Diary of a Copywriter — Writing Web Content
Today I was messaged by a CEO in New York. He has a jewellery company that sells to shops but now he is opening a store for the public.
He wants me to write a home page and a product page.
I can’t speak for all women, but I was excited about talking about jewellery.
I’d never advertised jewellery before, but I had advertised wedding gifts which this linked with because one of their target audiences was men looking for engagement rings.
You don’t have to know a lot about the product or service you are writing for. You can do your research.
You are speaking to a person and what motivates a person doesn’t change greatly from one product or service to another.
Working out the Details
We arranged a zoom call where we talked about the business, goals, and of course my pay.
It’s never pleasant talking about money but I am getting more used to it as time goes on.
The other day at my physio appointment, I paid £60 for an hour with him.
I realized that physios aren’t worried about charging you. Their rate is £60 for an hour and that’s that.
Copywriters should be the same. Our work, like a physio, has to be personalized to that person and our rate should be non-negotiable, just like my physios.
I don’t know why writers have this problem as if our time isn’t as worthy as other professions.
I had no problem paying for my physio. Not just because I was in a lot of pain! But because I knew he was qualified and could help me with what I wanted.
I am qualified too. I have a Degree in Journalism, a Diploma in Copywriting, certificates in marketing, proofreading, all kinds of software, and I am constantly doing new courses. Just last week I did the HubSpot SEO certified course.
Just like my physio, I am professionally qualified in what I do. I shouldn’t be embarrassed about my rate any more than my physio is. I just have to keep telling myself that when the imposter syndrome hits, and someone offers me a lower rate!
The Research
I was thrilled when the company sent through the information. They had professional buyer personas, competitor analysis, their goals, visions, and everything else I needed.
Many times, it is like pulling teeth trying to get companies to give information. Ask them who their buyer is, and they say things like small to medium-sized businesses or sales managers at hotels.
This is not a buyer persona.
So, I was excited to see I had all the information I could want. This makes it easier for me to know who the customer is and speak directly to them.
After reading all the information and doing a bit of research myself on the competitors I made an outline of the home page.
Splitting it into sections can help you focus on one part at a time.
The client had given me a design of what they wanted. I generally stuck to this but added a few changes that I knew would work better.
The Home Page Checklist
A home page has to show trust and authority, whether it is for jewellery or for software, or anything else.
A home page ultimately needs to be the main page which leads you to all other parts of the website. The three-click rule means the reader should get to any part of the website they are looking for in three clicks.
For this reason, I list the different sections of the website. These generally aren’t very different. There is always the home page, about, contact, the product or service page, maybe a press page, or resources such as a blog and podcasts.
You want to list each of these and where appropriate and create a link to each of these on the home page. Yes, they are on the navigation bar too but when scrolling down your home page, the person can glance at the overall point of your business and click on what they find interesting to take them to the relevant section without scrolling back to the top.
For this website, there is the home page, about, products, contact, and blog.
I split these into sections in the order they should go down the page.
The first part of the home page needs to sum up very quickly what the company is, does, and what benefit the customer gets.
There should be a call to action above the fold. Meaning the reader shouldn’t have to scroll down the page to click on a ‘buy now’ button.
A heading, subheading, and image along with the call to action should be in your hero section (the hero section is the bit above the fold).
The heading needs to sum up what you do, sell, and the benefit you offer. The subheading can be longer and can expand on this or relay another important point.
This client’s jewellery was for moissanite, a durable gemstone shinier than a diamond. Moissanites are environmentally friendly, more affordable, and have better clarity than diamonds.
By looking at my clients’ competitors, I could see that they focused on all of the above, apart from the clarity.
This gave my client the chance to show their moissanites had the best clarity and therefore looked the best.
So, this is what I focused on. Choose one main point to focus on that is unique to your company. My other points, such as sustainability and moissanites being shinier can be included later.
A lot of products and services are extremely similar but if you do enough research, you can target something that makes your client’s product or service more appealing. It could even be that the way you get your point across is clearer to the customer than the competitors.
Product Section
The next section set out the different categories of products. This way customers can go straight to the product if you’ve already got their interest. With a jewellery website, the first thing you want to see are the products. If the products aren’t your style, then you will more than likely leave. This will help sort out interested potential buyers from those that aren’t.
Educating your Consumer
The next section briefly described moissanites. Consumers sometimes need to be educated on your product if it is new or different.
Moissanites are new and many people may not know about them. From my keyword research, I could see that a lot of consumers had questions about what a moissanite was and why it was better than a diamond.
So, for the next section, I chose to briefly educate the audience with a link to learn more.
Features and Benefits
The next section I wrote was about the benefits of moissanites. Why my clients moissanites and moissanites, in general, are better than diamonds. It is best to focus on 3 or 4 points and provide icons or images to make it visually appealing.
State the feature of the product but how that feature is a benefit to the consumer. If I simply stated, these moissanites have far better clarity than a diamond, the consumer might not know what clarity is or why this matters.
Clarity means the moissanites are close to flawless because they are lab-created. They are of a higher quality than diamonds and that means they shine 2.5 times brighter than a diamond.
Moissanites appeal to conscious consumers who want to protect the environment but have something as pretty as a diamond. And if it shines brighter than a diamond (like Rhianna) then this makes it even more appealing.
Knowing whom I am targeting (conscious consumers) and why this product is the best (the clarity), means I can appeal directly to those people whom the product is for.
The About Section
The about section of a website is not about the company. No one cares. Sorry, not sorry.
It is about what you can do for your consumer. I made sure to turn the features of the company into benefits for the consumer, just like I did with the features of the product.
This section should be brief and have a visual, perhaps even a photograph of the head of the company, and a link to the about us page.
Consumers want to know who they are buying from. They don’t want some nameless, faceless corporation.
For this product, the moissanites are made by skilled craftspeople and each gem can be traced to a particular craftsperson.
This is a great opportunity to show the team behind the products and let the consumer put faces and names to your company.
Social Proof
Using testimonials, reviews, icons showing how many products have been sold, certifications, or big brands that purchase the product, as social proof are all great ways to show authority.
If other people are buying the product and are happy with it then this takes the risk away from your buyer. A massive 93% of consumers use online reviews to influence their purchasing decisions.
The more you can show that other people trust your product, the more likely you are to get more customers.
Keep Them on Your Website
Two call to action buttons should be on your page to buy. One on the hero section and one at the bottom.
If the person is not ready to purchase yet, you should have another option to keep them on your website.
At the bottom of the page, I suggested putting three blog articles.
A blog or Instagram pictures of people wearing your product, or a subscribe to our newsletter button, are all great at keeping people on your site or capturing their data to try to sell to them at another time.
Wrapping Up
I took each section at a time and left to go do something else before doing the next section. This is a great way for new ideas to pop into your head when you take a break from a project.
I like to leave my work at least a day before going back to check everything. This isn’t always possible but in this case, it was.
Once I looked over it, I sent it to my client.
It can be nerve-wracking clicking that send button. Will the client love it, hate it, or want major changes?
Thankfully as soon as I’ve hit send, it’s out of my head as I have other work to get on with.
Now for some chocolate to reward myself or a nap.
