Even after I became a copywriter, I barely understood what copywriting was.
(Clients just asked me to write stuff, and I did.)
It wasn’t until I started specializing in website copy that I truly understood how all the elements of copywriting and digital marketing worked together.
Before we get into the meat and bones of this blog post, I want you to understand that copywriting elements make sense when you understand how they all work together.
There isn’t just one single thing that’s going to sell your services and book out your business. Good marketing is about a hundred good things working together that result in you making sales.
So, because learning these different elements is intimidating, here’s a list of copywriting terminology that I believe all small business owners selling online should know.
Above the Fold
The content that’s visible on a webpage without any scrolling, making it prime real estate for capturing attention.
The term actually came from the newspaper world. If something was visible above the fold on a newspaper, you knew it was a big deal because it was the most visible piece of the paper.
This post explains everything you need above the fold on your website homepage.
Backlink
A link from another website that points back to your website, which helps boost your SEO optimization. Getting high quality backlinks to your site tells Google that you’re trustworthy, and she’ll reward you with more traffic.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave a website after only viewing one page. Having a high bounce rate means that your site is lacking some features or messaging that keeps people engaged.
Brand
Your business’s identity. This includes your business’s tone of voice, imagery, messaging, what you’re known for, and what you stand for.
People can build a business without building a brand. Building a brand helps increase your credibility with your audience and future people you’re looking to attract.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
The specific instruction you give the reader to take the next step, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for your email list, or booking a call.
CTAs should be specific and clear. As in, you need to tell them exactly what to do or show the benefit of following through with the CTA. “Book a Call” and “Start Your Project” are good CTAs. “Learn More” isn’t usually a good CTA, because it’s not specific enough.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The rate at which people click on a link in an email or on a webpage.
Content
Any informative, educational, and value-driven material you provide to your audience, separate from direct sales copy. The words that make up a blog post or social media post are frequently referred to as content.
Yes, there is some cross over between what’s considered copy and what’s considered content. Don’t worry too much about getting it correct all the time.
Conversion
The specific action you want your audience to take, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for your email list, or something else.
A conversion rate of 5% on a website is considered pretty good.
Copy
The actual written words that make up your marketing. Copy is designed to persuade and compel your audience to take action. Copy is most often found in ads, sales pages, sales emails, and websites.
Basically, the copy is the words that sell your stuff.
Copywriting
The art and science of writing persuasive words (copy) in order to compel people to take action.
Eyebrow Copy
The text that appears above the main headline, helping to set the stage and pique the reader’s interest.
Sometimes eyebrow copy is a good place to include relevant keywords if you’re not sure how to include them more naturally in your body copy.
Features vs. Benefits
Features describe what your product or service is. They are very clear, bullet pointed items on what’s included in a product or service.
Benefits explain how your offer will solve your client’s problems or improve their life.
When writing copy, focusing on the benefits is highly effective, instead of just focusing on the features. Benefits-forward copy helps paint a picture of the results someone will get when they book with you. It’s much more emotion-driven.
Funnel
The step-by-step process you guide your prospects through, from initial awareness to completed sale (and beyond).
It’s called a funnel because not everyone who starts on this process will complete it. You need to catch a lot of people at the top of the funnel (your audience) in order to make sales (bottom of the funnel.)
Headline
The most important line of copy on the page – it needs to grab attention and make the reader want to keep reading. When working on website copy, I refer to the headline as the H1 of the page, or the very first big text you see on the page.
Header
The title or introductory text that appears at the top of a webpage, blog post, or other piece of content.
I also refer to headers as the big text introducing a section of a webpage, that might not be the main headline of the page, but it’s still important to grab attention and help the reader understand the copy to come.
Keyword
The specific words and phrases you optimize a webpage or site around to improve search engine ranking.
You can (and probably should) have multiple keywords within a single page or blog post on your website, but only having one focus keyword per page can help you optimize your content for SEO better.
Lead Magnet
A free offer used to capture contact information from prospective clients, usually their email address.
A good lead magnet gives away something people want or answers a question they have. Don’t overwhelm people with information when you’re creating a lead magnet. Just give them a taste of your expertise and how you can help them.
Nurture Sequence
An automated series of emails sent to subscribers after they download your freebie/lead magnet. This series is meant to help “nurture” your relationship with the subscriber.
By the end of the email sequence, they will feel like they know you and your brand more and have a strong understanding of your expertise.
Opt-In
When a user willingly provides their contact information, typically an email address, in exchange for something of value (freebie/lead magnet/promise of a juicy email list.)
Pain Points
The specific challenges, frustrations, and struggles your target audience is facing that your offering can help alleviate.
Your audience doesn’t need to be constantly reminded what their pain points are (because they’re living with them each day), but you should understand what their pain points are so you can create empathetic content.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The tactics and strategies needed to optimize content to rank higher in search engine results.
Subheader
Smaller headings that break up longer blocks of copy and provide additional context. In your web builder, these might look like H2s or H3s.
Tagline
A concise, memorable phrase that communicates your brand’s value and/or the benefits of working with you.
This post goes into how Apple came up with their tagline and why you probably shouldn’t copy them.
Target Audience
Your ideal customer — I call them your *soulmate* clients.
This is the specific person you’ve identified as most likely to buy from you. When writing copy, narrow down your target audience as if you’re talking to only one person, rather than a group of people. Speaking directly to your soulmate client helps make your copy more personal.
Value Proposition
A statement that explains the unique benefits your product or service provides to your target client. It should be only 1-2 sentences maximum.
(That said, I don’t like Value Props that much because people tend to be too technical or jargon-y when writing value props. I use something else within my own projects to help you communicate your value, but that’s for another blog post.)
Need some help with your copywriting?
A bunch of copywriting terminology is great, but what if you need a little bit more support than a beginner’s vocab list?
I’ve gotchu. Here’s how you can get further copywriting support for your business.
Check out my copywriting services: Need some conversational copy that is optimized to grow your business and connect with your people? Check out my services here.
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