The dreaded Blank Page. It won’t write itself.
Copy Writing For Small Business Websites
Content is king — but also the most common cause of unnecessary delays in web design projects. Content delays often cost more in missed opportunities than professional writing would. They even kill some website projects before they ever launch. So this website content writing package can help to keep small business website projects on track.
Why You Need Professional Website Content Writing
A website is a frame for presenting your content effectively. So it’s more effective to design that around your content.
Ideally, you’d be able to provide well-written, search-engine optimised sales copy for your website up front. After all, it’s your site, so you should write the content, right? Maybe — but that’s harder than many people realise.
The Problem With Creating Website Content
Most people underestimate how long it takes to write business website content — and its value. It isn’t simple, and mistakes will cost you sales.
So no, you can’t just write whatever you want, and no, you weren’t taught to write effectively for the web in school. Online reading habits don’t match traditional writing models.
How To Write Website Content
Didn’t that make sense yesterday?
Web audiences expect websites to answer several basic questions within fairly standard structures. So get those right, and you can launch — then plan to add more content later. Adding fresh, useful content regularly is great “content marketing” in any case. So many businesses invest in CMS websites to allow that.
Still, you’re the expert on your business. So you will need to create a detailed content plan. It’s just best to do that with professional help.
Then you’ll need to focus on your audience and answer their questions, not write for yourself. It’s best to double-check each statement, no matter how well you know your topic.
Also remember that your audience doesn’t know what you know. Some points — especially industry jargon — may need further explanation. Others may need supporting references, like quotations or links to non-competing sites that add weight to your statements.
Next, you’ll need to check for typos, spelling, punctuation, grammar, structure and readability. Professional writers rely on sub-editors and editors for proof reading, because it needs “fresh eyes”. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait a day or two before you can see the flaws in your own work. Then read it aloud — and hone it repeatedly.
The only kind of writing is rewriting — Ernest Hemingway
Small Business Website Content Writing
Wait — so my fruit sales are competing with Apple?
Even then, the core pages of business websites don’t just need well-written copy. They need persuasive, search optimised sales copy. SEO and sales copy writing are valuable skills in themselves.
Good structure and readability help SEO a lot, but picking the right topics and search terms to focus on is critical, too. So here’s the catch — the keywords you want to rank for are probably wrong.
SEO experts see a lot of stats on what people really search for. Often, the popular search phrases aren’t quite what you’d expect. Even when they are, a brand new website may not have enough authority to compete on the most popular ones. You may need to target less competitive terms first.
Another common mistake is not writing enough. Like it or not, the more words you have on a page, the more phrases it’s likely to rank for, especially if they are all on one topic.
Besides, search engines may undervalue pages under three hundred words, so five hundred is a safer minimum target. Longer articles of up to a few thousand words often work even better.
Small blocks are also easier to read and to write. So homepages often consist of multiple small text blocks, with longer articles with simpler layouts for the rest of the site.
Are Pictures (And Videos) Worth A Thousand Words?
Why delay? Wouldn’t you rather get on with this?
Images don’t impress search engines much, but do help your audience. Illustrative images build trust because we process and remember them faster than text.
So if you haven’t got relevant professional quality images lined up, you’ll need to source at least one for each page. Whilst stock images can work for this, they aren’t ideal. The more clichéd ones can even undermine your credibility and sales. So it’s worth investing in professional photography if you can, or at least a decent paid stock media library.
Video marketing is even more effective. Professional-looking videos build trust and measurable engagement — which tends to reduce marketing costs.
Do You Need Content Creation Help?
All that barely scratches the surface of what’s involved in professional website content writing for small businesses. Would you rather spend weeks on all that, or on setting up and running your business?
The sooner you launch, the fewer opportuniities you’ll miss. So I offer a basic copy writing package to help you get your project moving.
A Basic Website Copy Writing Package
This package covers up to 5 pages of copy writing (~500 words each), with one stock image per page and up to three rounds of revision. Normally, this covers your “Home” and “About” pages, plus up to 3 Service or Product pages. Contact, Testimonial and Gallery/Portfolio pages rarely need this service. Likewise, bulk ecommerce product pages tend to be shorter, so please enquire about help with those.
We will still need to discuss your offers, key selling points and company background in detail, and this service doesn’t include the qualified legal help you’ll need to create your site’s legal pages. For those, I recommend specialist legal solutions for T&Cs and Cookie/Privacy Policy pages.
- 5.0 from 28 reviews
- 24-05-2023
Dave M.
Thanks, Pete! Since you updated my site, business has gone crazy – I now have more work than I know what to do with!
- 04-04-2023
Mark R
I use Netcentrics for all my business needs. Always a professional, super-prompt and to date flawless service. Excellent.
- 02-03-2023
Ceri E
A fantastic service! We are a small business just starting out with a new venture. Pete at Netcentrics has gone above and beyond to provide us with not only a fantastic website, but also invaluable business and marketing advice. The whole process has been incredibly positive and beyond what we expected compared to previous experiences. He is incredibly knowledgeable and supportive. His support did not stop at the end of the website build, he has continued to make himself available ensuring that we know how to maximise use of the website for our start up. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Pete to anyone.
- 18-11-2022
Janet L
Thanks, Pete — your advice is like gold dust!
- 21-08-2022
Barbara H
Oh my goodness, thank you so much! In over 20 years of online retailing this is the best and most comprehensive bit of help I’ve ever had relating to the dreaded SEO. I really appreciate it — many thanks again
- 07-11-2021
Sam G.
You’re amazing — highly recommended!
- 16-06-2021
Abid Hussain
Amazing service. Professional and outstanding company to deal with. Pete has great understanding with online requirements and core issue’s. Spent hours on the telephone explaining and working on the website to bring it up-to-date. Noting but gratitude and respect to Netcentric. Highly recommend to any one through my experience they have gone above and beyond.
- 15-05-2021
SakineO‑1
Pete is the most professional and knowledgeable web developer I have experienced since 2016 as I have had many since. You won’t regret. I highly recommend him.
- 05-10-2020
Paul Mercer
- 26-08-2020
Susan Baynham-Evans
Peter expertise is exactly what I needed . When I have ideas Pete makes them work. I could not run my website without him
- 09-07-2020
Emma Cunliffe
Can’t recommend him highly enough. He was extremely professional, laid out exactly what we needed to do and his role within that, setting expectations all round very clearly, and working within our budgetary constraints to set clear boundaries. He was extremely prompt and punctual in his responses and work. He was also extremely patient with his recommendations and explanations, which were clear and simple to follow. Excellent value for us as a charity. We’re very grateful to him — he was a real pleasure to work with.
- 05-06-2020
Graham Smith
knowledgeable and professional service designing and building a website for a local SME business.
- 05-06-2020
Keary Birch
Very helpful staff who really understood the problem and dealt with it.
- 05-06-2020
Ali van Dam
First rate! Knowledgeable, professional and creative. I would absolutely use Netcentrics again for future projects.
- 05-06-2020
Barbara Harris
Amazing, professional service and speedy communications. Very impressed and highly recommended.
- 05-06-2020
JWComp Sol
Netcentrics designed, implemented and have maintained our company website for many years.If you want a secure and reliable website I strongly recommend Netcentrics.
- 21-12-2019
Alison van Dam
I can’t say enough good things about Netcentrics.co.uk — thorough, knowledgeable, dedicated and innovative. Highly recommended.
- 05-12-2019
Helen Rich
Very pleased with my new e‑commerce site from Netcentrics. Very professional, knowledgeable, and highly recommended.
- 05-06-2019
Mark Davies
I have been using Netcentrics’ SEO service and they have impressively managed to get over 250 of my keywords onto the first page of the search results. A very friendly and thoroughly professional service. Highly recommended.
- 05-06-2018
andrew cocchiara
Many thank’s Pete for all your advice and expertise over the years. A first class professional service and excellent value for money.
- 15-03-2018
Tim D
Just saw that my site is now in 2nd place on the first page of Google. I’m not sure what you have done, nor do I understand it, but it worked! Many thanks!
- 24-02-2018
Paul G
It is a pleasure dealing with a professional with a high degree of technical skill allied to a ‘can do’ positive attitude. Your ability to explain technical concepts in layman’s language is also a great advantage. I would have no hesitation in recommending your services.
- 03-01-2018
Lisa
Excellent and professional work from beginning to end. Pete was open to ideas and able to make suggestions on how to develop my site.
- 05-06-2017
Ian A
Fast, friendly, efficient service that exceeded the spec and made a complicated job hassle free for me. Five stars, would highly recommend and would happily employ again for all things web and internet based.
- 05-06-2017
Mo Rich
A flourishing web designer, who is thorough and meticulous in everything he does. Will create a great looking unique and professional website particular to your needs.
- 14-09-2016
Ian A
Pete is one of the most creative, reliable, competent and ingenious people it has ever been my very great pleasure to work with. There is no problem he can’t find an ingenious and unexpected way out of, and he has a work ethic you could bend horseshoes around. I cannot recommend him highly enough for his breadth and depth of knowledge and his total commitment to whichever project he is currently undertaking.
- 31-05-2015
Jayne H
DogLost is the UK’s largest community of pet owners and rescuers. Other developers have struggled to meet our needs, but since Peter rebuilt our site and support systems we have gone from strength to strength, winning major awards including the 2013 Innovation Award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. We couldn’t have done that without him.
- 19-11-2013
Codyspetdeli
Cody’s Pet Deli is an online business that sells pet food & accessories. Approaching Pete to set up a new website was the best move I have made. We wanted a system that was easy to navigate and look good when customers shop online.Pete made the whole process simple and dealing with him was a great pleasure. He can’t do enough to help and solve any problem that may arise. I would highly recommend Pete for his experience and knowledge and total dedication to see the project through to final conclusion.Steve H.