Just like Charles Dickens’ seminal novel A Tale of Two Cities, your website should be a tale of two copies. To achieve this, you have to know the difference between site copy and blog copy. If you’ve been finding yourself wondering “How should I approach copywriting for my website and blog?” – please sir, read on for some more…
Site Copy Or Blog Copy?
First of all, let’s get to grips with the differences. Site copy and blog copy are equally important – but you have to know which is which, and when to use ’em.
Site copy is often the first thing your readers see. It has to be snappy, punchy, memorable and evocative, while achieving the precarious task of getting your personality and brand voice across at the same time. Most importantly, it has to be immediate.
Blog copy is the more relaxed older brother, where you can indulge in longer-form prose and deep-dive into subjects in and around your industry.
The OG copywriting tools used by Dickens himself.
How To Write Site Copy
Site copy is all about the message. Get your readers hooked in a few lines and let them know what you’re all about. It can be tough to nail site copy; you need to strike just the right balance of tone, salesmanship, personality and style. And you usually have to achieve this in about 10 words or less. Site copy’s a little cooler than blog copy. It’s the one that will make you feel like Don Draper, hunched over a typewriter (read: laptop), mining for that perfect one-sentence pitch.
Long-tail keywords are not quite as important with site copy; if you can get a few of them in then that’s great. However, if you’ve got to shoehorn them in and they look awkward, better to leave them out. People are well-attuned to keyword manoeuvring and won’t appreciate such a blatant show of gamesmanship. Instead, just focus on your brand message.
How To Write Blog Copy
Blog copy is a totally different beast. Blogs give you a chance to delve much deeper into specific industry topics, cover personal stories, or report on previous expeditions. They’re also a great place to load up on keywords – specifically long-tail keywords, which can boost your SEO immeasurably if used correctly.
If you want to explore a topic more, you can always link from your site copy to the blog using a call-to-action button. This means that you don’t put your readers through walls of text straight out of the gate, but it gives them the chance to delve further if you’ve piqued their interest.
You might find yourself having to use two slightly different tones for your site and blog copy. That’s perfectly fine! The important thing is to understand their separate uses and nail them both. If you need a little help doing that (not all of us are born Dickensians) then our Website Content Edit & SEO Audit is here to help. We’ll get your site copy singing, create informative and engaging blog posts that will help push your SEO game to new heights. Great Expectations? We’ll meet them all. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
Don’t Bury The Lede! How To Convey Personality AND Information In Your Blog Posts
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Featured image by blickpixel on Pixabay
