How to write website copy that sells from scratch

Whether you’re a new copywriter learning how to write copy for a website, or a business owner in the DIY phase, your website is massively important in your funnel. Not everyone considers their website a crucial piece of their sales pipeline, but it should be. This is one of the easiest pipelines or sales funnels to build: One that leverages your website copy as a key component in your pipeline.

But how do you write copy for a website? It can be overwhelming if you’re new to the world of copywriting. Especially if you want to write website copy that sells… Not just something that acts like a digital business card.

Step 1: Don’t let the overwhelm stop you from starting. It’s better to start with something and improve as your business grows than it is to not have a website at all.

This blog post is going to break down the following steps of how to write copy for a website—copy that actually sells for you.

How to write website copy that sells: 3 considerations

Selling may feel scary if you’re newer in business, or just not the salesy type… But no matter what business you have, you want your website to convert. Which means that you need to know how to write website copy that sells. It could be selling your audience on you personally or your business in general, a unique idea, a proprietary method, a product… whatever. That’s the whole point of a website: Making sales.

In order to write website copy that sells, you need to consider a few things:

• Your customer’s stage of awareness and position within the buying journey—and just about them in general. What do they need and what can you promise?
• The flow through your website—what action do you want them to take on each page?
• Your unique differentiation within the market, your brand messaging, and personality.

Overall, if you don’t know your audience or what makes you different, you won’t be able to write website copy that sells your services. Things like language choices, tone of voice, and how you position your offers are so important to writing good website copy.

When you know that, it’s easier to think about how you want your readers to flow through your website, therefore how to organize the pages of your website.

How to organize your website project

Not all pages on a website are created equal, and each page comes with a different approach.

Once you know how to organize your website project, and you’ve figured out what pages you’ll want on your site, you can get started.

I usually recommend writing copy for a website home page last, but outlining it first. It’s kind of like how in school, you maybe learned to outline everything first, but write the intro and extra last—same idea!

How to write copy for a website home page.

Home pages can be the trickiest copy to write on your website. Why? Because homepages often break all the rules of copywriting. While the general rule of thumb for any piece of copywriting is to stick to 1 key message, 1 core offer, and 1 clear CTA, home pages usually don’t do that… At least not the ones that we write for clients in the studio based on our recommended website strategies.

Instead, good home page copywriting acts more like an assistant or traffic guard who’s helping people figure out where they need to go next. They may have the option to choose from multiple different directions, which means there’s more than one call to action.

If you want to learn more about how to write copy for a website home page, this blog post breaks it down step-by-step.

How to write copy for a website about page

Writing website copy for about pages can be a whole thing. This page stresses people out the most! There’s a lot of pressure to get it right. But especially if you’re a solopreneur, I need you to remember this one thing: It’s impossible to summarize a complete person on a single website page. And that’s not the goal.

Instead, you want to focus only on what’s relevant to your ideal clients, and what will help them feel more connected to you.

This blog post walks you through how to write copy for a website about page.

How to write copy for a website services or product page

You have options when it comes to your offers. Do you need copy for a general services page, product page, or sales page? The strategy to write website copy is different for each.

If you’re not sure what kind of offer page you need, here’s some questions to ask yourself…

• Do I have a single offer or multiple offers?
• Is my offer a product or service?
• Are my offers custom?
• What is the cost of my offer and how do I plan to sell it? Ex. Live launch mode, ongoing services, etc.
• What does the sales process look like? Ex. Is there a discovery call, or do they purchase directly on the website?

If you sell products, obviously you’ll need product descriptions. So your offer page might be formatted like a catalog of your specific products, with the copy on each individual product description page.

If you plan to live launch something with a cart open and close period, you will need a sales page.

If you have general services, but everything for each client is entirely custom, a general services page is probably what you need.

For all options, a good rule to follow is that each new audience and new promise needs a new page.

What about website copy templates?

If you’re still not sure where to start to write website copy, but don’t want to invest in custom copywriting right now, website copy templates are a great alternative.

Maybe you’re not sure which is the better option for you? This blog post will help you decide whether you want to DIY with the help of a website copy template, or get expert help to write custom copy.

And if you ultimately choose to go for website copy templates, I have an entire website copy template pack available in The Biz Bar.

Time to start writing your website copy!

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of how to write copy for a website, and you feel confident in your next steps. Maybe that’s getting a website copy template pack to help you, or just going it alone.

Remember that you can always start with a minimum viable version of your website copy, and improve as your business grows.