Sharon's Marketing Missive

This Website copywriter's blog topics are often prompted by current copywriting projects. Right now I’m working on a small business Website copywriting project that’s requiring a lot of education…and all we’ve worked on so far is the home page.

People get confused about the real job of a Website’s home page. It’s not going to sell or convert. But it should get visitors deeper into your Website…and that’s the home page’s job. It should be short and concise and direct enough to tell someone at a glance what you’re offering, and compelling enough to get someone to click on a link to dig deeper.

As a Website copywriter, I think of home pages as doorways. A visitor knocks on your door when they land at your home page. You want to invite them in and have them accept the invitation. Then you can start leading them down the path to conversion, whether that conversion is to buy, to register, to subscribe, etc.

That means your home page has to be very targeted, another area where clients have trouble understanding how Website copywriting works.

If you have one main audience, one ideal type of customer, you’re better off speaking to that specific group with your home page rather than watering down your message trying to be all things to all people in just 150 words.

I once read words of wisdom that will stick with me always: Would you rather have one client who pays you what you’re worth or two clients who don’t? (I think it’s from a book called “Your money or your life.”) Every single time I’ve asked a small business client that question—and I do when they want to confuse, clutter and water down their message—they always, always answer “one client who pays me what I’m worth.”

If you try and make your home page work for a bunch of potential clients, you’re speaking to the masses and you’re less likely to get that one client. If you speak directly to that one client, you’re more likely to get him/her/it.

You also lose credibility when you try to be all things to all people on your home page.

So next time you sit down with your Website copywriter (or if you choose to work with me on your Website), remember these things about your home page:

·         It’s a doorway into your Website

·         It should tell your ideal audience what you offer at a glance

·         It should be the right balance between concise and compelling

And now this Website copywriter must stop preaching, er, I mean blogging and get back to copywriting!