The Most Important tip for your website copy

Welcome to episode #28 of The Goodness Squad podcast. I’m going to give you one more small tip for your website that can make a big difference and have a great impact. In fact, this particular tip is something that will increase conversions anywhere that you apply it.

• Inside an email that you sent where you’re trying to get people to click.
• It could be on your squeeze page, trying to get people to sign up for your email list.
• It could be a sales page where you’re actually trying to get someone to purchase something from you.

Yeah. This is an important one. It is actually the most important tip I could give you to help with your website copy. 

Do you talk a lot? Or are you more the silent type?

My grandma’s name is Mary Beth, but we call her Grandma Buzzy. The reason for that is because she always, always, always has something to say. And guess who takes after her? Yep. Me and my daughter, Hannah.

I remember my mom telling me a story once from when I was really little. I think we were driving from Texas to Utah, so I was probably three or four and she says I didn’t stop talking the whole time. It drove my dad nuts the entire day, just this three or four-year-old blabbering.

I had never really experienced that from the other side until I had my daughter and she is the same way. She is either talking or sleeping and I’ve come to love it. But there is something about a lot of words.

I have a brother on the other hand who says very little. When he speaks, we all listen because he typically just sits back and listens. He is highly intelligent, but he doesn’t feel the need to share everything that’s going on in his mind. He speaks when necessary and only when it’s truly important.

I want you to think about the difference and I want you to ask yourself:

What am I doing on my website?

Are you talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk? Or are you truly only saying the things that need to be said? 

The #1 tip for your website copy

Years ago, I had just written an eCourse and I wanted to have an incredible sales page. So I hired a copywriter. It was kind of a ‘done with you’ option where I wrote my sales page (because I wanted it in my own voice) and then I gave it to her and she gave me some tips. Then I reworked it and I sent it back to her and we went back and forth like that.

The number one tip that she gave me, that changed so much for me, was to:

Write it out and then cut your words in half.

Literally copy and paste it into a Google doc or  Microsoft Word or whatever. Count the words and keep cutting until you have cut it in half.

That is my tip for you today. I want you to take one page on your website, I would suggest that it’s either your homepage or your about page, and I want you to copy the words that are there, paste them into Google docs, count the words or have Google docs count it for you. And then cut them in half. 

This forces us to be clear. Your number one goal on your website should be clarity, not being cute or clever or funny. Yes, you want your personality to come through in your words. Absolutely. But your number one goal should be clarity because remember, a confused mind always says no.

My very favorite phrase that I learned from Donald Miller of StoryBrand. This is such a fantastic concept, and I have found it to be true. When we cut our words in half, it forces our brains to decide what is truly important. And when we do that, our websites become more clear. So when people come to our websites, they are more sure of what it is we can or cannot do for them. Instead of being left to guess, they know.

You want to make your website very clear.

 And the number one tip that I have for doing that is to cut the number of words you use in half. In fact, when I first did this, the copywriter I was working with had me do it twice because yes, I am just like Grandma Buzzy and I can talk forever. This is still a struggle in my business. But it is something that is very, very worth doing.

I promise that if you do this for your website  you will see:

• increased conversions
• more clicks in your emails
• more email signups
• more purchases of your products

The number one way to do that is to cut your words in half. 

Coming Up

In the next episode, we are going to take this concept one step further and I’ll give you five additional tips for making your website more clear so that you can increase your conversions.

Okay, ladies. I am so grateful that you are here with me today, but there are so many more women out there who need this. They are feeling called to share goodness and light online. They need help and support in turning their talents and their gifts into a profitable online business that allows them to share that goodness and light, but without sacrificing that home-centered focus that is so important to them.

It’s a tough balance. And I feel called to help them. I would be so grateful if you would share this podcast with just one person. One person who you think it could help and benefit, because I truly believe that we are in this together. We are a squad, a goodness squad of women who are trying to follow God’s promptings and direction in our lives. Thank you again for being here and I will see you next time.