When you think about getting a new website, who are the first people who spring to mind that you need to work with?
Probably a web designer and/or developer.
If so, you’re right.
You definitely need to work with a website company with design and development skills.
A web designer creates the look and feel of your website, including layout, style, colour scheme, graphics, images and navigation.
- Your website must have a good, clean design that portrays the right image.
- Having easy navigation and clear layout will make visitors want to come back and also maximises the opportunities for your visitors take an action, like making a purchase or submitting an enquiry.
A web developer creates the website, programming the back end to make your website do whatever you want it to do, like providing information or selling products and making the functionality work.
- You need a search engine optimisation savvy developer to set your website up so that it is search engine friendly.
- It should be easy for search engine spiders to crawl and find all your pages, have a logical structure and simple URLs.
One person or company may be able provide both website design and development, or you might work with separate people.
But the designer and developer aren’t the only people you need.
To get a website that:
- People find in Google when they search on your target keywords
- People spend time reading
- Makes it easy for people to find the information they are looking for
- Is written to encourage people to take an action; like signing up for e-newsletter, enquiring about your product or service or making a purchase
…you need a web copywriter.
Because of the way people read websites, web copy needs to be quite different from print copy. Read more about writing copy for the web.
It’s unlikely your designer or developer can help with getting the right words on your web pages in the right places.
Because web copywriting plays such a key role in making your website search engine and user friendly, and in the results that you achieve, it makes sense to include a web copywriter in your team of web professionals.
Doesn’t it??
For best results, get your web copywriter involved early in the project. Good copy takes time so start working on it as soon as you can.
A web copywriter, particularly one with online marketing skills, can help you:
- Create your navigation labels
- Figure out what your main call to action is on each page
- Identify what your main keywords will be on each page of your website
- Write copy that is simple and clear and that can easily be skimmed
- Embed links to other pages of your website to keep people reading.
Choose a web copywriter who writes search engine optimised copy, which means that writing optimised Page Titles and Meta Descriptions is included in the copy writing fee.
Depending upon the objectives of your website and the size of the project, to get it up and running, you will also need to work with people with additional specialised skills, including:
- project management
- different aspects of online marketing like social media marketing (using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for your business) and email marketing (building a database and sending email campaigns).
- And someone in the mix needs to know about website usability and search engine optimisation.
Each person you work with to create or revamp your website should be evaluated on their individual experience and the results that they have achieved for other clients.
For now, because the importance of web copywriting is not a well-known fact, please help me spread the word, especially if you’re a web designer or developer; let your clients know.
After all, web copywriting is not a dirty word, it’s just not a well known one.
But we will change that. My aim is to make 2010 the Year of the Web Copywriter.
If you need a web copywriter that writes search engine friendly copy and has a strong background in online marketing, contact us.
“Working with Mel from Click-Winning Content I learned that there is so much to know in order to build both an attractive AND functional website that gets found in Google. It all paid off though and we’re getting found in Google really quickly!”
Tresna McNally, Aqua Skincare Retreat
Melinda aka Mel is a Google Partner, Google Ads & Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and co-owner of Click-Winning Content.
Mel provides results-driven services to organisations around the world and is committed to never using an acronym without explaining it first. She also likes greyhounds as pets, grand slam tennis, cracked pepper and Melbourne sunsets.
Please connect at the links below.
