Whenever I’m asked about website copy writing or any other writing I reply with the same question “what are you trying to say?” I’ve been asked this so many times that I’m no longer surprised when their reply is coherent, concise, targeted and focused and everything else a good article should be. “Write that!” I say. “Write down just what you said!”

The mental block seems to come with the act of writing itself. Too many get flustered and frustrated if they can’t find the right words – I know how you feel, I felt the same. So I say forget the writing, instead lets begin with the message you’re trying to get across.

If you’re stuck for that then think about your customer. Remember them?  They’re the ones with the cash that will eventually buy you that boat or sports car. To get them to give you money you have to get them to believe and trust you and the start of that process is being the person that can solve their problems.

Problems are what drive customers. People happy with all their goods and services stick with those companies and suppliers. Unhappy customers have problems that you can solve. Prove that and you’re part way to making that sale or securing that contract.

So imagine you meet a potential customer at a station just as the train doors close. You have 2 seconds to get your message across and without hesitation you say “I can solve that problem you’ve got – I’ll give you a call next week.” In those two seconds you’ve captured their interest and they will mull it over, try and second guess you and actually look forward to your call. We can do exactly the same in website copy writing in three short steps.
1) Think of a customer and a problem they have and write it down.
2) Think of the solution you can give them to that problem.
3) Create a headline based on that solution.

Take for example would be authors. They’ve created a book and just can’t get a publisher. This is a very common problem as there are far more writers than there are publishing slots. I’ve found an intriguing solution and created a headline to capture their attention, “How to get your book sold on Amazon without needing a publisher!” You can see this at www.ebook.launchworkshop.com. If they sign up they get 10 steps delivered daily with how to get their book on Amazon. Since I delivered on that promise they’ll be eager to hear more.
When you have your headline you then need an introduction or promise. This expands on the headline and tells your reader in greater detail what you’re about to say. In my example, it’s “At last, the dream shared by all writers and would be authors can be yours. Follow these 10 simple steps and you’ll be able to see your book sold on Amazon!”

In an article based on this I then laid out the first 4 steps and gave them away to entice them further. Your article should now have the detail of what you can do to solve their problem. If your product is tuition tell them in detail when they’ll learn what. For example, “on page 99 you’ll learn how to…” is more powerful and persuasive then “you’ll learn how to…” Our brains love specific details and they can be used to win over prospective customers. Another example might be health products that give benefits in 5 days rather than a vague “you’ll feel the difference”.

You then need to wrap up your website copy writing with a summary and a call to action. What’s the next step and what benefit will they derive from taking it? Make that step easy and rewarding and they will take it but don’t forget to ask them to do it. It’s amazing how actually asking someone to click on a link or leave their email increases the numbers that actually do it.

Now you should have an excellent outline for your first attempt at website copy writing. Read it out loud as this will immediately tell you which bits need a little more work or where there are mistakes. This is much better than simply reading it as with silent reading the brain can “hear” what it thinks is there rather than what is actually written.

You now have a first article to publish but that should only be the beginning of your website copy writing as you should now write down other problems your customers have or try and rephrase the same article to apply it to another customers or groups of customers.

 This article is based on a copy writing workshop held at the HBN.