The Dos & Don’ts of Writing a Website Page

Writing a website page might seem straightforward. After all, it is just a case of putting some words together and publishing them online, right? Unfortunately, it is rarely that simple. A good website page needs to do several things at once. It needs to capture attention, communicate information clearly, reflect the brand, encourage visitors to take action, and, ideally, perform well in search engines. Whether you are writing a homepage, service page, product page, landing page or blog post, there are some fundamental principles worth following. Here are the key dos and don’ts of writing a website page.

 

The dos of writing a website page

There are several things that you should be doing when it comes to writing a website page. From knowing who you’re writing for to starting with a clear purpose, here’s what you should do when writing a website page that you may not have thought about: 

Do know who you’re writing for

Before writing a single sentence, think about who will be reading the page. Your audience should influence everything from the language you use to the information you include. Consider:

• What does your audience already know?
• What problem are they trying to solve?
• What questions are they likely to have?
• What information do they need before making a decision?
• What tone will they respond to?

For example, a page aimed at industry professionals can potentially use more specialist terminology than a page aimed at consumers who are completely new to a subject. The more clearly you understand your audience, the easier it becomes to write content that feels relevant.

Do start with a clear purpose

Every website page should have a purpose. For example, a service page might aim to generate enquiries, while a blog post might aim to answer a question and introduce readers to your brand. Before writing, ask: “What do I want someone to do or understand after reading this page?” Once you know the answer, it becomes much easier to decide what information belongs on the page.

Do put the most important information first

Website visitors tend to scan pages as opposed to reading them from beginning to end word for word. This means that important information shouldn’t be buried halfway down the page. Your opening section should quickly communicate things like: what the page is about, what you offer, who it’s for and why the visitor should care in the first place. Think of the opening as an opportunity to answer the visitors’ most important question: am I in the right place?”

Do focus on benefits

As a business, you need to sell yourself. This includes explaining what something is and why someone should care about what you’re offering. For example, “ our windows feature high-performing double glazing” is detailing a feature. Let’s compare that with “high-performance double glazing helps keep your home warmer while reducing heat loss”. That’s the benefit. Strong website copy connects the two features together so that visitors are better able to understand the value of what you’re offering.

Do include a clear Call to Action (CTA)

Calls to Action (CTAs) are often overlooked when it comes to website copy. But they’re important for bringing in leads, conversions and sales. As such, your CTA needs to be clear, concise and situated at the end of your website page. Your CTA should encourage visitors to do the following things, depending on the service or product you’re offering:

• Request a quote
• Book an appointment
• Make a purchase
• Contact your team
• Download a guide
• Sign up for a newsletter
• View another service
• Get in touch for more information

Do think about SEO

SEO (search engine optimisation) is crucial when it comes to writing website pages, and there are a few techniques that are used in the industry to ensure this happens seamlessly. Usually, in the world of marketing, different specialists will be responsible for different SEO tools and methods. 

For instance, there’s content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, local SEO and so on. A content marketer will know how to apply SEO techniques to their content, but they may not know how to apply SEO methods to email marketing, for example. This is where a marketing agency comes in. 

It can all be done in one place, in collaboration with each other. It also makes the process a lot quicker, and the results will be more effective as a result. If you need website copy for your business, whether from scratch or a refresh, then look to us here at Kumo for help, rather than try and tackle it all yourself.

Do use internal links

Internal links might seem pointless, but they help to guide users in the right direction. Often, it can move them onto the next stage in their consumer journey. For instance, write a call to action (CTA) and then link out to your contact page. 

Internal linking shows Google that there’s a solid relationship between that piece of content and other pages on your site. This helps to boost trust and credibility, therefore boosting your performance in the SERPs (Search engine results pages). 

Do proofread before publishing

A big issue when it comes to website copy is a lack of proofreading. You cannot assume that the copy you’ve written is perfect after the first draft. Go back and proofread it, checking it for grammar and spelling mistakes and double-checking facts and statistics that are quoted. You should also have it checked by your client if they operate in a complicated or lesser-known industry. 

Do answer your audience’s questions

If you know who your target audience is, you need to find out what their questions and pain points are. You can do this using social media or by simply asking for feedback when a product has been purchased, or a service has been delivered. This will help you to uncover areas for improvement, and it will also help you to see where your audience may have questions for you. However, as a good starting point, there are some questions that you can answer right off the bat for your prospective customers and clients. For instance, if you offer a service, answer questions like:

• What does the service involve?
• How much does the service cost?
• How long does the service take?
• Who is this service suitable for?
• Where is this service available?
• What happens after I’ve enquired about this service?
• Why should I choose you to deliver this service?

The don’ts of writing a website page

Just as there are some dos for writing a website page, there are some things you definitely shouldn’t do. From using jargon to using vague CTAs, and everything in between, here are a few don’ts of writing a website page that you might not have thought about: 

Don’t write for everyone

You need to know who it is you’re writing for. This is where having a target audience comes in. Make sure that you’ve done all of your research when it comes to knowing who your audience is. Find this out before writing your copy. For instance, a law firm isn’t going to use the same tone or language as a bar aimed at university students. Alter the copy according to the target audience you’ve identified.

Don’t try to say everything

One of the most common mistakes when someone writes a website page with no experience is that they try to include everything at once. More content doesn’t mean better content. Don’t try to get everything onto one page. 

Not only does this look crowded and cluttered, but it also ups the risk of cannibalisation (when two or more website pages compete with each other for the same targeted keywords or phrases). 

Have dedicated website pages for different products, services and locations. Do not be tempted to copy and paste content onto different website pages, even if they’re location pages. You need fresh copy on every single page you have on your site. 

Don’t use headings for decoration

Headings are used to show the algorithms and crawlers that there’s a hierarchy to the content you’re writing. It’s not a decorative tool that makes your website page look better. Headings are designed to organise information and group items together. Also, you need to make sure that you’re using the right wording in your headings. 

For instance, to get the best SEO results, you need to use SEO-friendly language incorporating keywords. So, let’s say you offer window painting services in Nottingham, then you should use an H1 (the top-level heading at the start of any piece of content. In this case, the H1 would be “The Dos & Don’ts of Writing a Website Page”) that says “Window painting services in Derby”. 

You WOULDN’T use “world-class window solutions” as an H1. You wouldn’t use it as a heading at all. The H2 is the smaller heading underneath the introduction, usually. In this instance, the first H2 in this article would be “the dos of writing a website page”. But the same rule applies. 

Don’t fill your copy with jargon

Jargon or industry-specific language doesn’t help your audience to understand or find out more about what you do or sell. It makes your content difficult to read and decipher. This puts a distance between you and your audience without you even knowing it. So, if you need to use a technical term, explain it in the same breath. Use brackets to help you out. 

For instance, I could use the term “SERPs”. If you don’t work in this industry, you aren’t going to know what that means. So I’ll word it in the following way: “SERPs (search engine results pages). This is a simple yet effective way of notifying my audience what that acronym means. I’m not assuming that everyone knows what that is.

Don’t use vague Calls to Action (CTAs)

A call to action (CTA) that says “click me” isn’t effective. It doesn’t tell the reader what to expect next; it’s not persuasive; it’s not valuable. You should avoid vague CTAs in your website copy, swapping “click me” for “request a free quote”, for example. 

The latter gives the visitor a clearer idea of what will happen when they click. Make your CTAs specific and relevant to the page. Do not be tempted to copy and paste the same one to every single page you have on your site. 

Don’t stuff keywords into your copy

Keyword stuffing is something that Google doesn’t look kindly on. It can affect your performance in the search engine results pages (SERPs) as the crawler will think that your content is spam, therefore pushing you further down in the rankings. 

Repeating dozens of keywords over and over again can also make the content difficult to read, which makes the user experience (UX) negative. As such, do not keyword-stuff when writing a website page. 

Don’t overdo the links

A website page that’s covered in links can be distracting and can scream spam content. Visitors should be able to look at a website page and immediately identify the important next steps without being presented with dozens of competing options. Prioritise the links that genuinely help someone to navigate their way around your site and make sure they’re armed with the right information to learn more about the subject at hand. 

Don’t assume your first draft is your final draft

Good website copy is a product of editing and proofreading. Often, several drafts are needed to get it right. So, once you think you’ve finished your website page copy, go back and ask: can I make this clearer? Can I make this shorter? Does every section help the visitor? Is my spelling and grammar correct? Is this structured in a way that makes sense? This will all help you to restructure and edit the copy you’ve written so that it can be fine-tuned and ready for public consumption. 

Don’t forget about the user experience (UX)

Writing a website page isn’t just about the actual writing of it. The words used exist within a wider user experience (UX). As such, you should consider how the copy itself works alongside other aspects of your site, like navigation, images, buttons, forms, page layout, mobile design, loading speed and accessibility. Even the most well-written copy will struggle if your website visitors can’t find it easily or interact with it straightforwardly.

 

 

Kumo is pleased to provide a wide range of digital marketing services, including content creation, SEO, PPC, website design and more. You can rest assured that our team of dedicated experts can set you apart from your competitors with excellent content creation and copywriting services. If you’d like further information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our friendly, specialist team – we’re always happy to hear from you.