How to Get People to Actually Read your Website Copy

So, you spent a lot of time (read: hours. days. weeks. MONTHS.) crafting the perfect messaging for your website. You updated everything with your new website copy – you even have an amazing sales page that’s perfectly written to get someone to click “buy” immediately.

You know your website copy was written to connect with your ideal clients and sell your services. So why isn’t it working?

Your sales skills can be top notch. Your copy can be perfect.

But no one is going to read it if your website’s design isn’t good.

There are a couple reasons for this.

1. Our attention spans are short, and

2. We’re unconsciously drawn to beautiful things (i.e. good design).

Don’t believe me? Let me give you a visual example (I mean, we are talking about visuals here).

Which one of these are you more likely to read?

The huge blocks of text? Or the text that’s been broken up into different heading styles?

I can pretty much guarantee you chose the one on the right.

Because website copy doesn’t just need to be well written, it needs to be digestible. Like I said, we have short attention spans these days. If you don’t strategically break up your words into bite-size pieces, you’ll overwhelm the viewer. Once a viewer is overwhelmed, or dare I say bored, your great copy will never be read.

And remember how I said we’re attracted to beautiful things?

Yeah, unfortunately, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t apply to brand and web design. The internet is not a judgement-free zone.

You have 50 milliseconds to make a good impression online. Yep – users will form an opinion of your website, good or bad, in HALF a second. And even if you manage to keep them on your site after that half second, according to Adobe, 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if they think the layout is unattractive.

So what does this mean for you?

Your website design and content should go hand in hand. You can’t focus on one while ignoring the other.

That’s why I believe in design + copy.

I design my custom websites around the copy rather than try to fit the copy into a finished design. By doing that, I can strategically design each page to communicate your message in a way that captures your audience’s attention.

How should I arrange these words? Which lines of copy should be large headings? Which ones should be smaller, subheadings? Where should I place call-to-action buttons? This is an important statement – how can I be sure the viewer doesn’t miss this line?

These are all things I’m thinking about while designing a custom website based on copy.

I love starting with copywriting first because, not only do I find it easier to design that way, but it makes your website stronger.

Want your website to work FOR you? Good design + good copy is my answer.

If you have the words, but your website design just isn’t cutting it, that’s exactly what I’m here for. (And if you don’t have the design OR the words, I can provide resources for that too!)

Inquire about a custom branding and Showit website design project here!