Whether you’re feeling anxious about writing for your website, or you just want to do a great job, this post has you covered!

If you follow these 5 simple tips, you’ll have better copy than most websites out there:

1. Make your text scannable

Have you ever come to a page on a website that’s just one big paragraph of text with no headings or sub-headings? Did you read it? Probably not.

Writing for the web is very different than writing a novel.

People don’t read most websites, they scan the pages quickly for what they’re looking for.

As you’re writing your website copy, break down your text into small, bite-sized chunks. One to three sentences each is a good guideline.

Then make sure you add a heading for each chunk of text. This makes it easier for people to find the content they’re looking for on your website.

In some cases, using bulleted lists is another great way to make your copy more scannable.

2. Be clear rather than clever

Instead of trying to impressing your reader with a witty headline, focus on helping your website visitors understand what you do as quickly as possible.

You don’t need to use big words or be clever to win their business. Most customers simply want to know whether you can solve their problem well, how much it costs, and how to buy.

3. Avoid jargon and insider terms

Steer away from buzz words or industry-specific terms that your customers may not be familiar with. Instead use easy-to-understand words and write for the average layperson.

It may feel like what you do is too complex to simplify, but in my experience there’s always a way. If you run into this, try focusing on the big picture of how you help people instead of the technical specifics.

4. Focus on benefits over features

At the end of the day, customers care less about the specs of a product or service, and more about what that product or service can do to improve their lives.

When you’re writing about what you offer your customers, focus on helping them understand how your product or service can make their life better.

5. Don’t overthink it

Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to write copy for your website. Don’t worry – if you follow these steps you’re well ahead of the majority of sites we see out there.

And if you hire our team here at Knapsack for website design, we’ll be looking over your copy and providing recommendations before we put it out into the world.

Plus, if you want to tweak your copy later, the platform we build on (Squarespace) makes it super easy to make changes later.

You’ve got this!