Writing a copy for a B2B website takes skill and expertise. When done well, the copy will attract, captivate, and convert website visitors. When done poorly, the brand looks sloppy, dull, or disconnected.
In this post, we provide tips from our experienced team of copywriters for B2B websites on how to write great copy that positions your brand as experts.
Web copy vs print copy
Before typing your first word, it is important to understand the main difference between a copy written for a B2B website and a copy written for print. People interact with copies on a website differently than they do with copies in a magazine or book. When they look at a company’s website, they are looking for important information or answers to questions. When reading a magazine or book, they are usually looking for entertainment or a deeper understanding of a topic.
Because of this difference, the way a web copy is written is critical to whether or not it resonates with the audience. Long, challenging copies on a website can put visitors off because it is difficult to find the information they need. Similarly, a vague or unclear copy will leave them perplexed and likely sent to a competitor for an answer.
It is important to understand how your target audience will interact with your copy of your website before creating it. Keep this in mind as you write and edit.
Capture attention immediately
They say we now have a goldfish’s attention span, which is roughly eight seconds. Be sure to keep this in mind when making a website copy. You don’t have 10-15 seconds to draw the reader in and convince them to scroll down the page. In fact, I’d say you have less than 5 seconds to get their attention and convince them that they are in the right place.
The most successful copy of the B2B website starts by stating exactly what the page is discussing – clearly in a heading or subheading. This is not the time to let the visitor guess. It’s time to be direct and clear. Don’t wait halfway down the page to get to the main point of the page. Start there, then provide more information as the visitor navigates the page.
Be precise
It’s probably been eight seconds since you read that part about a goldfish’s attention span, so we’re going to repeat it here. Not only will your target audience be busy and distracted, but they are likely to be overwhelmed with information and may not be sure where to start looking for the product or service they need – or even if they need it at all! While writing copy on your B2B website should explain the who / what / when / where / why of your products and services, it needs to be as precise as possible.
A great website copy comes in, makes the point, gets out. Once you have made a point, there is no need to further argue. Unfortunately, many authors fail here when copying the website. You really want to drive the point home so dive deep into it. Most successful web copywriters understand that they can do a point in 1 to 2 sentences, while most others need 4 to 5 sentences.
We recommend that you make your copy and then edit it significantly. It should make sense and flow well, but don’t take 10 words to say something that can be passed down in three.
Optimizing for search engines (SEO)
Optimizing a website for search engines is a crucial way to get your business ahead of your target market. All successful B2B copywriters know the importance of search engine optimization in generating new leads. If you work with a writer who is SEO resistant, they will not understand lead generation and will likely not be suitable for writing your B2B website copy.
Search engine (and people) optimization is about more than just incorporating the keywords you choose. A well-optimized page on your website has a proper keyword distribution, an organized page with a main topic and subtopics, clear descriptions and titles of images or media, clear and concise headings and sub-headings, and short URLs that are also descriptive.
Effective B2B website copywriters understand these SEO best practices and consider the bigger picture when creating copy.