Before we get started, I get a lot of questions about what copywriting is vs. just… plain ole’ text. What is copywriting?
Copywriting is the method of using words (along with marketing strategy, storytelling, & branding) with the end goal of converting your clients or customers or assisting them through the client journey.
Really, in the context of this blog post, we're diving into your website copywriting - i.e. the words on your website.
Let’s get right to it - Here are some of my best copywriting secrets you should know about:
1. You gotta speak DIRECTLY to your audience or they won’t resonate.
The easiest way to adopt this secret is to simply use more you’s instead of I’s or we’s on your website. Head back to your website and see how much that you talk about what you offer and how you’re different and how many times you see the word I or we throughout your website.
If you can go through your website and add a bit more of the word you as if you’re speaking directly to your audience, that will greatly assist in making your website viewer feel heard by you.
2. Stay Consistent.
While every marketer and pet industry expert will tell you to ‘figure out your ideal client avatar’ and it can sometimes feel overdone, it doesn’t negate the importance of completing the exercise, even repeatedly because this can change over time as your business grows and evolves.
In your website copywriting, you want to be speaking to your ideal client directly. Not only that but make sure it’s consistent throughout your whole website as well as on other platforms like social media and emails so that your potential client can get to know you and your brand a little bit better. If you’re all over the place and different people write differently throughout your online presence, people will get confused. An identity makes all the difference here.
3. Storytelling is very powerful.
It’s argued that storytelling is the most powerful form of communication, especially when it comes to the marketing and business world. I believe this can be even more powerful for the pet industry since it’s already a very emotional and personal industry.
Where you can, begin to add storytelling into your copy. This can also be done outside of your website (social media or blog posts); however, you can probably weave in some storytelling on your website too depending on your type of pet business. Think about what your ideal client is going through. As a dog trainer, your potential clients are probably suffering at home. They’re stressed, overwhelmed, wondering if they can keep their dog, feeling stuck with no light at the end of the tunnel. How can you speak to that and how can you paint a picture to let them know:
They’re not alone
There is a light at the end of the tunnel
You’ve worked with similar situations before and have seen the results
You’ve got them
4. Every page should have a purpose, which means we need a CTA.
Every single page of your website should have a CTA, or call-to-action. This call-to-action button is the action you want your client to take next. I recommend keeping this in context. So take into consideration what the page or the text is all about. What would be the next organic or natural step in the process?
That’s your CTA. As far as what to include in the CTA button, keep it simple and to the point. If you can fit it into 2-3 words, that’s even better. Be sure to also include an action-oriented verb. Examples could be… ‘Call now’ or ‘Book Now’ or ‘Enroll Today’ or ‘Get the Guide.’
P.S. Your CTAs don’t all have to be huge asks like booking. They can also be small like… heading to the services page or connecting on social media or reading another blog post. Sometimes these are even more powerful because if people say yes to small asks, they’ll be more likely to say yes to bigger asks in the future once that trust builds.
5. Don’t be afraid to add personality
A lot of entrepreneurs worry about adding in too much personality for fear of scaring some potential clients away. And to that, I say, GOOD! That’s seriously great!
By doing so, you’re able to reel in the clients you WANT to work with and who LOVE your personality, which will ultimately create better relationships, higher levels of satisfaction, and more loyalty.
Don’t be afraid to add personality into your website copy. Add a little bit of yourself. You don’t have to fall into the mold of a standard professional pet sitting business. Allow yourself to be different. Yes, you may isolate yourself from SOME, but you can’t serve every pet owner in your city anyway (in most cases). And you probably wouldn’t want to anyway. You want to work with those who love and appreciate you for who you are behind the business!
6. Find the middle ground
You're the expert in your field. We can all agree on that. However, you may be (and likely are) using different words than your clients.
What you may call… ‘leash reactivity’ your clients may call ‘aggressive while on his leash.’
What you may call… ‘pet portrait sessions’ your clients may call ‘photos of my dog.’
What you may call… ‘Cystotomy’ your clients may call ‘bladder stone surgery.’
You get the point!
To do this, you want to dig deep into the terminology they use in regards to your services and speak to them from their lens. The more you try to just talk ‘smart’ or ‘professional’ the more you may actually seem more out of reach and unrelatable (not to mention the SEO benefits from using what they’d be more likely to search into Google).
Essentially, the goal is to match the inner-dialogue going on in your potential clients' minds, which means you need to know how they speak. However, since this secret is all about finding the middle ground here… I wanted to remind you that it is still important to speak in a genuine voice that matches your brand and personality (as mentioned earlier). The perfect combo of this is what gives you the perfect copy for your website.
7. Don't overthink it
When I’m building websites for clients and writing the copy, most begin to reference other taglines of competitors and end up stressing over what they want their tagline or mission to be.
My advice here… Don't get held up in everyone else's perfect slogan or tagline.
You want to focus on speaking directly and genuinely to your audience. That means the perfect tagline your competitor has wouldn’t work for your business anyway. Also, typically the more creative and unique the tagline, the more confusing it is in terms of SEO and relatability. In most cases, simple, clear, and direct is better.
This works out great for most of you who stress a TON about that one little tagline when you really don’t need to.
At the end of the day, copywriting should feel easy if you know your audience, you feel confident in your brand and message and personality, and you can feel into the experience you want to create for your potential clients. It should come naturally. Yes, you can build copywriting skills and learn my copywriting secrets. But, when you focus on what’s important when it comes to copywriting, it’s really about being genuine and leaning into what you offer and how it will impact your community and world for the better.
Want to learn more about upgrading your website?
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