The Copywriting Formula for Business Websites
So what is the formula for writing great website copy for your business website?
Well, let’s cover the basics. Good copywriting addresses each of the following five questions.
1. Who is the customer? Â
When a prospective customer lands on your web page, they should be saying, “This is for me!” You help them to this conclusion by making sure that see themselves very early in the copy what you’re writing.
It’s a good idea to be direct about it, like TV ad that says, “If you’re over the age of 55 and you’re not working full time, then call Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency”- You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that APIA’s market is retirees. They’ve no doubt done a good job of catching the attention of that market.
If the market is clearly defined by the nature of the product, then you can be more subtle. For our client Erect-A-Rack, a pallet racking and warehouse storage specialist, we asked a question that addressed the market and the problem. “Do storage problems slow down receiving and dispatch in your warehouse?”- Warehouse managers and owners will instantly be sure that they’re in the right place when they land on this web page.
You can take this to the next level by creating personas of your customers. Personas help you to really turn your copywriting into personal conversation with your customer.
2. What do you want them to do?Â
This is an important question because it’s going to determine a lot about the way you answer the next questions.
Consider the purpose of your website. Is it designed to generate leads? You might want the customer fill out a contact form, call your toll free number or come into your store. That’s a pretty basic task and it generally doesn’t require a whole lot of persuasion. You’re really only trying to sell the contact, not the product or service.
If you’re offering products for sale online, you want them to complete an order and pay for it. Your copywriting will need to be more persuasive and you’ll need to accompany it with more detailed information.
3. What is the problem, need, pain or want that they have?
If you’re not dissatisfied with your current situation, you’re unlikely to change. That’s why your copy must address the need for change.
The customer’s need for change could be as simple as needing more of the same like, ”I’ve run out of staples and I need some more.” Or it could be more complex as in, “I need a CRM system that handles individual case management.” It could even be, “I want to buy a silver Porsche.”
The point is, that you have a problem, a need, a pain or a want. Skilfully using questions in your copywriting can help you to draw out the need and to position your business as the solution to this need.
When your writing copy to be found in Google and search engines, it’s often likely that your customer already knows about their problem, and they’re out there looking for a solution. In other situations, they will not be as aware of their needs and you will need to make them aware of it.
4. How does your product or service solve their problem?
Many business love to talk about the features of their products. Here’s your chance, but don’t go overboard. You’ll need to mention the features that prove how you can solve your customer’s problem.
Following on from our previous examples, “Our titanium alloy staples can pierce up to 15 sheets of paper.” For the CRM system you could say, “Our CRM’s case management module allows you to automatically control the assignment of cases.” For the Porsche you could say, “It’s a Porsche. - Think that sums it up!”
It’s great to have a full list of specifications and features, particularly for detail oriented customers, but don’t let them dominate your website copy. It’s a good idea to keep a specifications list on your website separate to the copywriting.
5. What are the benefits of solving this problem?
To put it simply, we make decisions influenced by our emotions and we justify with logic. So if you don’t address the logical an emotional benefits in your copywriting, you will struggle to get your customers to take the action that you decided in question 2.
Again, using the previous examples, the logical benefit of the titanium stables is that “they won’t make a mess of your document”, and emotional benefit is that “they get the job done.”
Solving the problem in the CRM example might mean that your customer service improves dramatically. So a logical benefit is “that you will have happy satisfied customers”, and the emotional benefit might be “that it will reduce the stress of running your business.”
Porsche really don’t do a good job of selling the emotional benefits in their copywriting, but the emotional benefits are embedded deep in their products. So I’ll borrow from BMW and say that the benefit is, “sheer driving pleasure”. Oh and “sheer look at me”, but of course we don’t actually say that ;-).
Using the Formula
Using this formula, there are endless possibilities of combinations of customer and problem / solution scenarios that you can create. If you don’t have unlimited time or budget for this, then you need to address the most common and important scenarios.
The most important thing about copywriting for your business website is to keep the customer right up front. Don’t fall into the trap of talking about yourself too much!
From the author: If you regularly advertise for leads in the Yellow Pages®, in the newspaper or on the radio, then there’s a good chance that your website could be generating more leads for you than it is. The key is in your website’s conversion rates.
Yellow Pages®is an Australian registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Ltd. This company has requested and has been granted permission from Telstra Corporation Ltd to use the Yellow Pages® trade mark. This company is not otherwise associated with Telstra Corporation or any of it’s subsidiaries.
