How to Write Website Copy That Converts

Getting people to your website is step one. What happens once they land on your home page is step two, and it's the step many small business owners struggle with. You can get people to your website, but getting them to convert tends to be challenging. If you've ever wondered why this happens, I want to help you understand what's going on and, more importantly, how to start to figure out what the issues might be on your site so you can start to fix them and turn visitors into leads and buyers.

 

You have about 5 seconds to capture someone's attention when they first visit your website. That means, if they land on your homepage and can't immediately tell who you help, what you do, where you're located, you're probably going to lose them.

 

When someone first lands on your website, it needs to answer the question — Can you help me? You don't literally have to answer it word for word, but they should be able to see if you're able to help them without scrolling at all on the page, whether they're on their phone, tablet, or computer.

 

We have to quickly capture their attention in order to get them to commit to learning more and staying on our site for a while.

 

What matters more to conversion? Traffic or website content?

Sometimes people like me, who teach SEO, focus only on the amount of traffic you'll generate from the optimization work that you do. But that's only half of the equation. Traffic alone doesn't tell the entire story. We have to figure out if we're getting the right people to your site. We also need to figure out if you have the right message once they get there. The only way to know if you have the right message and it's reaching the right people is to look at your analytics and see how people are engaging with your website. I'll share more about how you do this in a minute.

 

The 3 Things Your Home Page Has to Say in the First 5 Seconds

Give your home page the 5-second test: show it to someone who's never seen your business before, then take it away and ask what you do. If they can't answer clearly, your copy has a problem, no matter how good your traffic.

 

Can someone answer these three questions without scrolling?:

 

• Who you are. Not just your business name, what kind of business you are.
• What you do. The specific problem you solve or result you help people get, in plain language.
• Who you help. The kind of person or business you're best suited for.

 

If you're a binge eating coach who works with Millennial women in multiple states or countries, you might want to say:

 

• Binge Eating Coach for Millennial Women

 

If you're a Parenting Coach for parents of teens and tweens, you might want to say:

 

• Parenting Coach for parents navigating the tween and teen years

 

Keep it very simple, straightforward, and easy for someone to self-identify and say, oh, yes, this is what I need.

 

If You're a Local Business, Does Your Home Page Say Where You Are Located?

If you service a local area, your website should include this information at the top of the page and in your SEO elements such as the Title Tag and Meta Description. When people are searching for businesses to help them with their problem, they often want to know that they're finding someone in their area.

 

Include your location information — city or local area in the first paragraph of your copy on your homepage, if possible.

 

For example, if you're a Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, you might want to say:

 

Marriage and Family Therapy in San Diego.

 

If you're a realtor in Dallas who specializes in move-up homes, you might want to say:

 

Realtor in Dallas, helping families in Suburb 1, Suburb 2, Suburb 3 move up to their dream home.

 

Think about who you help, what you help them with, and where they're located and create a sentence that helps them figure out if they're in the right place within 5 seconds so that hopefully, the people you want to help will want to read more.

 

Common Home Page Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Many of the sites I look at have similar issues that keep them from converting. Some of the most common include:

 

• Headlines that are so vague they can't figure out if you can help them — headlines that describe a feeling ("Excellence in Service") instead of a result or a clear statement of what you do.
• Industry terms — if you have to explain what the term or acronym means to people when you use it, don't use it on your website's homepage. You want them to be able to understand your site, not feel intimidated by the words.
• Feature list instead of benefit information. This is a tough one; we want to share all the amazing things about our business or product, but the visitor only cares about one thing — can you help solve my problem? Share the benefits, not the list of features.
• No call-to-action. If it's not easy to figure out how to engage with you, they're not going to become a lead. Make sure you have a simple, clear, easy-to-find call-to-action (that answers their pain point) in the top portion of your website.

 

How to Write Homepage Copy That Converts

We talked about the most common mistakes that small business owners make with their website copy; now let's focus on what to do so you don't make them on your site. Take a minute, open your website on your phone, tablet, and a computer, and look to see if you have the following elements on your site and that they're visible without scrolling at all.

 

• Headline — can someone tell who you help and what you help with?
• A subheadline that adds context — Is there a bit more information about where you're located, what you do, or who you help?
• A call to action — do they know what the next step is they should take with you? And can they do it without scrolling?

 

Now, moving down your page further, these don't have to be visible within the first 5 seconds, without a scroll. But these are still important items to have on your homepage.

 

• Trust signals. Reviews, testimonials, logos, certifications
• Additional Content — is there additional information that goes into more detail about what your business offers
• Photos — are there images of your work (if applicable)
• Another call-to-action — is there another way to get them to engage with you, if they scrolled past the first one at the top of the page?

 

Can AI Write Your Home Page Copy for You?

Yes and no. AI tools can be a genuinely useful starting point for home page copy; they're good at getting you from a blank page to a rough draft fast. Where it goes wrong is when people copy and paste the AI output straight onto their site without editing it. That copy tends to read generic, a little stiff, and like it could belong to any business in your industry. It's not going to be high enough quality to work. But using AI tools can often help you figure out what you want to include on your website page.

 

I use AI in my own process. I like to use it to help me create the outline for my page or blog post. Sometimes, I'll have it write a rough draft for me, but it's never ready to publish as-is. AI-generated copy has to be edited into your actual voice, filled in with specifics only you would know, and checked against the 5-second test above. I personally find it faster for me to use AI to outline and then write the post myself but many of my students like to have it create the rough draft and edit that. You can do either one; it doesn't matter as long as you use AI as a tool, not your writer.

 

Should You Write This Yourself or Hire a Copywriter?

I don't generally recommend hiring a copywriter to write copy for a small business website. Good copywriters will charge hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, to write copy for you, and that money can often be spent on other things (or to pay yourself). Most entrepreneurs should write their copy themselves (or with the help of AI tools to figure out what to include) because you know your business better than anyone. If you're struggling to figure out what to include on your page, start with the 5-second test and then add some more information about who you help, how you help them, and why they should choose you. You don't have to have thousands of words of copy, just enough to help someone know they've landed in the right place when they find your site.

 

How to Tell If Your Home Page Is Working or Hurting You

You'll want to look at your analytics to understand how people are engaging with your website and whether you've got the right information on the page or you're bringing the right people into your world. A few helpful metrics that you'll find in your analytics account include:

 

• Bounce rate on your home page. A high bounce rate can mean visitors aren't finding what they expected on this page so they're leaving. It could be one of several issues — your site doesn't pass the 5-second test, your content is hard to read, or you're getting the wrong people. If your bounce rate is above 50% that means that more than 50% of the people who come to your site choose to leave rather than read another page on your site. You want your bounce rate to be lower, not higher.
• Time on page. We want to see people engage with our site, read more than just the headline, and find our information helpful. The amount of time someone spends on your page helps us understand if we're getting the right people to the site and if they like the information we've included. You want your time on page to be higher, not lower.

 

FAQ: Website Copy That Converts

What makes website copy convert? Copy that converts clearly tells a visitor what you do, who it's for, and what to do next, without making them work to figure it out. It answers these questions in the first 5 seconds without them needing to scroll down the page to find more information.

 

How long should home page copy be? Long enough to answer who you are, what you do, and who you help, and to guide someone to a next step. There's no fixed word count; clarity matters more than length. Most homepages have a few hundred words of copy, not thousands.

 

Can I use ChatGPT or other AI tools to write my home page copy? You can use it as a starting point, but AI-generated content needs to be edited to sound like you and checked for accuracy before placing it on your website. Don't ever copy/paste what an AI tool gives you without verifying and editing first.

 

Do I need to mention my location on my home page if I'm a local business? Yes. If you serve a specific city, region, or service area, that should be at the top of the page in your help information — ex. Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego.