Website Copywriting – Market Research Made EZ

When writing our website copy, it’s tempting to write what we think will promote us best – what we do, what we’ve done, how we do it. Sadly, all this talk about ourselves is usually of no concern to our readers. They tend to bore easily it seems.

Of far greater interest, it turns out, is talk about them! Specifically, what they do, what they want to do, and how they can do it better.

But how do you figure out WHAT your readers want from your website? That is, without spending thousands on market research? Good news, it’s already been done for you!

Three Fun and EZ Research Tips:

• Look at Magazine Headlines and Table of Contents. Health, women’s issues, sports, decorating – you name it, there’s a magazine for it. You want to go for the high-production value – Cosmo, Prevention, House and Garden – they hire writers just to do titles. That’s millions of dollars of research, development, and targeting for free.

• Look at your High-Ranking Competitors. What are they doing with content, layout, design, SEO, color, graphics, audio, video, and offers? They’re doing something right to rank highly, so study and implement.

• Watch the News. Any news event can be relevant to your market. I don’t care what it is. Let’s take the very recent example of a certain Congressman asked to resign for sending inappropriate tweets…

Your Market…The (sometimes inappropriate) Reframe

Health…How Mr. C got the abs to land so many hotties!

Women’s Issues…Mr. C’s secrets of attracting women, and how your hubbie can learn from him.

Sports…How to fit a grueling training regimen into a 14-hour workday.

Decorating…When Harry met Sally – How does The Bachelor adapt to a new wife’s decorating whims?

You get the idea.

Bottom Line: Do your research. It doesn’t have to be a drag, it can even be fun, and in about 3 hours you can find out exactly what your market likes and what they’re responding to.