Website Designers: Is Copywriting Part Of Your Standard Packages?

Website designers are becoming the Swiss Army Knife of the Internet.

They are responsible for designing a high quality, great looking Website that is mobile responsive.

Many also offer SEO services which, usually, are not very effective. Those are two distinctly different disciplines that require different skill sets and lots of experience.

Contrary to what way too many small businesses believe, SEO does NOT get you new customers. Your Website must engage with visitors and get them to take one of your Calls To Action ("conversion"). This is where copywriting becomes very important.

One way to tell if you have a copywriting disaster on your Website is to check the Google Analytics Bounce Rate. This is the percentage of time visitors come to your site and leave without looking at any other pages. If the Bounce Rate is greater than 50%, you have a Website that people don't like. You need a REAL copywriter.

Sadly, all the page 1 rankings in the world will not get you one customer if your Website is a copywriting disaster.

I'll pipe up. If the client needs copywriting on their website I will suggest a copywriter they can hire. Otherwise, all content is usually stipulated to be provided by the client. Copywriting is a fine art and if a person wants to have a quality website they'll spend the money and time on quality writing.

Our first few sites ended in disaster because we expected our clients to write the copy, but our clients were not writers. They were business people running businesses. It also slowed down the time we were able to deliver our work. That all changed two years ago when we decided that it would be better for all involved if we added that as a service we provide.

We spend a lot of time talking about the copy before it ever goes on a site. Some of our clients insist on writing their own copy, but they account for maybe 15% of our clients. For those clients we do a lot of editing, consulting, and coaching to help them craft a tight, cohesive message. We also keep an eye on the keyword strategy to keep building that SEO juice

For all of our other clients, we do the writing. Not just on the website, but also their blog posts, social media promotion, email marketing, ads, all of it. They give us some direction, but we maintain a firm grip on sticking to the strategy and the message.

Hi Kathleen,

Good question! Thanks for asking. Here's my answer--it depends!

Most business owners are not writers by nature. Writing good content and copy is an art, just as designing a website is an art. I think if a website designer doesn't feel comfortable offering copywrighting themselves, they should definitely have some good relationships with copywrighters they trust so they can recommend them to the client. If not, you risk designing a fabulous site that doesn't produce leads, conversions and a higher profit. Then it's possible the client could blame you! Every piece of content and copy should be strategically designed to convince prospects to take action.

So, if the client has copywrighters on staff or if they have that skill, they may be better off to create their own. But they should really look at how much time and energy it might take away from their other business tasks.

Yes I do offer copywrighting to my clients--both the clients who are having me design their website, and to others who simply need good copy for an existing site.

If you have questions, feel free to reach out via Alignable messages, email me or call. I'm happy to offer suggestions.

Kathleen, as you have probably discovered, "copy" has too many meanings, especially in the world of websites. When a client provides 'copy', they usually have someone who can write, or possibly even someone with communication experience. And words are sent for the website developer. That's 'copy' by some definitions, but it's not "copy that sells."

This new and modern 'do it yourself' world has tricked people into doing everything themselves. Self checkout at the BigBox store, filling your own car with gas, doing your own banking without tellers, fixing up your own house, etc. This has led to a belief that anyone can do anything and, 'if I do it myself, I save money'.

However, a sales environment involves persuasion and influence instead of merely checking out. The DIY attitude can be fatal to the business- kinda like do-it-yourself open heart surgery. (You already have knives, right?). You might save some money, but the results will have long lasting detrimental benefits.

So many mechanical website builders, who don't understand the importance of sales funnels, marketing copy, and persuasion and influence, only provide pretty sites.

Sadly, many business owners do not know the difference either. And pay for a site that doesn't generate the money it should.

Helping business owners see the value of services such as ours is challenging. Everyone thinks they are a writer. And everyone believes they are persuasive.

As an aside, I avoid the term 'copywriting' because most people associate it with the legal area of copyright. so 'copywriting for websites' would immediately introduce confusion. And confused people never buy.

Thanks for the question. It's one of those that needs to be brought up but few designers understand the real purpose of a website is to sell- not to look pretty.

Would really enjoy a longer conversation. Send a connect if you have the time and that sounds like fun. Mark

We always ask who is producing the content for a website and then offer copy writing where appropriate.

Copy writing is not something you should expect from your web designer or any designer. It's a completely separate skill that warrants respect on it's own.

Design is visual communication while copy is written communication.

Copy writing can be included in a standard package, but it should not be assumed, in my opinion.

In my experience investing in it is well worth the return.

That's exactly what why we're starting to market directly to web developers, designers and SEO pros. Content delay is real, but the bigger issue, as stated here by others, is the quality of client-provided content. The way to address both is to either build in content costs into your proposal or persuade clients of the value of professional content at the outset of the project. Content isn't an add-on service; it's a vital component of a successful site. Effective content is what separates a successful website (meaning it generates leads and converts visitors) from an unsuccessful one (with a high bounce rate and no leads). I'll be glad to talk to anyone about the benefits of professional content (and blog posts, newsletters, etc.) for free, as education is part of our mission. But once I start writing or editing, I have to charge you. Our advantage is that we're a partnership, so everything is professionally edited. Yet, we're still affordable. (OK, sales talk is over; thanks for reading.)

I'm going to agree with a comment above that Copy means different things to people.

To me, you can get copy all day long on Fiverr and many of them even say they do SEO.

But, a copywriter is a whole new ball game that will likely cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, just like good SEO.

So to me a web designer offering copy is like my car mechanic offering to wire my house. 2 totally different specialties. Sure he may be able to do it, but I want a specialist in that field when my life may depend on it.

Kathleen,

As a webmaster, I used to offer it on the project plans but its extremely rare for a client to even select copywriting so I just stopped offering it.

The other point is that just as with web design, the pricing and quality for copywriting varies so much.

If I were to offer it as part of a package then I would have to guarantee the quality of the copywriting. And I wouldn't know how to even go about gauging the quality of copy writing aside from just directly measuring conversion rate and other metrics.

Its easier to just focus on what I understand vs something that I don't.

We include copywriting if needed. If copy exists, we provide copy editing. Handling copy creates a better client experience and ensures our projects adhere to the timeline for the project. The biggest risk of any project is content so we address that issue head on.