If you've been considering hiring a professional to help write your website copy, you may be curious about what goes into the process.
In this post, I’m breaking down the steps I take to write conversion-driving, brand-boosting website copy for my clients.
I value process so much that it’s one of my core values. I have seen time and again how the act of clarifying goals, establishing timelines, setting clear expectations, and following proven steps gets the best results.
Every copywriter has their own approach, but if your goal is to find the right words to get people to your site, through your site, and saying YES to your offer, trust me—this process works!
Here’s what you can expect when you work with me on your small business website copy.
1. Brand Research
Before our kickoff meeting, you complete a questionnaire about your mission, vision, values, origin story, offers, and website goals. Not only does this help me prepare for our first meeting, but it also gives you a chance to gather all of your thoughts in a single place. Beyond reviewing your questionnaire, I also explore your existing site, social media channels, blog, and any other materials.
2. Audience Research
Beyond researching your brand, I need to understand who we're talking to. Demographics and avatars are great, but I also explore how your ideal customers speak about their problems, goals, and experiences with your product or service. This Voice of Customer (VoC) research helps me craft copy that makes people stop scrolling and take action.
Typically, I conduct and analyze 1:1 virtual video interviews with a set number of your clients to learn about how they describe their problems, their experience working with you, and what they can do thanks to your help. Additional insights might come from things like questionnaires you send to your audience, review mining, and message board searches.
3. Industry & Competitor Research
I also take time to understand your industry—from the major players to the terminology—to differentiate you from your competitors more effectively. Your brand pillars and unique voice should always impact your copy, and my approach is rooted in brand messaging.
4. Brand Voice Assessment
When I write copy, I always aim to speak your target audience's language in your authentic brand voice. Not marketing-speak, not my voice—yours. To do that well, I begin by reviewing your social media and sample email correspondence. During our two-hour kickoff meeting conversation, I also pay close attention to your verbal patterns. By examining your cadence, tone, energy, vocabulary, and common expressions, I can match your voice when I sit down to write.
5. Site Map Planning
By the end of our kickoff meeting, it's usually pretty clear which pages we need on your small business website. In a typical streamlined, 3-5-page site, most businesses have a home page, about page, and either a work with me page or a few service pages (plus a contact page and blog). Some businesses require additional pages to best communicate their offers. Once we confirm the sitemap, I'm ready to work through my notes and begin strategizing about your site's messages, buttons, and copy flow.
6. Message Mapping
I use a tool called AirStory to organize all of my notes, including my VoC research, testimonials, and all of the brilliant soundbytes you uttered about your why, your process, and your offers during our conversations.
In AirStory, I determine what we need to connect with and convert site visitors on each page. If you have shared any SEO keyword research with me as part of our process, I will note the keywords to optimize for.
7. Website Copywriting
After all that, it’s finally time for— writing!
I approach copywriting with the heart of a storyteller and the mind of a marketer, having spent years in the theater before working in marketing. I know the copywriting formulas, and I understand the best practices. But, I also understand the psychology behind how people interact with your messages.
During this phase, here are just a handful of the things I think about:
Writing directly for your ideal customer using words and examples that resonate
Helping readers immediately see that you understand their problem and can solve it
Making it easy for readers to know, like, and trust you
Infusing the right amount of brand personality (not too much, just enough)
Making every word sound like YOU
Communicating your values throughout the site
Reinforcing your Big Three core messages on every page
Writing copy that’s clear before clever—and eliminating jargon
Making the user experience streamlined and easy
Ensuring headlines are clear and attention-grabbing while also keyword-focused
Crafting highly clickable call-to-action button copy
Including social proof in strategic places
Making copy scannable with H1, H2, H3, bullets, bolding, and other site styles
Seriously, that's just some of it! Website copy is more than just filler between pretty images—every word matters.
8. Website Copy Wireframing
After I write and do a few editing swipes on all of the copy, it’s time for me to wireframe!
I use a wireframing tool to create PDFs that show how the copy is intended to function on the site. The wireframes go page-by-page, laying out which words are headlines, which should appear in a callout box or slider, etc. These recommendations are based on research into how people interact with and read on the web.
Your copy wireframes will help you visualize your copy and give your developer and designer an easy-to-follow roadmap when they design and build your site.
9. Editing
No one is a bigger expert on your business than you, so open and honest feedback about the copy is crucial.
After reviewing your copy and sharing it with two or three trusted people who know your brand well, you share edits with me using Track Changes in Microsoft Word. I ask that you tell me if anything is unclear, missing, or not feeling true to your voice.
We get on another video conference to discuss feedback and ensure I have all the information I need to refine and perfect the copy.
10. Final Copy Delivery & Site Build Support
Once I make the edits, I send the final draft in a Microsoft Word document that can be effortlessly shared with your web designer or developer. We have a wrap-up call to answer any questions about how to put the copy into use. On this call, we discuss things like:
Building the copy out onto the site
Reminding your developer to set up Google Analytics
Setting up your Google My Business profile
How often to revisit and update your core site copy
Additional copy and content needs such as case studies, blogging, etc.
I also welcome questions from you or your designer as they build your site. Often, I'm one of the people asked to poke around the site pre-launch to ensure everything is just right! I also love spreading the word about my clients and am happy to share your site with my followers to increase exposure.
Putting in the work to craft strategic, authentic copy for your small business website is worth it.
The best part is that this robust, proven process takes just six weeks (sometimes a bit less!) from kickoff meeting to wrap-up meeting.
If you want your website to deliver more qualified leads, show off your expertise, and help you grow your business, book a call and let's talk!