Copywriting for business owners
Copywriting is the art of putting words on pages.
How they engage your readers can either make or break your business.
Hi, I'm Chris. I have 15+ years of website management, copywriting and SEO experience. Here's how my copywriting for business owners works.
What is copywriting for businesses?
Copywriting, at its heart, is simply the process of writing for an audience, about something. For businesses, it’s usually about informing a potential customer, and getting them interested your product or service. Also known as 'buyer intent.'
Copywriting done poorly can really turn off someone reading it – but when done well, can make them want to buy from you. It establishes you and your business as the best out there for that customer.
There are many pitfalls out there when it comes to copywriting for businesses. The main one, in my experience, is failing to properly address the customer’s problem, and how you’ll solve it. Good copy doesn’t need to be long – it just needs to pinpoint the pain.
Overly indulgent copywriting can be another issue. Think of a really good email, webpage or advert you’ve seen, if you can. It was probably punchy, got to the point quickly, and hooked you in – without swamping you with too many long words, or being too complex or overly formal.
How to nail your copywriting
One of the best ways of producing marketing and sales copywriting is to simply record yourself (or whoever is most knowledgeable about your business) on a voice note, talking about what is so great about the service or product. Then essentially, that’s your copy (with minor edits).
This applies to most if not all forms of copywriting: emails, webpages, social media, advertising.
Getting your messaging right
It’s so common for businesses to gush about how brilliant they are in their marketing copy – instead of putting the intended reader first. I know that, because early in my career it was something that I did a lot - and wondered why engagement analytics weren't great!
For instance, a garden design company might say, ‘we are the no.1 landscaping company in your area, we install beautiful garden designs and can upgrade patios, lawns, borders and trees.’
That’s nice. But how engaging is it?
What we could try and do instead is flip it around, so that we are addressing the customer’s problem. The problem could be that a person is feeling guilty or despondent whenever they look at their garden, and can’t fathom doing all the work by themselves to get it looking glorious. And over the summer months, that might be playing on their mind even more.
So, I’d try something like this:
‘Tired of looking at your overgrown, unloved, and messy outdoor space? Overwhelmed with the thought of renovating an entire garden by yourself? Or simply curious about unlocking the therapeutic potential of your garden? We’ll fix your garden woes (with our garden hoes) and give you the outdoor area you’ve always dreamed of – without costing a fortune.’
How to make your copy more readable
It’s widely known in the copywriting industry that the average reading age of adults is roughly around 11-12 years old. The mind boggles! (Surely, you thought, people will be impressed by the authority of our technical language and 50 word sentences?!)
Add in the fact that most people have a very short attention span when it comes to ads, emails and webpages, and you’re facing a nightmare just trying to get them to stick around and read what you’re telling them about.
But what this does mean is that you can write in a much simpler, more informal way than you thought possible.
Think about how you’d tell someone about your business and services in person: you’d probably not use words like, ‘undoubtedly,’ ‘nevertheless,’ or ‘therefore.’ Instead, you’d be telling them all about you in much plainer English. And that idea is exactly right for communicating with your future (or existing) customers.
Sentence structure and length is really important too, and it ties into the average reading age and readability. Long sentences are harder to read, and we want to make the user experience great by making our communications punchy. So we add in short sentences. We use short words instead of long ones. And we can even start sentences against typical grammatical rules, which start with prepositions like ‘and,’ or ‘but.’ It works!
Tie that together with good SEO keyword research (so that we’re targeting what people are searching for online), and we’ll end up with copy that sings – and importantly, grabs people’s attention.
My copywriting services for business owners
For websites, great copywriting goes hand in hand with Search Engine Optimisation – as a webpage’s copy is a big part of what search engines assess when they rank a webpage it. I use my 15+ years of copywriting experience to make sure your webpage's copy not only targets these keywords, but is compelling and authentic too.
If we're writing for socials, email marketing, customer communications, brochures or ads, I'll make sure the copywriting ties everything together so that not only is it a great read, but sounds just like you and your brand.
Copywriting services: the process
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Brief / review: you could be starting from scratch with the thing you need to be written; or you might want a refresh of an existing piece (or pieces) of copy. If it’s the former, you can either send me a brief, or I can work with you to develop one. If it’s a refresh of existing copy, send it over to me, and I’ll review it for you.
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Proposal: in my review, I’ll set out what I think needs doing, and how much it’ll cost. (3 business days from when you send the copy or brief).
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Action & sign off: I’ll get to work on the copy that needs creating, using any existing brand or tone of voice guidelines. If you don’t have these, I might need to do some prep work with you to establish how you envisage your brand sounding. I’ll send you a document in draft for you to make any amends, and sign off on. If you need the copy adding to webpages or any other format, I can do that too. (depending on how big the job is, from 3-5 business days).
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Completion: all works are completed, and I invoice you (within 14 business days of the brief/review request).
Price
The cost of any copywriting work depends on the amount of copy that needs reviewing / writing. I know that's probably quite obvious, but it all depends on the amount of time it'll take to conjure up your brand new, magical copy!
I work on an hourly rate, so if it's a two-sided flyer for example, it might take me two hours (£60); but if you're looking to upgrade webpage copy with SEO keyword research, it might take a little longer. Your review and proposal will outline what's needed, with transparent costs.
I also understand that small businesses often work on limited budgets, so I'm happy to discuss paying in instalments, if the job is on the larger side.
Timescales
Once the brief or copy to review is supplied to me, I aim to produce the review and proposal for you within 3 business days.
The implementation of the copywriting work will then be finished within 14 business days (or sooner, depending on the size of the job) following the approval to go ahead with the work.
What success looks like
Successful copywriting for businesses looks like:
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Webpages that feel like they naturally flow, are easy to read, and sound like you (i.e. your brand’s tone of voice)
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Less blocks of long, unreadable text on your webpages
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Immediate clarity on what you do, and how your customers’ problems will be solved
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Customer communications that actually convert leads into sales
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Emails that get more opens and click-throughs than they did before
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Brochures and magazines that feel really readable
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More enquiries from the contact form on your website
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More engagement with your social media posts.
Copywriting - Frequently Asked Questions
I think my website copy is ok – why should I bother changing it?
To a certain extent, you are right: your website copy is OK. But could your website copy be upgraded to great? In my experience, there’s usually room for improvement. One way to find out is to look at your Google analytics. If you’re seeing plenty of traffic to your website, but a high bounce rate, low time spent on page, or less enquiries than you’d like, then these are the signals that your copy could do with a refresh.
I like writing my own copy. What do you bring to the table?
I’m not usually one to brag, but I do have 15+ years of copywriting experience under my belt. It’s something I’m really passionate about – the power of words – and I’m always looking for ways to improve how something is written. If you’re a business owner, then your number one superpower is your passion for your own business. But when you’re in the thick of it all, it can sometimes be difficult to see what you do from the outside in. That’s where it’s useful to get the help of an expert who can see what you do objectively, and help recharge your copywriting using a professional copywriter’s toolkit.
Can’t I just use ChatGPT to write all my copy?
There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from using AI tools to write copy. In fact, I often ask Copilot for help – but usually only for layout ideas, or strategy. At this moment in time, unless you can master AI prompts to give really informed and detailed directions, then your copy might end up with the aroma of being written by artificial intelligence. If a user spots any of these signs (like certain words and structures frequently used by AI, or generic sounding waffle) then it can affect buyer trust. That’s why getting a human copywriting expert on board is a great idea, instead of simply asking ChatGPT to write everything in a few milliseconds.
How does good copywriting work with Search Engine Optimisation?
Copywriting and SEO are the best of friends: with proper keyword research and targeting, copywriting becomes one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. That’s because not only is your copy then persuasive, but it’s also really definitively telling search engines what the content is about. The end result is engaging webpages which rank higher on SERPs (search engine results pages), and ultimately get you more leads.
Is copywriting expensive?
It depends on how much copywriting there is to do. It’s certainly a much higher cost than asking ChatGPT to write everything for you, but what your money does get you is an expert human eye and brain. This will make your copy much more natural, human-sounding, and ultimately, engender more buyer trust. Many copywriters work on a per-word basis, but I tend to assess on a case-by-case basis. One relatively short webpage taking me an hour might cost as little as £30, but longer ones could take several hours, at around £60, £90 or £120 per page.
