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Having a website is not just about having an online presence. It’s not enough to have a website ‘just for the sake of it’. It doesn’t matter how beautiful it looks or how well designed it is if the copy is poor: it can cost you in money and reputation.
A website should get you found by the people looking for your product or service. It should give people reasons to use your company instead of another. It should inform and educate, prove trust and authority.
Design on its own can’t do that.
Neglect the copy and you can miss out on or lose leads. You can at best do nothing for the business and, at worst, damage its reputation. Ignoring the importance – and power – of website copy will be doing a business and the design of its website a disservice.
Whether it’s your own business’s website or you design them for your clients, a website that doesn’t have the right copy is going to underperform. If you already know you have a problem, get in touch.
Some of the ways poor website copy can negatively impact your business
1. A bad first impression that damages, not enhances, reputation
When people first arrive on a website, the first thing they notice is the design. Great design will draw people in and should make them want to stick around and find out more. But what if they discover a website that’s confused, full of errors, difficult to navigate, and/or just generally doesn’t sound very professional?
Give a bad first impression and people are unlikely to stick around. They won’t (or won’t be able to) do the things you’d like them to do, like sign up for something, or get in touch. There’s a huge amount of competition online and there will be another company that does the same thing, providing all the social proof and reasons to work them instead. And making it easy.
This is just as important for companies who claim they don’t really need a website because they get all their business via referral. Personal referrals will only get you so far. Most people will do their due diligence and if they’ve been given several options by various friends, family, or business contacts, they’ll make their own decisions.
2. Missed opportunities in website searches and organic traffic
Good copy isn’t just about how well something is written. A professional copywriter can write incredible imaginative, compelling copy for a website, but if they’re not trained and up to date in search-engine optimisation (SEO) techniques it’s unlikely to get found by the search engines. This means all the organic-traffic new leads and perfect-fit clients will be non-existent.
Adding in SEO after it’s been written rarely leads to a great result. The ideal is website copy written by a website copywriter. It incorporates everything the search engines are looking for and need to know (and that includes how it’s laid out and the use of headings, and so on). This makes it more likely it’ll be found by the right people. This opens up new avenues and saves on advertising spend.
3. Confused customers who need more explanations
Writing website copy is a skill in itself. It works differently to other copy. People want enough (not too much) information to hand and the ability to move between web pages easily.
Over complicating or assuming everyone knows what your products or services are leads to confusion. Jargon, waffle, lack of clarity, missing calls to action (CTAs) and other easily made mistakes can lead to lost business. Poor quality leads aren’t filtered out and can be time-consuming to deal with. Target clients won’t know they’re in the right place and will go elsewhere. It’s all more time and money.
4. No brand voice makes companies forgettable
Generic, ‘off-the-shelf’, or AI copy lacks a brand voice or personality. It’s impossible to differentiate between companies. It’s not memorable so there’s nothing that sticks in the mind to recall later. Why would anyone remember you when they need your service? Instead they’ll remember the company that does stand out.
Good quality copy that conveys the consistency of a strong brand voice is not a ‘nice to have’. It’s essential. Not only does it make companies more memorable in the first instance, it’s likely to lead to greater brand loyalty and advocacy going forward.
5. Poor copy and design first can lead to expensive redesigns
Designing a website without having the copy first can lead to various issues. The copy will need to be written to a specific design, which is unlikely to support the structure and flow. Alternatively, the design will need to be reworked to fit the copy, also giving poor results.
If you have to fit bad copy to a good design, it’s never going to give great results. You’re likely to end up with costly redesigns that undo all the great work the designer has done – and you’ve added poor-quality copy to it. A double fail.
6. More work when a website launches and gets poor results
Businesses expect results when they launch their new website. If the copy isn’t good, the website is unlikely to perform as well as it could. This can lead to resentment and accusations of poor website design – even though the copy has caused the problems, not the design. This leads to yet more work and unhappy customers.
Investing in strong copy first drives results
Professional website copy, written before the website-design phase properly begins, leads to much better results that cost less in the long run. Smoother, less costly projects mean everyone’s happier. Clients get better conversion rates and more qualified leads and a clearer brand voice equals better market positioning.
Working towards better results
If you’re a website designer who struggles working around weak copy and wants better results, book a call. If you’re worried your website is letting your business down and know you need to do better, I can help. I write new copy and also offer a website copy audit that looks at your messaging and on-page SEO. It gives you all the information you need to make sure your copy is doing the job it’s designed to do.
Is poor copy costing you? Get in touch.