10 Simple Writing Tips for Website Content that Attracts, Captivates, and Converts

A gorgeous website will make visitors take a closer look.

Captivating content will make them stay.

It’s the content that makes or breaks a website. An ugly website that triggers a visitor’s hot-buttons will outperform a gorgeous website with content that misses the mark. Every. Single. Time.

I recommend working with a copywriter if your budget allows (ask us if you’d like a referral). A copywriter can help you refine your message to make it sing in the right key to resonate with your audience.

However, not everyone can afford a copywriter, so I’ve created writing prompts for our clients to help them get great results as a DIYer.

For today, I’ve put together a list of my 10 favorite website writing tips to create captivating content that converts, and I want to walk you through those.

1. Know Your Audience

Cater your website content to your ideal clients. Make it more about them than about you. Pay attention to your tone, choice of words, etc.

• Who are you trying to attract with your content?
• What will they be expecting to see on your site?
• What questions are they wondering?

Goal: Have visitors feel like you’re reading their mind.

2. Focus on SEO

Do some quick keyword research before writing the content for your website pages or blog posts. Your content will be more relevant to your readers. You will also have a better chance of showing up in search. Focus on one main keyword phrase per page of your site.

Our favorite SEO tools:

• Google Adwords Keyword Planner
• Answer the Public
• UberSuggest
• SEM Rush

Goal: Know what your visitors are searching for before you write.

3. Focus on Conversion

What is the next step you want them to take when they finish reading? Remember to include a call to action. Many business owners make the mistake of pouring themselves into a great piece of content without telling the reader what to do next.

Possible calls to action:

• Download a free gift (lead magnet)
• Schedule an appointment
• Buy now
• Try a demo
• Register for webinar/event
• Comment
• Share

Goal: Get readers to take action.

4. Use Descriptive Headlines

Your readers should be able to scan your headline and sub-headlines and know exactly what your article is about. Include keyword phrases in your headline to provide relevance and boost optimization.

Increase the effectiveness of your headlines, with these helpful headline analyzers:

• CoSchedule Headline Analyzer
• AmInstitute Headline Analyzer
• Sharethrough Headline Analyzer

Goal: Capture your visitor’s attention and interest.

5. Make Website Content Scannable

Your visitors are busy and their attention spans are short. Be direct. Include what they need know, but cut the fluff.

”The key is to make your company’s message about something that helps the customer survive and to do so in such a way that they can understand it without burning too many calories.” ― Donald Miller, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

• Vary your sentence length.
• Keep paragraphs short.
• Divide content up with sub-headlines, pictures, bulleted and numbered lists, block-quotes, and graphics.

Goal: Make your content easy to read and understand.

6. Use an Active Voice

Engage your readers and hold their attention by using an active voice in your writing. A passive voice will make your website content more wordy and difficult to understand.

Examples:

• Passive: Her client was coached by her.
• Active: She coached her client.
• Passive: The website copy is being written by you.
• Active: You are writing your website copy.

Goal: Create engaging website copy that captivates your reader’s attention.

7. Keep Language Simple, but Emotional

Write with an easy-to-read, conversational tone. Keep your language at the 3rd- to 5th-grade reading levels. Make your content trigger feelings in the reader. Engage your readers with the first sentence by giving them a reason to care about the content and make them want to read more.

• Avoid jargon.
• Use language they use in their daily conversations.
• Push their hot-buttons when you can.
• Make them feel like you understand their problems as well or better than they do.
• Give them a reason to care.
• Remember they’re subconsciously thinking “what’s in it for me?”

Goal: Keep them reading and wanting to know more.

8. Include Internal and External Links

If you’re mentioning something on another site, link out to it. Google likes it when you link out to relevant content. And the website owner will like it too. They will often return the favor and link back to you in an upcoming article, which is wonderful for your SEO.

If you’re referencing something on your site, include a link so the visitor can find it easily. This also helps Google to understand what your site is about so they can rank it appropriately.

Tips:

• Have links to your own site open in the same tab.
• Use the keyword of the page on your site that you’re linking to as the anchor text of the link.
• Set links to an outside site to open in a new tab.
• Do not link out on landing pages and sales pages. Keep them focused on what action you want them to take.

Goal: To be helpful to your visitors and boost your SEO.

9. Be Yourself

People like to do business with those they know, like, and trust. Be yourself. Let your personality shine through. If you’ve got a fun sense of humor, make ’em laugh. If you’re as sweet as they come, pour some sugar on ’em. If you’re sarcastic and snarky, don’t hold back!

• Boring is the kiss of death for website content.
• Be vulnerable and let us meet your flawsome human self.

Goal: Build know, like, and trust by letting your readers see the real you.

10. Just Do It!

Enough already. You can’t learn to swim by sitting on the edge of the pool. Jump in and have fun. Remember this is just a website, not a college thesis.

• Schedule time to write and give yourself a deadline.
• You will make mistakes, so ditch the perfectionism.
• It will be as scary or overwhelming as you choose to let it be.
• Stop judging every word! Your website is editable, so you can change things at any time.

Goal: Get it done!

Need Help Writing Great Headlines?

Just because headlines are short doesn’t mean they are easy to write. Whether they are for websites, or email, or any other marketing materials, they have to capture attention quickly and feed the desire to know more.

If you want help writing effective headlines, we have something for you. Our “101 Magnetic Headline Formulas” guide will give you copywriting examples of proven headlines that you can modify to fit your needs.

Check it out here.