“It was a dark and stormy night…” This famous phrase was originally penned by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton as the first line of his 1830 novel, Paul Clifford. In its entirety, this sentence spans 68 unnecessary words. This line has since spawned a contest where writers submit the first sentence of what they believe could be the worst novel of all time. But we digress, let’s get to the point. Wordiness is great for a 19th century novelist, but there’s no room for superfluity on your website!
At Anchor Wave, we tell our Tucson business customers that their homepage should read like a magazine cover and not like a novel. Homepage copy should be eye-catching and precise to direct visitors to the information they are seeking. A visitor may want to make a purchase, contact you, find out store hours, or get directions to your location. Whatever the customer’s need, the copy should be concise, simple, and easy to navigate so that visitors don’t become discouraged or impatient and leave your site altogether.
Below we’ll look at the three biggest online marketing initiatives that can improve with the right on-site text:
- User Experience – Your business website should be easy on the eyes and easy to use. If visitors come to your home page and see paragraphs and paragraphs of text, they may be discouraged from navigating any further through the site. By partnering with a web design firm, you can fine-tune the website’s navigation (menu of options) and home page copy to meet users’ needs.
- Sales and Conversions – For many businesses, the purpose of a website is to get a visitor to sign-up for a mailing list, download a free trial, or make a purchase. When the copy on your homepage is too long or too confusing, it can negatively impact sales and conversion rates. If you want visitors to make a purchase or fill out a form, then be sure to include a call-to-action in your homepage copy that encourages such behaviors.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – An internet marketing firm can help you conduct research to determine which keywords and phrases your customers search on Google in order to find a business like yours. Matching your homepage copy with the right keywords and phrases can help your website to climb higher in the search engine results. If your website copy is not SEO-optimized, then you could be losing valuable traffic every day.
To find out how to improve your homepage copy and design, contact Anchor Wave in Tucson. We can update your business’ online presence and increase your visibility and your bottom line.
