Here at Dark Roast Copy Co. we do things a little differently. Yes, it makes it really hard for me to describe what I do when I go to networking events, but the results it gets my clients? Can’t beat that.
So if we were meeting at a networking event and you asked me what I do (and didn’t get annoyed when I talked for 10 minutes straight) this is what I would tell you about my job as a website copywriter.
What does a website copywriter do?
The short version: A website copywriter writes the words on your business’s website.
Every business has a website, and every website has words. Those words are either helping you get more traffic, more sales, more signups, and more clients, or they’re just a pretty online billboard you pay for.
A website copywriter’s job is to make sure it’s the first one. I write the words that go on your site so you can build your reputation, sell more of what you offer, and show up higher in Google and online search.
Why your website copywriter should come before your designer
Most people treat website copy as an afterthought. It’s the icing you add once the photos and layout are done, or something you tweak at the end.
That’s an inefficient way to build a website that helps you hit your business goals. Your copy is the foundation that all your sales funnel through. Everything else sits on top of it.
In an ideal world, you’d hire your website copywriter before you ever talk to a designer or start building anything. When the words come first, the design can be built around what the site actually needs to say and do, instead of squeezing the words into a layout that was never made for them.
What does a website copywriter do that ChatGPT can’t?
You can ask ChatGPT to write some words that convert. (It doesn’t work, lol.) You can also hire a copywriter who describes your business semi-accurately, in words that sound like every one of your competitors.
Neither one gets you what a website is actually for: moving someone from “I like her” to “I’m hiring her right now.”
The work that makes that happen isn’t the typing. It’s figuring out why people already buy from you and putting it in the right order on the page. That’s what my process is built around.
How a website copywriter works: my three-part process
My process is probably more in-depth than what a lot of website and sales page copywriters do. I care about copy that does the heavy lifting for your business, not nice words that stroke your ego and look good on the page.
(By the way, my process is so streamlined that I can do this for you in just one week, so check out my website in a week package if you’d like copy that converts by this time next month.)
Step 1: Signal mining
If your offer is good, there are already psychological reasons people buy it. Those reasons exist in your business right now. You’re just too deep in the trenches to see them.
I call the first stage signal mining. I ask you a ton of questions about your business, including the ones you’d never think to ask yourself, so we can pull out the signals that move someone from browser to buyer.
I’m there as the advocate for the person on the other side of the screen who really wants to hire you. My job is to ask what they’d want to know, so they can get closer to solving their problem (aka hiring you!)
Sometimes the best line on your website comes from you, not me. A client will describe their work in passing and say something genius, and I swipe it. A good copywriter doesn’t let a great idea go to waste just because it didn’t start in her own head.
Step 2: Conversion mapping
Next, we map those signals onto the journey someone takes from landing on your site to being pre-sold on working with you by the time they get on a call.
That journey is a series of beliefs that have to shift while they read. I map it out like I’m walking through the internal monologue of someone reading your website, and I match each signal to the belief it needs to move.
Every section of your site has a job. Nothing is there just because websites usually have it.
Step 3: Translation
Then comes the writing. I take the signals we know already work and the map we built, and I translate them into the language your ideal clients are already using and understanding.
That translation becomes the draft of your website copy. It sounds like your business, speaks to your buyers, and doesn’t sound like every other site in your industry.
What does a website copywriter do about SEO?
I handle the SEO of your website so you can be found in search. That includes the behind-the-scenes pieces that make a site look professional, like title tags and meta descriptions, plus the way the copy itself is built for the terms your buyers are searching.
This is a big part of why my clients hire me: they want SEO for their site, but they have no idea where to start. Good news, that’s what you’re hiring me for.
What does a website copywriter do with your designer?
Once the copy is done, I work with your designer or pass the baton, depending on what you need.
The copy is delivered a Google Doc laid out like a wireframe, so your designer can see where everything goes and what each section is meant to do. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of the build, and it’s one of the reasons the handoff tends to be the easiest part of the project.
From there, the site practically builds itself, because the strategy and the words are already in place. I’ll make sure it’s ready to go live either way.
A website copywriter case study: words that match the caliber of the work
A website and brand designer came to me because she felt like the words on her site didn’t match the quality of her work. She’s not just a designer, she’s an artist with a really unique style. Her visuals were doing their job, but the copy had not caught up yet.
Through signal mining, we pulled out the reasons she’s the one to beat in her industry. Her style is so distinct that nobody could copy her, which means she shouldn’t have competitors in the first place. We mapped those reasons into language her ideal clients would understand and respond to.
The result was a website that speaks to her authority and expertise, not just her artistry, with words that match her five-figure packages.
The part I love most is what she told me afterward. She no longer feels like she has to explain herself or justify her prices when someone inquires. Her leads come in pre-sold, so she doesn’t even do discovery calls with them. Everyone who reaches out is ready to book, and she’s booking five-figure projects without getting on a call first.
That’s what your website copy is supposed to do.
Clear vs. clever: a good website copywriter does both (duh)
There’s a big debate among copywriters about whether copy should be clear or clever….
I think this is the dumbest argument ever and I refuse to participate.
Your copy needs to be clear. It’s better for your business when it also has some creativity and is written in your brand’s voice. You don’t have to choose (and you shouldn’t actually, from a purely strategic standpoint.)
I write copy that’s funny, conversational, and clear, and it works because I’m not making my clients pick one. I’m fun, high energy, and a little punny, and I’m also the first to say, “let’s get to the damn point.” You don’t need to stuff your copy with extra fluff just to prove you have a personality.
Clever and clear together is what creates copy that sells and attracts really, really good clients.
When is it worth hiring a website copywriter?
Hiring a website copywriter is a no-brainer investment at a certain point, but it isn’t a magic wand. Copy amplifies what you’ve already built. It won’t fix a business that doesn’t have a proof of concept yet.
It’s probably the right time if:
- You’re good at what you do and you have the results to prove it
- You have testimonials, case studies, and receipts
- You know you’re doing something in a way no one else is
- You want to qualify leads better and land projects you actually enjoy
- You’re tired of confusing people when they land on your site
There’s one situation where I think a website copywriter makes an especially big difference: if you’ve built your business mostly on referrals, but you’re getting nervous because you don’t know how to sell to an organic audience, an email list, or social media, or you want more control over the quality of your referrals, your website copy can do a lot of the heavy lifting.
If you already have built something good and the proof to back it up, website copy is a no-brainer investment to amplify your work and get more people into your offers.
Think your business is ready for a website copywriter?
If that sounds like you, I’d love to hear about what you’ve built. You can reach out to me to get started on your copywriting project right here.
