Copywriting and Content Mistakes
Welcome to My Website This is your business, treat it that way. Start off with what you do, and identify the benefits, or set the emotional triggers in your copy that people will react to. In addition, that opening hurts you when search engines spider your site, because it's a generic titled.
No Compelling Headlines or Sub-Heads When reading something printed, our eyes see any pictures first, this isn't true online. Website readers see a headline first, then our eyes drift down the page looking for obvious words or terms related to our search. Headlines get attention. Scanners gloss over the bulk of the content and get the gist of the story with only headlines and subheads. Once they know this is what they're looking for, they'll start again this time actually reading the copy.
Underestimating the Importance of Good Content Good content describes what you do and convinces the reader to take action (click, read more, purchase etc.). Good copy is friendly, informative, and engaging. It invites the reader to come back and visit again. It's the reason the visitor signs-up for your newsletter, tells their friends about you, and feels ever-so-comfortable on your website. You might make a sale with bad copy, but that doesn't mean the customer will ever pass you or your business on to others.
Homepage content should not fill the page. You want to say just enough to make the user want to dive in deeper, to click those links. Don't give it all away, create a desire to learn more.
Not Building Copy Around Keywords and Phrases Search engines put sites with relevant keywords and key-phrases higher on the search list. Determine what words your target market would type in to find you; experiment by using those words in a search engine and see what shows up. Build the keywords and key-phrases into your copy, they need to be a natural part of your content. But remember, the words will always be changing, so you will need to update the content on a regular basis.
Not Enough Whitespace Don't clutter up your pages! Use well-placed white space to pull the reader through your content from start to finish. Reading on a computer screen is very tiring on the eyes; online reading is 25% slower than reading print. Make it easy on your customer. Break up your information by use short, attentive sentences, single thought paragraphs, and lots of bullet-point copy.