Copywriting: 7 Tips That Ranks High in 2024

 

Imagine you’re a business person who wants your business to be online. Your main goal would be to attract as many clients as possible. And next, you’d want to convert those clients for sales.

Yet you have a major hurdle in your way, breakneck competition. There are two hundred million active websites online. Businesses similar to yours are also rushing for a slot online.

To get a clear picture, let’s look back. On August 6, 1991, only one website by Tim Berners-Lee was online. One year later, ten websites were online. Yet in 2024, Global e-commerce sales are expected to reach about $ 6.3 trillion. By 2027, global e-commerce revenue is projected to exceed the $ 8 trillion mark.

Does this excite you? Wait a minute!

The average rate of conversion of e-commerce in 2024 is between 2% to 4%. And the rate of customers who begin the purchasing process but abandon (cart abandonment) it, according to Baymard Institute, is 70.19%. This data is from their 49 different studies. Isn’t it pricking your ears?

Nonetheless, you can take steps to eliminate this cart abandonment and, instead, convert and rank high your business online. You begin this during the planning and writing process of your website’s content.

 Follow the following seven tips:

1. Conduct Market Research For Your Content

Great copywriting often distinguishes itself from good copywriting through research. Spending time to research your topic can pay off dividends. Your goal in business is to be ahead of your competitors. Without research, you can’t achieve it. It would be best if you found out about:

 * The market of your products or services

 * Current data about your target audience

 * Target audience’s problems, pain points, and fears

 * Your competitors

The bottom line: never skip the research.

2. What Are You Offering?

Before you begin any writing, think of the unique service or product you’ll offer your clients. Call it a bait. Give them an offer they can’t think twice about.

Plan this unique selling proposition or unique selling point by:

• • Identifying customer wants and needs

• • Looking for ways to meet the needs of your target clients

• • Selecting the best solutions that have the highest chance of succeeding

Show Your Unique Selling Proposition 

You do this by using:

             * Product or Service Quality

Use the proven quality of your product or service to create a standard to build on your reputation. Example: Coca-Cola relies on cutting-edge products to attract customers.

              * Price

Using a low-price strategy can be a game-changer. Your prospective customers will compare your prices with your competitors. They’ll prefer yours. Example: The retailer Walmart has grown fast by following and perfecting this strategy.

               * Unique Customer Service

Think of offering free delivery of a purchased product to your customer’s doorstep. Or try out your products without incurring any costs. Example: Warby Parker which deals in eyeglasses applies this trick successfully. 

                 *Offering a warranty                         

Offer clients a warranty on your product or service. Example: The mobile Dealer Infinix warrants its branded products against defects for one year.  

3. Write Captivating Headline For Your Copy

Once you’ve completed your research and you know what to offer, you’ve to plan your headline. Grab your reader’s attention within a few seconds. Do this by writing a simple but unique and captivating headline.

Think about this:  8 out of 10 people will read the headline copy and only 2 out of 10 will read the full copy.

Clayton Makepeace, an outstanding copywriter had this to say:

In my 33 years in this business, I’ve seen great new headlines produce 25%, 35%, and even 45% lifts in response and ROI.

What Makes a Good Headline in Copywriting?

Set your headline ceiling to 65 characters to suit Google search. This translates to between 9 and 17 words (including spaces). If spaces are not included, this may be between 10 and 22 words.

Use the following guidelines:

• • Be brief, clear and convey the main message of your page

• • Ensure it’s relevant to the content and your target audience

• • Answer the question for your reader, “What’s in it for me?”

• • Ensure it draws your reader into the rest of the content

• • Include the keyword

Your headline is the heart of your website’s content. Great copywriters spend between 2 to 3 hours writing a single headline. They’ll write many headlines and choose one from them. So, spend time crafting your headline.

4. Craft Engaging Content  

Once you’ve captured the attention of your audience, draw them into the text by crafting engaging content.

You do this by:

               * Using Simple Language 

Use simple words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. Online people don’t have time to waste on long, complex words and sentences. Be brief and to the point. Get guided by Albert Einstein’s wisdom:

If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.

Remember this:

K     Keep

I      It

S     Simple

S     Stupid

              * Posing Questions

Pose questions. But while your readers are still looking for the answers, provide them. This engages them.

              * Writing in a Conversational Tone

Use a friendly, conversational tone. Make sure you use “you” and “your” in your writing. This makes your clients feel connected with you.

               * Telling A Story 

We, humans, love to hear good stories. They connect us. Tell a story in your content and clients will be hooked. So, weave your facts and data into a great story.

Remember this:

S    Solve a problem (what problem are you solving?)

T   Triumph (how’ll the story triumph?) 

O   Outcome (will the outcome be convincing?)

R    Research (have you researched?) 

Y    You’ve to believe in your story (before anyone else does). 

5. Optimize Your Content

Follow the latest search engine optimization (SEO) practices to attract high organic traffic. Ensure that the content is mobile-friendly as more and more people are preferring to use smartphones. Think about the following:

A study by Sistrix shows that the first organic results in the Google search have an average click-through rate of 28.5%. The second position has 15.7% while the third has 11%. Position ten has an average rate of 2.5%.

 Think Keyword First For Great Content 

Emphasize the Keywords. For prospective customers to find your business online, they’ll use keywords or related terms. Let your research guide you on which keywords to give priority to.

As you write, always keep in mind that you’re writing for humans, not machines. To attract the human eye, use headings, subheadings, and bullets. Make sure that you don’t pack keywords in your content. If you do this, the search engines may penalize you. 

Write your target keyword in bold. And for search engines’ bots to get the intent of your content, use your keywords in the following:

* Title tag

*  Headline tags

*  Internal links

*. Alt attributes

*  Meta description

Reserve your three most important keywords in the title tag of your homepage.

Keep updating your website or get a professional to do it here.

6. Show Your Testimonials

So, what Is a Testimonial?

It’s a simple recommendation from your past clients about your products or services.

Testimonials give your business trust and credibility.

Picture this: clients have read your content. And they’ve also read your competitors’ websites. Whom do they trust? They want to trust someone neutral. This is where your testimonials become your greatest diplomat! Think about this: 92% of consumers read testimonials and online reviews before they consider making any purchase!

Where Do You Place Testimonials?

Hang your testimonials on the homepage. You can consider placing them on your service or product page.

Are Your Testimonials Credible?

Take care by ensuring that the testimonial information you’re providing is verifiable. Provide your client’s name and location. If possible, also provide a photograph or a link to the review.

7. Fix Your Calls To Action

 Wait a moment! Have you informed your readers what you want them to do on your website? 

Take action. Craft good “calls to action.”

And what is a Call To Action?

A call to action (CTA) is a prompt on a website in the form of text, a button, or any other element that directs your audience to take the next specific action. The action will depend on the objective of your business. For example, if your site is e-commerce, you may direct your clients by saying: Shop Now.

Why Are Calls To Action Important?

A well-written CTA provides your website with the following advantages:

* Acts as a signpost, guiding your clients on what to do next

* Helps your clients to navigate with ease, hence, enhancing the user experience

* Enhances the click-through rates, hence, boosting rankings by search engines

*Higher rates of conversions and possible high returns on investment (ROI)

And do you know that apart from your headlines, you’ve got a 99% chance that your prospective clients on your site will read your CTA? This is important to note. Yet, as important as a CTA is, about 70% of small businesses don’t have it in their content!  Isn’t this surprising? Well, don’t let your business fall into this trap! Get a professional here to write your content with great CTAs.

What To Consider In Your Calls To Action

What Are Your Competitors Doing?

Before getting to work, you’ve got to find out what’s working for your competitors and what’s not. Capitalize on any gap in their CTAs.

Give a Reason For Taking Action

Show your audience what they gain by taking action. For example, you may align the CTA with your unique selling point (USP). You may craft something like ” Buy now to save 40%.”

Use Active Voice

Start your CTA with a commanding active verb. For example, if you’re promoting a newsletter for your business, your CTA should start with a verb like “Subscribe.”

Apply Power Words

What Are Power Words in Copywriting?

Power words are persuasive words used to elicit emotional responses from the target audience. For example, trust is key for online businesses. Using power words that reinforce trust in your CTA, can soar your business. An e-commerce Teespring added the power words “Don’t worry” to their CTA and conversions surged by 12.7%.

Apply The FOMO Trick

FOMO is an acronym for the fear of missing out.

About 70% of adults in developed societies suffer from feelings that something is happening and that they’re missing out on it.

Fear is etched in our brains and it’s the most powerful motivator. Provoke the fear of missing out on your CTA. For example, Buy Now! Sale Closes After 24 Hours.

In summary, have you conducted thorough research, written great headlines, and used a conversational tone in your website’s content?

Have you provided a convincing USP?

And have you included testimonials and powerful calls to action?

Is your website content following the current SEO practices?

Follow the seven tips for your business to be ranked high by search engines and to convert more clients.

However, if you don’t have time to do it yourself, look for a professional website content copywriter.

I’m David Nyapinda a freelance copywriter based at Mombasa, the coastal city of Kenya. My web copy could help your website rank well on search engines like Google and create more paying clients for your business.

If you’d want to find out about working with me:

• • Kindly have a look at my website

• • Use my form to get in touch for a quotation with no obligation