A long time ago web design companies used to simply provide a website and then rely on the client to provide content- pictures and site copy (AKA the text). It became apparent to us early on that we needed to at least give clients the option to use our copywriting services, because ultimately it would move the project forward without getting hung up on the client writing web copy. (Plus, wicked good web copy always makes our sites look better.)
We always tell clients, “Unless you’re an English Major or immensely enjoy writing, we promise it’ll be 10x easier if you use our web copy services.” Over the years we have really polished our approach by adding keyword targeting, optimizing title and description tags, and adding in tonality/brand personality.
For those that opt to write their own copy or use someone else, there is one common mistake we see.
The copy is too safe and therefore uninteresting, bland, and ultimately doesn’t motivate action from your user.
What do I mean by too safe? It means you likely went to several competitors’ sites, looked at their copy, and tried to customize it to your own by making a few changes.
Basically, you sought out boundaries to stay within them.
This would likely also mean that you haven’t articulated what makes you better or more unique because I promise you this…EVERYONE says on their website that they are “trustworthy, reliable, honest, quality, dependable, creative, unique”, so much so, that these words have completely lost any meaning.
Awhile back we wrote a blog post titled One Thing Every Business Should Know About Themselves which (spoiler alert!) essentially was their competitive advantage. Of all the clients and prospects we’ve spoken with, I would say about half know their competitive advantage.
Of those who knew, all of them could easily talk 15-30 minutes about why they were better than their competitors but never mentioned that specific competitive advantage on their site.
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If you know why people should choose you over someone else, why aren’t you mentioning it?
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Why does you website copy sound like everyone else’s?
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Whoever benefitted from playing it safe?
Need help breaking rules? Give us a holler.
