12 Powerful Copywriting Mistakes You Should Avoid on Your Website
How much money do you spend per month on advertising? Doesn't matter if it’s Facebook ads or a featured spot on a wedding vendor database. It's all worthless if your website is crappy.
In fact, a well-written website can eliminate the need for huge advertising budgets at all.
Your website is the major hub of your business. It’s where people from all over the internet go to learn more about you.
Most wedding pros aren’t using their website to its full capacity. Are you one of them?
Copy, design, and SEO all factor into a successful, high-conversion website. As a copywriter, I’m no design expert, but this list is a mix of copywriting and SEO suggestions for your website.
I encourage you to treat this post as a challenge. Pick one thing from this list to tackle each day for the next 2 weeks. In 14 days, your website will be stronger and you’ll be more confident in your messaging.
Maybe you’ll even be able to say goodbye to that advertising budget that’s eating through your revenue.
Are you up for it? Let’s jump in!
Your about page is written in third person.
Someone somewhere started this myth that all professional bios need to be written in third person. Let me tell ya: it’s not true.
Not only is it not true, it’s a great way to drive people away from your site.
Writing in the third person makes you sound distant. Your website is your first conversation with potential clients. It should sound like you!
Your about page shouldn't focus on your awards, credentials, and publication features (though they’re okay to throw in farther down the page). It’s about creating trust.
Couples won’t hire someone they don’t know.
It’s also really important to remember that your about page isn’t about you at all. It’s about your audience.
As a rule of thumb, your about page should be 25% about you and 75% about your audience.
“Umm...okay. But how do I talk about myself and my clients at the same time?”
Use the P-A-S formula. This stands for problem, agitation, and solution, and it’s my go-to for writing website copy for clients. Your about page is a great place to show your audience the value of hiring you over someone else.
This is where your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) comes in handy. What makes you different from your competitors?
Frame this answer for your client’s benefit, not your own. It’s not a matter of “I’m great because XYZ” but “here is a list of benefits you'll have when we work together.”
In as many places as you can, turn “I” statements into “you” statements.
2. You’re using large images.
Images are super important on your website. They drive design and give your audience a quick way to learn about your brand without having to read a single sentence.
If your images are too big, you risk lengthening the load time of your website, especially on mobile. This can significantly impact your SEO and your bounce rate, which is the amount of time a visitor spends on your website before clicking away.
To solve this problem, compress your images before you upload them to your site.
You’ll also want to check the format of your images. Generally, JPEG and PNG are the best formats for SEO. This is because they produce high-quality images with a smaller file size than other formats.
I’ll be honest: this is an area where even I struggle. Yoast has a really great explanation for image SEO that you might want to bookmark for reference!
3. Your website has no H1 headings (or you’re not using them correctly).
H1 headings are prime real estate for your focus keywords. Each web page on your site should have 1 focus keyword and 3-5 supporting keywords.
Always put your focus keyword in your H1 heading.
Sure, cute quotes and witty greetings add personality to your site, but they’re not helping your SEO. Save those things for your body text!
You can use your focus keyword in an H1 heading and stay true to your brand voice at the same time. Just make sure you’re clear about what you do and who you serve! Your audience won’t keep scrolling if they’re not sure they’re in the right place.
4. Your website pages are too short.
If you’ve read my other blog posts, you’ve heard this one before. I feel like a broken record sometimes, but page length is so important for SEO.
Wedding photographers – I’m talking to you!
Ideal page length varies by industry. Across all of Google, the best page length is between 2,000 and 2,400 words per page.
There’s not a great deal of research in the wedding industry. As long as your pages are as long (if not longer) than your competitors, you’re in good shape. Shooting for that 2,000+ sweet spot is never a bad thing!
5. You’re not using a call to action (CTA) on every page.
When we’re browsing a website, we don’t like to be left alone. We like to be given specific instructions about where to go next, how to navigate the site, and where to find the most important information.
You can achieve all of these things with a CTA button. Buttons are great because they stand out from the rest of your site and most website platforms have them.
Never have a page without one! After your audience finishes on one page (or section) they want to know where they should go next. This is your chance to lead them through a mini nurture sequence right on your website.
It’s important to give a few options, but not too many. For example, your homepage might link to your contact page, your services page, your about page, and your blog. This is great if you’ve sectioned off your homepage and you’re teasing each of these sections and including a link to read further.
Having more than one or two CTAs is not great for other pages of your website, especially your blog. At the end of each blog post, think of one thing you want your audience to do. Share your content on social media? Comment on the post? Head to your services page?
Whatever the CTA is, make it clear. You don’t want to seem overly eager or pushy, but you want to make sure your audience has that next step.
6. Your website navigation is confusing.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Please stop calling your blog a journal.
Just don’t do it. It’s not helpful. It can be really confusing for people who are not in the wedding industry.
Everyone knows what a blog is. Calling it anything else jeopardizes your conversion rate. You don’t want to push potential clients away because your navigation is confusing.
This goes for all other pages on your website, too. Your about page should say about. Not “meet X” or anything else. Be clear and concise.
Not only for your clients, but also for Google. Google doesn’t know how to index a page called “stories,” but it definitely knows what a blog is.
Your navigation bar is not the place to be witty or cheeky. Save that for your copy!
BTW, if you don’t have a blog, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for organic traffic. Don’t throw away your shot! (I’m convinced I need to put at least one Hamilton reference in every piece of copy...please excuse my nerdy-ness.)
Let’s continue...
7. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) isn’t actually unique.
Another pet peeve here! Buckle up, this one might hurt.
Your love for helping others doesn’t make you unique. Neither does your compassion, your love of weddings, or your attention to detail.
Ouch, Emily.
I know. But I seriously think some wedding professionals believe this will help them make sales.
Don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely talk about these things on your website if they genuinely apply to you. But using them as your USP is not going to make you stand out. If anything, it will allow you to sink further into the enormous pile of wedding pros also trying to attract your clients.
Finding your USP is not an easy task. But once you put in the work and find out what truly makes you unique, your entire brand will change. Leverage yourself as one of a kind and prove it with your messaging.
8. You’re showcasing features without benefits.
As a wedding pro, you’re not just selling a service. You’re selling an experience. A transformation. You’re selling your clients a better version of themselves.
Showcase these things by focusing on the benefits of your offer more than the features. Let’s look at an example.
Say you’re a calligrapher. Let’s break down one of your calligraphy packages.
Features are physical aspects of the package. The number of envelopes, the type of paper, the color of the ink, and the estimated shipping time are all features.
These things are very important to note because we like to know everything we’re getting when we buy something.
But that’s not all we’re getting.
With a calligrapher, we’re also getting:
Peace of mind knowing we don’t have to hand address 150 envelopes ourselves
The satisfaction that our invitations will have a personalized look
A stress-free experience because we know our invitations will arrive in the hands of our guests in a timely manner
I’m a huge advocate for charging what you’re worth and not negotiating your prices. Showcasing the features of your offers is a great way to prevent this from happening because it shows the true value of your offer.
You’re letting your clients think about the experience or transformation they will have when buying your offer.
9. You have a separate page for testimonials.
You don’t need a separate web page just to hold all of your testimonials.
Chances are, most of your website visitors aren’t even clicking on that page. It’s wasted space and keeps those wonderful client reviews hidden!
Scatter your testimonials throughout your website. It’s best to have at least one on every page, even better if you can have a rotating carousel of testimonials on each page!
I really like this method because it forces you to pick only the best testimonials. A hundred testimonials that all say the same vague thing are not nearly as impressionable as one detailed testimonial.
If you have a ton of really great testimonials, consider rotating them every few months. Otherwise, pick those standout quotes and call it a day.
10. You’re not writing for every reader.
Everything you write, no matter the medium, needs to appeal to three readers: the thinker, the scanner, and the machine.
The thinker reads every single word. For this reader, make sure your copy follows a natural process of thought and doesn't have any information holes. The thinker finishes every piece of content with a list of questions – try to anticipate these and answer them in your copy.
The scanner is going to run through your text quickly and only read what stands out to them. For this reader, make good use of formatting. Headlines, bold text, and bullets will help this reader find the most important information quickly. They should be able to get a jist of your entire content by only reading this small amount of text.
The machine isn’t a person at all. It’s Google. If you’re not writing with Google in mind, chances are you don’t have great SEO. For Google, use keywords strategically and organically. Scroll back up to #3 if you missed my comment on keywords. You can also check out my guide to SEO on the blog.
11. You’re not making the most of your FAQs.
The FAQ section of a website is one of the most underutilized sections, especially for wedding pros.
How much time do you spend answering the same questions for each of your leads and clients? A few hours a week? More?
You can reduce that amount of time to just minutes per week by harnessing the power of your FAQ section.
To fill out your FAQs, think about the questions you get a lot. Maybe it’s the timeline for your offer or what add-ons you offer for a particular service. You can also answer questions like “How do I know if we’re the right fit?” to address who you serve (and who you don't serve).
“Why is having a (insert wedding vendor) important?” is a great way to address your USP one more time for those hesitant visitors.
Your FAQ section is full of endless opportunities. Make sure you don’t make it too long, though. Your general FAQ should stick to answering general questions. You can create FAQ sections for one or all of your services to address offer-specific questions.
12. You’re not testing your website copy.
You’re never going to know if your website copy resonates with your audience until you test it.
As a copywriter, I always check my clients’ website metrics to make sure the copy I’ve written for them is doing the job I intended for it.
Pay attention to your analytics. Are there certain pages that are doing way better than others? It takes some investigating to figure out why some copy performs well while other copy performs poorly. If you can crack the code, you can ensure your website is conversion-focused.
This will also help you find blog topics you know your audience is interested in.
Look at metrics like bounce rate, audience demographics, and popular content to determine what’s working and what’s not. You can also survey your audience if you’re looking for the answer to a specific question.
Now that you’ve made it all the way down here, what copywriting mistakes are you going to tackle first?
Let me help you celebrate your progress! Post your progress on Instagram and use tag me @edcreative.co. I’ll see you on the ‘gram!
If you’re looking for more 1-on-1 help, fill out the contact form on my website. I offer website-related services at every price range, from website audits to full-service website copywriting and beyond. Let’s kick your website into high gear and make it work for you instead of causing constant headache!
