Does your website stink?

Wow, Ang…way to start a blog post.

Sorry, savvy entrepreneur – I’m a straight shooter and my personality shows through in these blog posts. Which, by the way, is how your website copy should be! (See what I did there?) Let’s talk about website copy for a minute.

Your website should reflect who you are and your personality should shine through. If humor is your thing, then your website should be funny. If your personality is a little wacky, I want to see it in your copy. If you’re more formal and serious, your website copy should mirror that.  People are much more likely to do business with someone they can relate to, someone they feel like they already know before they’ve even had a conversation with you.

Your website copy also reflects the business you’re in. For example, I don’t expect an attorney to have the same website copy as a life coach. I want my lawyer to show a warrior spirit, excellent articulation skills, and be personable and persuasive (since juries like that).  Her website copy should adapt to the reader and avoid big lawyer-y words like “habeas corpus” and “jurisprudence.”  If you’re talking over my head and I have to grab a dictionary to figure out those terms, you’ve lost me.  Using big words your reader won’t understand, doesn’t always make you sound more knowledgeable and professional.

My life coach, however, should speak in a way that lets me know I’ll get unstuck and get results, and how my butt will probably be kicked along the way.  I’m definitely not going to need a dictionary if I hire her. Chances are you went into business because you didn’t like the way someone else did something. You found a need you can serve, and you want to tell the world. The best way to do that is to Just. Be. Yourself. You got it – mom was right. Trying to be someone you are not doesn’t work any better now than it did in school.

But Ang…I’m not a writer!

That’s okay! Most people aren’t Hemingway and struggle with writing and capturing their voice.  That’s why they hire someone to work on their website copy for them.

Didn’t you just say it was supposed to have MY personality?

Yes! That’s the best part. The gals on my team are such great writers that they’re able to inject your personality into your copy, something that’s real, honest and you – not something forced or phony.  All you have to do is give them a little bit of insight. They’ll ask you some exploratory questions, what you want to say and how you want to say it. Then they do the writing, send it to you, and you approve or discuss edits. When the copy is finished, your assistant will even post it on your site for you, so it’s the perfect arrangement. You’ll love it so much that you might even want to try – gasp! – blogging next.

YOU are your business’s biggest asset. Your clients want to work with YOU – not some stiff and impersonal version of yourself that you think looks good on paper.*

Thanks for reading.

Until next time,

Angie

*Not sure how to make that happen? Give us a call and let us help your shining personality stand out.