When planning and updating your online presence there are many things to consider including design, hosting, web platforms, strategy, your marketing message, and copy to connect with your ideal clients.

Your website is the online welcome mat to your business. This is true when you have an internet based business or a brick and mortar store. Regardless of your business structure, your website should capture your brand essence quickly and succinctly. Your site should be inviting, engaging and entice people to want more.

Studies have shown that you have approximately 3 seconds to catch attention online, 30 seconds to engage your website visitors and 3 minutes for people to make the decision to take the next step and do business with you.

On the fast moving World Wide Web, you must keep up and that means your copy has to be catchy. Beyond having catchy copy (copy is the written part of all of your marketing, advertising and promotional materials), you must also have a clear strategy to engage and entice visitors to take action.

That’s why I believe that copy is QUEEN and strategy is KING. Just like a relationship, they must work together, especially online. You must have catchy copy and you must have a clear strategy to get people to your website.  Copy without strategy and strategy without copy will not generate the best results possible.

Here’s how you can create catchy copy for your website.

Be Clear About Your Message

Can you clearly and concisely share what you do and who you serve so your message is crafted to serve that specific market?

Take a look at Grasshopper’s homepage. The headline copy (the most read part of all copy) clearly showcases what the service allows you to do for your business and how you can do it. All in two concise sentences: “Turn the World Into Your Office. Grasshopper lets you run your business using your cell phones!”

Here’s another example: Let’s take a look at Joy Chudacoff’s website. Joy’s tagline – “The leading expert for business success and lifestyle design for women” – clearly specifies who she serves. There’s no guessing here. Joy serves women business owners, and the copy is written to address their specific needs.

Create a Strategy

Your website should have an overall strategy to support your brand and each page should have an individual strategy to lead people to take a certain action.  You can’t guarantee that someone searching online will land on your homepage.  That means each page needs to be able to standalone and accomplish its goal.

For example, people are often missing opportunities to engage and connect with prime prospects on their “About” page.  Many “About” pages only talk about the origin of the company or biographical info about the founder. This is good information but a great About page takes it one step further.

Be sure to let people know how they can do business with you.  The strategy will vary per business. If you are a speaker you’ll want to include an invitation to call to book a speaking engagement. If you’re a brick and mortar business you’ll want to encourage people to come to your storefront. If you don’t let people know what’s possible and what you’d like them to do, they will very likely do nothing.

Craft Headlines That Highlight the Outcome

You have about 3 seconds to catch the attention of your readers online. That means your headline needs to pack a punch (in a good way) and clearly illustrate the “What’s in it for me factor?” for your site visitors.

For example, when you visit the website we mentioned earlier, you’re greeted with the headline “Grow your business without burning out! Finally, a way to simplify your business while saving time…”  By highlighting business growth, avoiding burnout, and saving time, the benefits are made super clear within the first few seconds on the page.

Speak Directly to Your Ideal Client

For example,  as you continue to read the copy on Joy’s homepage, you’ll see that she’s clearly speaking to the reader. It’s all about them and how she can serve them.  You can learn more about Joy via her “About” page, but copy on the homepage is strategically written to be all about serving women.

Acknowledge the Challenge(s) of Your Target Prospects

You’ll see on Joy’s site that she’s strategically addressed the biggest challenges that her potential clients face. All of these challenges are backed up by research that Joy has done to ensure she can meet the needs of her ideal clients.

Highlight How Your Solution Solves Customer Problems

This is crucial, and I always recommend including your value proposition in the solution – illustrate the results you’ve gotten for other clients.

Joy’s homepage copy clear states that she’s helped clients:  Go from having no systems and no goals to doubling income in one year,  streamline systems and increase fees and 44% increase in revenue (Note: the specific percentage adds even more credibility and social proof). She also features a full testimonial from a client.

Empower Web Visitors to Make a Decision

By providing information thT speaks directly to the challenges of your prime prospects, you’re giving them the information they need to make an informed decision about taking the next step to do business with you.

Joy has a clear call to action and invitation to “Get Started Here.” She requests that visitors provide contact info, so she can share valuable information and continue the conversation.

Include Valuable Offerings to Get Visitors Engaged

When you visit Joy’s site it’s clear who she serves and the challenges she addresses. She includes an informative video to deepen the online relationship while inviting you to engage with her.

Make Specific Goals and Monitor Your Results

In the case of Joy’s site, she has clear traffic building strategies in place and a team to monitor her analytics and opt-ins to ensure her goals are being met.  By tracking the numbers and having clear revenue goals, she’s able to make adjustments and continually improve her website and copy.

Get Writing

Once you have a clear marketing message and a strong strategy, you’re ready to craft effective copy. You can do this with ease when you address the challenges of your web visitors, offer solutions backed by results, and empower people to take the next step to do business with you.

Have you had any awesome results from optimizing your copy?