{"id":348,"date":"2021-08-07T14:56:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-07T19:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/?p=348"},"modified":"2021-08-07T14:56:50","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T19:56:50","slug":"start-with-copy-instead-of-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/start-with-copy-instead-of-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Start With Copy Instead of Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"black
Write without fear. Edit without mercy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The idea is that copy (and the message you\u2019re trying to convey through that copy) should dictate design \u2013 not the other way around. Now, this is in no way meant to underestimate the importance of design. Design can breathe life into the story the copy is telling, and done properly, great copy plus great design will always outperform great copy alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great design without quality copywriting is a waste of your design investment.  If you\u2019re serious about online success, don\u2019t put half-baked, slip-shod homemade copywriting on your website \u2013 professional (or at least thoughtful, methodical, collaborative, and proofread) copywriting will give you a much better chance to maximize your website\u2019s effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good website copy creates a conversation with your customers and\/or supporters about what their life will be like when you\u2019ve met their needs. It\u2019s critical that you understand what those needs are before you start writing the copy for your site so that your conversation will be all about them, not you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do You Write Content for a Website?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Determine the Purpose of the Website<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: Research the Audience<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3: Research Competing Websites<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 4: Plan How the Content Fits Together on Your Website<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 5: Write the Content for Each Page (more tips on this in the next list!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 6: Add Non-Copy Page Elements<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 7: Make Edits<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 8: Optimize the Page for SEO<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 9: Plan to Update Content Later<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copywriting Best Practices to Keep Handy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re new to copywriting, there are a few important best practices you\u2019ll need to keep in mind that can not only help you keep copy on track, but also equip your website with the information it needs to be that 24\/7 salesperson you know it can be. In short, if you bring it back to the audience and their experience, you’ll always get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Identify the Audience<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 2: Create Clear Headlines that Are Concise and Enticing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 3: Avoid Using Negatives Where Possible<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 4: Choose Active Voice over Passive Voice (Although there are Always Exceptions to this Rule)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 5: Talk about Them More than Yourself<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 6: Relate to Their Experiences and Appeal to Their Emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 7: Speak Their Language<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 8: Focus on the \u2018Benefits\u2019 first, then the \u2018Features\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 9: Trim the (Content) Fat Where Possible<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 10: Use Hyperlinks within the Copy to make it Easier for Users to Navigate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 11: Use Verbs and Multiple Words in your Calls to Action<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Copywriting More Important Than Website Design?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copywriting is<\/strong> more important than design. You won\u2019t hear many designers say that! If you have an amazing design and poor copy, the site won\u2019t convert anywhere near as well as having awesome copy and poor design. However if you add awesome design to amazing copy, you will have the best chance of conversions, i.e. sales, leads, sign-ups, in person visits, donations, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The idea is that copy (and the message you\u2019re trying to convey through that copy) should dictate design \u2013 not the other way around. Now, this is in no way meant to underestimate the importance of design. Design can breathe life into the story the copy is telling, and done properly, great copy plus great…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,69,44,72,84,1,46],"tags":[85,87,86,34],"class_list":["post-348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-consulting","category-design","category-develop","category-marketing","category-uncategorized","category-website","tag-copy","tag-copywriting","tag-design","tag-website"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348\/revisions\/352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rainofhearts.com\/roh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}