I’m so excited to introduce a special guest on the KBD blog today: Maddy, the brains and library-lover (iykyk) of By Maddy Aucoin.

Maddy is a super talented, past hire, collaborator, and friend who works with service providers. I had the pleasure of working with her this past winter on the copy for KBD’s new site, and she truly knocked it out of the park, giving my brand that magical spark it needed in its messaging.

In this edition of the Guest Glimmers series, Maddy is pulling back the curtain on one of the trickiest parts of DIY-ing your brand: your website copy.

She’s breaking down the five most common mistakes small business owners make when writing their own website copy and giving tips on how to avoid them.

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a blinking cursor or wondering why your site isn’t converting, this one’s for you. Let’s here some copy magic from Maddy herself:

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As a website copywriter, the most common thing I hear from small business owners is, “I tried to start writing my own website copy, but then it got so overwhelming and hard really fast!”. It feels like writing your own website should be simple, right? After all, you passed your high school English classes and you know a lot about your industry.

But here’s the thing: writing website copy is hard because of the strategy and intention behind it. It’s not as simple as pulling an all-nighter and Sparksnotes-ing your way through it (I wish!). Your website copy should speak to your audience’s problems, their desires, and objections. It also needs to clearly explain what you (and since you’re an expert, it’s tricky to simplify it for your audience!). And probably the most difficult part of all: making your website copy feel like you wrote it (instead of that corporate robot you’re currently accidentally cosplaying on your site).

I get it- it’s a lot of work to write website copy that does all of that for you. But you’re not the only business owner who feels that way! I work with a lot of creatives to troubleshoot their website copy and figure out why it’s not selling or converting as well as it should. And after 3+ years as a website copywriter, I’ve noticed the same mistakes coming up over and over.

Today, I’m going to share the mistakes business owners make when writing their website copy. Here are the five things to avoid when you’re writing yours:

1. Vague or Unspecific Headline Copy

Your headlines play a huge role in getting your audience to keep reading your website!

Most business owners write very literal headlines. For example, it might seem intuitive to start your About page with a header that reads, “hi, I’m [your name]”. Or, your Services page kicks off with “Our Services”. But in reality, these are vague, unspecific, and not priming your reader for what to expect on each page. Your reader knows that they’re on a Services or About page!

Instead, use your headlines to remind your reader of the bigger picture. What does your service help them achieve? What’s your unique POV in your industry? Why should they hire you?

And while we’re on the topic, I don’t just mean headlines at the top of each page, either! You need to consistently let your reader know what to expect through every section on every page. Your headlines need to give context so people want to devour every single word on your website. Ask yourself, “why should my audience care about this?”.

TLDR: Start strong with your headlines to hook people so they’ll want to read through the rest of your website. If they feel bored, they’ll immediately X out.

2. Not Writing Copy That Allows Your Reader To Easily Skim

In an ideal world, every person would read (and drool over) every single word I wrote on a website. Unfortunately, for us, that’s not realistic. Most of us skim for the important information and only read deeper if we’re interested.

So when you’re writing copy, think about how to write for the skimmers. What do they need to know most to make an informed decision? How can you set up your copy to be easy to read? Think about using specific, engaging headlines (see point 1!) and formatting like bullet points, and bold or italic font. That way, if they decide to read every word on your entire website, they’ll fall in love with you. If they’d rather skim, they still have enough information to make a decision to inquire with you!

TLDR: Make it as easy as possible for people to find the most important details quickly in your website copy.

3. Not Including Enough Calls-To-Action in Your Website Copy

Your website needs to lead readers to take action. You could have the best, most engaging website copy in the world. But if readers aren’t motivated to contact or buy, that’s a problem!

It’s not enough to have a call-to-action at the end of your Services page telling people to contact you. Throughout your website, you always need to tell them what action to take next! Because if you’re not reminding people to take action, they’ll scroll through and X out. We can’t assume people know to complete your contact form or purchase a digital product if they’re not reminded. So, we need to make it simple for people to take action by providing them opportunities to, often!

How do we figure out where to add calls-to-action in your website copy? Think about your website journey before you add in a call-to-action button. Let’s say someone’s on your Services page, for example. Under each service, you need a call-to-action button sending them to your Contact page (or to book). Your About page should have buttons reminding them to check out your services and get in touch by contacting you (because yes, it’s about you, but it’s also designed to get people to know you before they commit to inquiring or purchasing from you!).

TLDR: give people multiple opportunities on each website page to take action. You need to remind and encourage your reader repeatedly to buy, sign up, or get in touch!

4. Too Much “I”, Not Enough “You” in Your Website Copy

Take a look at your current website copy: do most of your sentences have “I” in them? For example, “I’ll makeover your website”?

If yes, this one’s a small, but very impactful tweak. Swap your “I” for “you”!

I know, it sounds confusing- shouldn’t your website BE about you?! Of course it’s sharing about what you do. But the best website copy allows our audience to see themselves in it. When you’re constantly saying “I”, as in “I can help you clean up your diet”, it feels like you’re in conversation with someone who only talks about themselves. Instead, using “you” lets our audience feel like they’re stepping into the conversation.

Need an example? Think about swapping from “I do this” to “you can do this”. 

So, the sentence“I can help you with a new website” could become “Your business will flourish with a new website”. Or “I’m a nutritionist specializing in helping you eat more greens” turns into, “Working with a nutritionist makes it easier for you to eat more greens”.

See how these simple switches allow for your audience to see themselves in your copy? Instead of making your copy all about you, you can show our audience the power of working with us.

TLDR: Shift your copy’s perspective from “here’s what I do” to “you can do this”.

5. Not Doing Market Research to Understand and Speak Like Your Audience

I know the words “market research” always scare business owners. I promise, it’s not as hard or scary as you think! Before writing any copy, you need to talk to the people you want to read your website.

One of the biggest tricks to writing effective copy is using your audience’s words to write your copy. What are their problems? What are they thinking? What do they want the most? If you don’t understand who you’re selling to, how you can help them, and what they resonate with you’re going to lose your audience. You need to deeply understand your audience in order to speak and sell to them. If your audience doesn’t care about what you’re saying, they’re not going to read your website or inquire with you!

There are tons of ways to get voice of customer data (known as VoC). Ask your current clients or customers! Do a social media poll! Send a survey to people you’d love to work with. Whichever method you choose, you’ll get valuable information to use in your copy.

TLDR: You need to know how to speak to your audience to write a website that helps them trust you, and move from curious to paid client. 

Final Thoughts on Website Copy for Small Businesses

As a small business owner writing their own copy, it’s important to know how to do it strategically! If you’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks, you’ll lose out on inquiries and attention. Start with strategy, be specific, and get really clear on who you’re talking to. Or, if you want to skip the hard part- hire a website copywriter to do it for you!