How to write compelling website copy that books in clients

Let’s be honest: Bad copy breaks businesses.

If I have to read one more vague or lazy piece of copy on anyone’s website, I’m going to call the Copy Police.

No more:

• “I help heart-centered business owners like yourself.”
• “I’ve got you covered!”
• “What if I told you…”
• “I help you with your [impactful, authentic, empowering, aligned…] business.”

And trust me, I speak from experience because I’ve been there.

When I first started my online business, I didn’t know anything about writing copy that converts.

And what do I mean by “convert”?

I mean the writing has a purpose. It’s not out there just for the sake of being interesting or entertaining. It’s leading the reader to take ACTION. Whether that’s to sign up for a free thing or invest in a big thing.

You know your copy converts when you start seeing sales and leads coming in.

 

Writing words that convert is a skill that I’ve learned and mastered over the years.

I’ve watched countless trainings, read a ton of blogs, signed up for all the top marketers’ emails, and had meetings with some of my industry’s biggest thought leaders on what makes good copy actually good.

(I even attended a 3-day writing retreat hosted by Laura Belgray in the heart of Cinque Terre, Italy because… well, why not?)

Throughout all of my research, I slowly started crafting seductive copy for my two websites (canupy.com and elisedarma.com) and all my many landing pages (ClickFunnels tells me I’m currently at 194 pages #headexplodes) to ultimately turn my four-figure months into five-figure months.

So whether you’re starting out or you’ve been running your business for a while — you can always learn a few new skills to improve your sales copy.

(Your lead gen and sales will thank you. 🙏)

Here are my top 6 tips for writing compelling website copy that actually converts and books in clients.

1. Write copy JUST for your ideal client (ignore everyone else. Yes, you have permission to do so)

Want to turn your dull copy around — fast?

Start visualizing your ideal client.See their face? Their daily activities? Their drink of choice?

You want the content on your website to feel like it was written exclusively, intentionally, and JUST for them.

Not sure how to do that?

Think up an ideal client, and give that person a name (my ideal client’s name is Emma), a face, and an entire backstory.

Write out their deepest fears, wildest ambitions, what truly tickles their fancy and the burning questions they’re asking themselves as they lie awake at night, unable to sleep with so much on their mind.

By creating a vivid persona and writing directly to that one person, your copy will instantly become more relatable, compelling and persuasive.

The ultimate goal? Your copy should read like a casual conversation you’re having with your Emma. 👯

Another bonus that comes along with adopting this strategy is your content calendar will become much easier to plan out.

When you know your ideal client like the back of your hand, you can start predicting what topics they’d be interested in, the phrases they use when they conduct searches and their biggest pain points.

2. Focus on the benefits for your clients (always, always, always!)

You may love talking about your business, but the reality is — no one* cares.

* Unless it somehow benefits them.

That’s the key point you want to drive home in your website copy.

You need to highlight how your product or services will improve or make their life easier.

 

Your To-Dos for this section:

1. Grab a pen and paper right now and create a list of all the features your product or service offers (for example: weekly calls, private support group, video trainings, templates, etc).
2. Next, for each feature, write out how it benefits your ideal reader (for example: time saved, money saved, never spending a Saturday on the phone with a tech guy…). Remember: you want to hit on those unique pain points, so your future clients feel like your business provides the best solution.
3. Finally, write down any reasons that would stop someone from buying from you. You’ll want to spend time thinking about how you can address each objection and use it to persuade your ideal customer that you’re perfect for them.

3. Create a sense of urgency

This one’s allll about FOMO (fear of missing out).

Learning how to create a sense of urgency in your website copy is a powerful tool to have in your arsenal.

There’s nothing quite as motivating as seeing “Only 2 left in stock” or “This offer expires soon” on Amazon or ASOS, am I right?

* Cue me frantically rushing to add items to my cart *

Including a sense of urgency in your copy gives people the push they need to provide you with their email address, sign up for that webinar or add your product to their cart – before their chance is gone.

Urgency encourages people to stop lurking and finally take action.

So, how do you do it?

By making sure your copy lets the reader know why time is not on their side (if not now, then when?), why they can’t delay making this decision (what do they stand to lose?) and what benefits await on the other side of them acting today.

Urgency is a technique I used over Black Friday weekend to offer a one-time promotion of my signature course Social Bank. 

And when I opened up applications for my first ever retreat in Lisbon a year ago, I offered a discount to the first five people who signed up and paid their early bird deposit.

By the end of the week, I had zero early bird spots left and a good few months left to fill up the rest of the retreat.

You want your future clients to know they are going to lose out on a good deal by waiting.

Make sure your copy compels them to act today, and you’ll see an increase in leads and sales.

4. Craft an enticing call to action

Are you relying on the boring “Click Here” or “Learn More” as your go-to call to action (CTA)?

It’s time to spruce it up with a standout phrase that’s simple, creative and tailored to your audience.

Are you offering a service that comes with a trial? Emphasize that with a “Start your free trial now” call to action. Or you can make that sentence more compelling by adding “Try it for free for 30 days.”

You can also choose one of your top benefits and use it as your call to action.

For example: “Learn how to gain 1,000 followers in 30 days.” (That phrase will be familiar to my longtime blog readers. 😉) In this case, the benefit is the high number of followers in a relatively short amount of time.

Also: don’t underestimate the power of emphasizing the FREE aspect of your offer in your CTA.

People love free, and it’s an easy way to make your call to action even more compelling.

One of my top freebies is my free Instagram workshop, but you can also offer a free ebook, worksheet or consultation.

Another little trick that I use is writing my button copy in the voice of the reader.

For example: “Take Me To The Sale” or “Gimme Those Free Templates.”

By writing the button text this way, I believe it just makes the buttons that much more clickable. Right?

If you choose to do the same, make sure ALL your buttons use the visitor’s voice and don’t switch to sounding like a command or direction coming from you.

Here’s a peek at some of CTAs that were written in the voice of the reader.

5. Optimize your copy for search engines

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a marketing skill that’s vital to running a successful online business.

Being able to write for your ideal reader AND the search engines is a winning and profitable combination.

Your landing pages and blogs will end up on the first page of Google, your website will get traffic, and you’ll have more opportunities to make a sale.

This is, as they call it, a win-win-win.

 

Here’s what you need to do for SEO:

• Use the same words your audience uses to describe your product or their problems.
• Share frequently and consistently about your area of expertise.
• Link to other experts and publishers in your topic.
• Research your keywords and phrases, and sprinkle them throughout your copy naturally.
• Structure your blog post or page properly for search engines.

Want to delve deeper into the world of SEO? Check out my SEO tips to boost traffic to your website.

I’ll take you through title tags, alt tags, how to structure an SEO-friendly URL and more! (These tips are the reason why my website traffic went from 4,000 views a month in January to 60,000 views a month, 10 months later!).

6. Be ruthless with your editing

Once you’ve written your next blog post or landing page copy, I want you to edit it ruthlessly.

Cross out any sentence that isn’t strong enough to stand on its own. Yep… a big part of editing for me is REMOVING unnecessary words.

Get rid of any weak language and avoid the passive voice as much as possible.

What’s the passive voice? It’s when you emphasize the object of a sentence rather than the subject.

For example:

“Napa Valley is known for its wines.” (Passive)

vs.

“Many people know Napa Valley for its wines.” (Active)

But most importantly, leave in some personality.

You want your text to come across conversational, credible and persuasive; you can’t do that if your copy is a boring wall of words.

Here are some of my top editing tips:

• Make sure your headings and subheadings entice the reader. (No need to keep it formal. We’re not writing an academic essay – thankfully.)
• Back up any claims with statistics or links to credible sources.
• Boost readability by keeping your text simple and easy to scan.
• Read your copy aloud and make sure it sounds like an actual real life human wrote it.
• Proofread for any grammar or spelling errors.
• Double check you haven’t left out any crucial sales messages.

Hire me as your coach for $0.00!

If you loved this blog post and want even more how-to tips on making sales through your Instagram account, join me for my FREE hands-on workshop.

In this ~co-working~ style workshop, we’ll check off:

1. What your best Instagram strategy is – even if you’re new in business or are just starting to use Instagram for your business (PLUS, we’ll give your profile and bio a total makeover)

2. What your current season of business is and which features you should focus on to get the most results for your efforts

3. How to navigate making reels for your business, especially if you feel silly pointing or dancing on camera (PLUS, we’ll generate 80 content ideas for your next posts – yes, 80!)

4. Future-proofing your account for inevitable changes that are coming to Instagram (including an evergreen formula that’ll never go out of style)

Join me at this FREE workshop now ⬇️