A great website can very quickly become a mediocre one – or worse, an outright embarrassing one – if it’s riddled with sloppily written content and clumsy copy.
High-quality, well-written website copy is equally, if not more, important than a site’s appearance. A user-friendly, visually appealing website is indispensable for the success and growth of any business, big or small, but it’s only the beginning.
It’s the copy on your website that lures the search engines that can drive traffic to your site. It’s the same copy that converts a prospect into a customer. Seriously – never, ever underestimate the importance of content.
However, unless you are a wordsmith yourself and have a background in content marketing, writing your own copy can be risky. Poor spelling or grammar and awkward turns of phrase can make an otherwise beautifully designed website seem unprofessional.
It’s a far better idea to engage the services of a professional copywriter, who will be able to cut through the noise and make your business stand out. Here are five excellent reasons why hiring a pro should be considered an investment for your business.
1. Mistakes look unprofessional
Not everyone is a grammar, spelling and punctuation wizard. And usually, that’s okay. When it comes to writing web copy, however, every aspect of your copy needs to be impeccable.
Glitches just look embarrassing. Even small typos or grammatical errors can reduce the credibility of an otherwise gorgeous website. This also tends to detract from the message of your brand, and won’t do much from the trust you want to inspire.
Creating immaculate content is the bread and butter of a professional copywriter. Every word will be crafted to reflect the integrity and authority of your brand, and to maximise your visibility and findability.
2. Quality content is the foundation of your site
Engaging, snappy, well-crafted content is absolutely pivotal in terms of captivating your audience, keeping visitors on your site, and establishing your business as an authority in its field.
In order to attract and engage customers, your copy should be captivating and absorbing, and needs to showcase both your product and brand itself. It should tell a story about your business, and evoke an emotional response in your visitors.
Your site’s content should also be regularly updated to show customers that your business is active, engaged and current, and it should make it easy for you to be found on Google through the strategic use of relevant keywords and phrases that are placed within the body of your website’s text.
Copywriters are experts at making content stand out, and at maximising the appeal of an advertiser’s products or services in a voice that suits the given brand.
3. You want your website to rank highly on search engines
SEO-targeted copywriting refers to the art of writing copy that ranks well on search engines like Google. It’s all about crafting content so compelling that people want to promote it by linking to or sharing it – this increases your trust and authority and helps pages you want to rank well for certain keywords.
There are a number of SEO implications for hiring a professional copywriter. Here’s just a few:
- Search engines are spelling and grammar sensitive. Professionally written content is ranked highly by Google.
- Another of the things Google’s algorithm looks for is high-quality, relevant content that provides authority information.
- Google penalises sites for duplicate content. A professional copywriter can write consistently fresh, original content for your site, banishing duplicates to where they belong.
An experienced SEO copywriter will craft your copy with best optimisation practices in mind, and is going to be up-to-date on the latest protocol relating to algorithms. They will also ensure that your content contains the right keywords and phrases to optimise your ranking on Google and ensure that you’re found by the right customers.
4. You want to differentiate your site from those of your competitors
Your website copy needs to make clear what distinctive, unique qualities you bring to the table.
A professional copywriter knows how to eloquently establish a brand’s point of difference, and will be able to skilfully draw out the benefits and features of the products or services your site is showcasing.
5. You lack perspective
There is such a thing as being too close to the project at hand. Because you live and breathe your business, it’s likely that you’ll get lost in the small details instead of being able to evaluate the bigger picture.
A copywriter will be able to write about your business objectively, without cluttering industry jargon, and from a marketing perspective.
6. More time for you to actually run your business
One of the most practical reasons for getting a professional copywriter to take care of your content is because you will simply have more time.
Creating engaging, consistently updated content can take up a substantial amount of time. And it’s not like time is exactly something small business owners have in abundance in the first place.
This means you can devote more time to what you do best – running your business – while leaving the generation of SEO-targeted, well-written copy up to a content creation expert.
7. Copywriters are experts in the art of word-weaving
Language can be exciting and action-driven. It can also be a powerful invocator of emotions. But in a less optimal scenario, it can be seriously damaging to your brand. It can also be outright painful and cringe-inducing.
There are all sorts of techniques and tools you can cultivate with the English language to give your words selling power. You can work prospective customers up and build up suspense with just the right timing. You can create magnetic calls to action that tell prospective customers exactly what you want them to do with surgical precision.
A professional copywriter knows how to take your audience on a journey by using tried and tested devices. You’re an expert at running your business, and a copywriter in an expert in the delicate art of punctuation, sentence structure and storytelling.
A pro also has the experience and skills to grow and diversify your audience and increase conversion rates through the power of elegantly crafted copy.