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You may have spent a lot of time and effort producing the perfect website. After all, everyone wants a website they are proud of that will help attract and retain the right clients.
But, now it’s there, are you keeping it up to date? Have you looked at your website copy recently? Has it been a while since you checked if anything needs changing or improving?
Everything evolves and it is likely your business is evolving too. What you do now and how you do it needs to be reflected in your website. And how people (and search engines) respond to certain marketing techniques and messages alters as well. Do you know why you should update your website copy regularly and how to do it? Let’s find out.
Why is your website content important?
Your website content tells your customers all about you and what you can do for them. But if your content doesn’t appear to be current or interesting to your customer, why would they want to work with you or buy your products?
When you click on a website you want to know exactly how that company can fulfill your needs. If the wording is outdated, the site looks old-fashioned, or it talks about events, concerns, or products that are no longer relevant, you are likely to move on to a company that resonates more. You need great website copy.
The more people you have visiting your website, the greater your chances of ‘converting’ them – getting them to perform an action. This could be buying something, signing up to your mailing list, or booking a meeting with you, for example.
You want people visiting your website to grab their coffee and sit up when they get to your website. Not take their time, business, and coffee elsewhere.
Website content and organic traffic
While you may think of your website as mere social proof, where potential customers just come to check you out to make sure you exist, your website can do so much more for you.
Organic traffic is website traffic that comes to your site without you having to pay for it. It’s people that didn’t type your website address into the search bar or click on a link they already had. They found you through the search engines and are potential new clients you didn’t have to find for yourself.
All you need to do is to give the search engines a way to find you, and the people visiting your website a reason to stay.
Not to mention, you want your latest offers on your website. If you have a new course, product, or offer, how will anyone new visiting your website know about it if you haven’t added it?
What do search engines look for in a website?
The search engines also want to keep their customers happy, by giving them what they are looking for first time. So, if you want the search engines to find you and rank you in online searches, you need to satisfy various criteria. This is search-engine optimisation, or SEO, and it’s important. Keeping your website content updated will send all the right signals:
- If people land on your website and leave quickly (the bounce rate), the search engines will determine that you don’t satisfy their requirements.
- If you don’t update your website regularly the search engines will assume it’s not actively looked after and therefore could be out of date.
- If you don’t have the right keywords and phrases you’ll never be found.
- If your website is ‘stuffed’ with keywords it will count against you.
- If your links don’t work anymore it will count against you.
- If your website content is not optimised for mobile devices your site will be difficult to view on them (and they account for nearly 60% of internet traffic).
- If your website content is not engaging and written and laid out to attract and retain the reader’s interest, you will not rank very highly.
- If you are not running website updates you risk compromising your site’s security and usability: you will be regularly prompted to run updates if you are regularly refreshing your content.
What does a customer want from a website?
When people come to your website organically – in other words, the search engines have led them there – they want to find what they were searching for.
People are not just looking for a product or service, even if they think that’s all they want. They are also looking for a reason to choose you over everyone else. The way your website looks, works, and reads will have an impact on how people view you. In other words, your website’s user experience (UX) is important.
- If your website looks old-fashioned or does not work properly on mobile devices people may worry that you are not technically competent and your website might not be secure.
- If your contact details are not up to date (maybe you have an old area code, for example) or are difficult to find, people might wonder if you are still in business.
- If you have links to old offers that don’t work or your pages refer to news or events from a long time ago you will not look professional.
- If your blog hasn’t been updated in ages you will not exhibit expertise or relevance.
- If your website is not designed to be engaging, trustworthy, and authoritative, or is stuffed with keywords or content for the sake of it, no one will want to hang around.
What content should you be updating on your website?
Things change, so it makes sense to update them on your website.
- Maybe your business has evolved over the years and your website no longer really reflects what you do now: keep it current.
- Is your website well written and engaging? If not, you might want to get a professional to help you. No one wants to read jargon or rambling, uninspiring blurb.
- Are there clear calls to action that create a desire to act?
- Are your contact details current and easy to find? Do you have a diary link on your website if that is relevant to your business?
- Is your FAQ page up to date? And if you don’t have an FAQ page then maybe it’s time to get one!
- Look at what your competitors are saying and how they are saying it. And make sure you are saying it better.
- Remember to regularly post new testimonials and reviews: they are part of your social proof.
Your customers want to see that you are an expert in your field and care about them.
- Blog posts are an easy way to connect with your audience and make sure you are regularly updating your website.
- Try to be consistent with blog posts but good quality blogs posted less frequently is preferable to poor quality ones posted more frequently.
- Don’t rely on AI writing tools to do all the work for you. They are a helpful tool, but not a substitute. Make sure you are using them properly. You will be penalised by the search engines if your written content is AI generated and they are unlikely to capture anyone’s interest.
How a professional copywriter can help you with your website content
Using professional SEO website copy and content writing services can help you define and refine your message. It can help ensure your website is professional, engaging, and search-engine optimised. Clear calls to action also improve your conversion rates.
Copywriters who are trained in SEO will also know how to set out your content and the right keywords to use to attract organic traffic.
If you are not sure how your copy is performing, why not arrange an SEO website copy audit? Your website should be working for you, not against you – and I can help you with that.