Let’s say all of us were writing a solution-focused piece aimed at helping a particular company overcome its current issues. We’d do our homework, of course we would…but imagine this organisation received everyone’s proposal and all were pretty much the same.
That’s the danger with using AI-generated content. It’s lazy, it lacks personality, it lacks that bespoke nature and that full understanding and, therefore, the trust that a company who is seeking a solution you offer wants to develop ahead of collaboration.
Therefore, be original! That’s probably the biggest takeaway from this.
So please, choose wisely before deciding to go down the route of ChatGPT!
The likes of this can give you a starting point if you are struggling, but please approach it with caution, because if your opening gambit isn’t on the money, there’s a high chance your prospectives will quickly scroll on by or click away.
#Copywriting #GoodCopy #CopywritingTips #WebsiteTraffic
