Writing website copy is totally different from writing brochure copy. Here are a couple of the most frequently asked questions about how to write great website copy:

 

Why can’t I just use my brochure copy in my website?

Your website has two audiences; visitors and search engines. And because search engines are machines, you have to write copy that a machine likes. With website copy, you need to use keywords and search phrases that people use to find sites like yours. The more you can use these popular keywords throughout your site, the more likely your site will come up in the search results for that term. 

 

What are some tricks to writing good website copy?

The biggest trick is knowing where to put these keywords of yours. Among the best places to feature these keywords and phrases are in your title tags, description tags, the first two sentences of your website, and to a lesser degree these days, meta tags.

 

Where else in my marketing copy should I use keywords and search phrases?

• Your URL (e.g. www.emergemarketing.com)
• Subheadings
• Filenames (e.g. www.emergemarketing.com/speeches)
• Hyperlinks
• Alt tags (what shows up when you mouse-over a graphic)
• Testimonials
• Articles on your site
• Press releases on your site
  

Why can't I just list a bunch of these keywords over and over?

That's called keyword spamming, and it’s a big no-no. If you’re caught by the cyber-police, you risk being kicked off of certain search engines. A good rule of thumb is to write your website copy so that there’s no more than 10% repetition in your website copy.

 

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