8 Best Practices for Website Copy to Turn More Visitors into Customers

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Building an online business is no small feat. When you’re trying to sell something online, your words can make or break your chances of getting a sale. Having an attractive website or a well-made, high-quality product is great, but if your copy isn’t grabbing your audience’s attention, then most won’t even give it a second thought. You want to keep visitors to your website engaged and keep coming back. How?

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best practices for website copy that will help increase conversions on your site and result in more sales!

8 Best Practices to Convert Website Visitors into Customers


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1. Use Strong Headlines


Your headline is the first thing visitors see when they land on your site. So, the landing page must catch their attention and convince them to read more. A good headline will get people interested in your content and have them reading and engaging more. A bad headline, on the other hand, can leave them feeling disinterested in what you have to say.

Writing a punchy headline is a great way to pique your reader’s interest. Do your best to express what your website is all about. What is your main message? What are you offering?

This will capture the reader’s attention more effectively than generic statements. An excellent example of an impactful headline that uses a specific and straightforward approach is Netflix.

Netflix utilizes a straightforward approach and is specific about the services it provides. By focusing on showing off the service that they offer, Netflix has managed to keep its landing page clear, simple, and highly effective.

2. Adapt to your Target Audience


When you’re writing website copy, you want your customers to be able to easily understand what you are offering and how they can benefit from it. To ensure this, it’s crucial that you adapt your language and tone to match your audience.

If you are writing for a younger audience, such as an app that helps people find the best places to eat on dates, you want to keep the language light, casual, and on-trend rather than formal and tense. So, using words like “fun,” “exciting,” “vibrant,” or “trendy” will be more impactful.

On the other hand, if you were writing for an older audience such as retirees or retirees with young children, who might have more disposable income but have limited time for leisure activities, then you would want to use words like “relaxed” and “peaceful” instead of “exciting.”

For example, One Week Website immediately appeals to its target audience— professionals and businesses— who need a website that boosts sales and reaches leads in “just one week.”

The copy on this website does its job of highlighting exactly who the target audience is and appealing to what they need the most.

3. Use Numbers


If you want to make your headline more compelling, try adding hard facts and statistics. Research shows that using numbers in headlines can lead to a spike in sales by up to 73%!

Apple is a great example of this. The brand is well-known for its simple and elegant web copy that always packs a punch. While this may seem like an obvious take since the phone model does include a number, their copywriting is still quite effective considering the tech giant has reached $97.28 billion in global sales revenue at the end of FY 2022’s second quarter.

4. Spark Curiosity


Curiosity is one of the most powerful tools in marketing— it drives people to click on links, keep reading and browsing through your site, explore new products and services, and even buy things they otherwise may not have considered.

It’s easy to see why. When we’re curious about something, we want to know more about it. We’re more likely to explore a site or company to gain more information, which can lead to conversions (like sales).

But what does it mean for your headline to “spark curiosity”? Simple. By being specific and planting a seed of a helpful answer. When you write a headline that’s specific about what the reader will get from clicking on the link— or even just reading the article— you create an opportunity for them to become curious about what they’ll learn.

Take a look at how Asana does this:

Asana features a question as its main headline. Take note that the headline isn’t vague, but it isn’t too descriptive either.

Instead, it appeals to the reader’s curiosity about how they can solve a problem that they may already have encountered in the past. It drops a simple hint of a problem and indicates that Asana has the answer to your problem.

5. Highlight your USP


By highlighting your USP, you’re demonstrating to visitors that you’re the right company to solve their problems. It’s like saying, “I’m the best person for this job!” You want them to believe it— and if they believe it, they’ll be more likely to click on your offer or proceed with a sale.

Highlighting your USP can also make your overall content more relevant to your audience. For example, if someone is looking for a specific solution and sees that you've got one in mind, then they might decide that your site is the best place for them after all! When highlighting your USP, make sure you appeal to your reader’s needs. Take a look at Ding’s homepage:

The Ding homepage focuses on its unique selling proposition— a mobile app that allows users to send top-ups across the world in less than a minute. It lets the reader know exactly what they offer.

6. Use Long-tail Keywords


Long-tail keywords are phrases that people use when looking for something very specific. They’re usually three words or less, and they’re not super common.

For example, if someone searches for the “best coffee maker,” they probably just want to buy a coffee maker. But, if they search for the “best espresso machine under $100,” they are clearly searching for a very particular product— an espresso machine that fits their budget of less than $100.

These longer, more specific phrases will help you get more leads and sales because people who are searching for them have a specific query and are ready to buy. If you can address this specific need with your brand and products, you’ll get more clicks and customers.

7. Use impactful Words and Phrases


Using the right words will not only make your content more compelling to your readers, but it is also one of the best ways to position your website as an authority on a certain topic.

Take the phrase “free shipping,” for example. It’s a common perk offered by most brands because the word “free” is inherently motivating. It makes people want to take advantage of this offer. Another excellent example of a website that uses powerful words and phrases in its headline is Diesel.

Their “Unforgettable Denim” tagline positions the brand as one of the major brands offering high-quality denim. It’s catchy, straight to the point, and builds up a brand value that’s hard to forget.

8. Include a Call-to-Action


Once your copy has done its job of getting your audience interested, the call-to-action is what will keep them engaged. A call-to-action directs people who are interested in what you’re selling towards taking action. If they click on your ad, they’ve already decided that they are interested in learning more about the product or service you’re offering.

If you don’t have a call-to-action in your headline, people may not know what to do next. You want to seamlessly guide them into taking the next steps to be engaged with your website, whether through a “Sign Up” button, a “Buy Now” click, or social media links to more relevant content.

Miracle’s homepage is one genius way of incorporating a subtle call-to-action on their landing page itself. With this directive, viewers are more inclined to shop because they know what they’re going to get out of the transaction and what they should do to make it happen.

Tips to Boost Conversions with Your Website Copy


Here are some actionable and effective tips for boosting sales on your website using the right web copy:

  • Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Ask yourself: What do my customers want? What do they need? What are their biggest challenges right now? How can I help them overcome those challenges?
  • Write for people, not search engines. It’s easy to get caught up in SEO and keyword research, but if you write for search engines rather than people, your copy won’t be very compelling. Instead, focus on creating content that is useful and valuable to your readers. Focus on providing solutions rather than just information.
  • Use a website copy template. A website copy template is a simple document that you can use as the foundation for all of your pages. It typically involves an empty web page design that you can then populate with relevant copy.

Website Copy should Resonate with Your Brand


When you’re looking for how to convert more sales on a website, effective copywriting is an engaging way to do just that. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but our list of eight best practices is a good place to start.

It essentially all boils down to three things— providing value, capturing interest, and nudging your audience in the right direction. We hope this post has been helpful. If you have any questions or need help tailoring your website to your audience, please feel free to reach out! (Related: 8 SaaS Landing Page Best Practices To Get More Users)

About the Author

I have been in the 'online business' space since 2009 when I started an eCommerce business selling motorcycle parts (sold in 2012). Since then I have owned and operated several successful online business (and had a fair share of failures), along with owning offline home services businesses. Currently my focus is online businesses that are profitable with paid traffic. As a 'self employed individual' I do not use Linkedin, but you can connect with my on my personal instagram and youtube which largely revolve around my mountain biking passion!