The Importance of Good Website Copy

A professionally presented business website is a strong and important promotional tool. It’s the first thing prospective customers will look at before they decide to contact you. If the copy on your website is not written to an acceptable standard, it may be costing you business. It is not sufficient just to have impressive graphics and imagery, you need the words to make it complete. Is the spelling correct? Are punctuation marks in place? Does the copy make sense? These are questions that website designers should be asking themselves before they publish a new website.

One of the greatest mistakes with website copy is inconsistency. A lack of consistency could deter a large proportion of would-be clients from hiring the services of a company that has not proofread their website.

Poor spelling on a website is another costly but avoidable mistake. The majority of visitors will leave the site very soon if they discover too many spelling mistakes. This again will give them the impression that the site owners don’t really care. I am also convinced that copy that has been ‘padded out’ with insignificant trivia is also unattractive for visitors. Lucid, concise and informative content is recommended.

Anything containing textual content must always be proofread. It’s important that not only are errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar found and corrected, but that the text flows smoothly for the reader. The copy on a website should not be seen as the ‘poor relation’ of the website design project. You can have the most up-to-date, eye-catching graphics available but you will still require well-written copy to compliment them.

There are lotsof web design firms around that will willingly tell visitors how they can supply them with a state-of-the-art website but then use second-rate copy, which totally negates any good work they have achieved. This will reduce the initial impact of the site, and more often than not will have an adverse effect on business. However, there are also website design companies that use skilled writers so shop around. It pays to have the copy checked professionally, whether the web design company has written it themselves or had it supplied by the client. It may cost much less than you think to have a website proofread and it could cost you much more if you don’t!

Remember, if visitors to your website cannot find the information they are looking for because of poorly written copy then they will quickly leave your website. The only ones to benefit will be your competitors.