So you have decided to write your own website copy. As a digital marketing agency that has edited our clients’ DIY copy before designing their websites, we say that’s great! When our clients write their own copy, it’s in their voice and feels authentic to them. And they always have us to refine it. However, we do notice a few common mistakes that almost every coach makes when drafting their website copy. We’d love to share them with you, so you can avoid them when drafting yours.

Here are the 10 Mistakes Coaches Make When Drafting their Website Copy

1. Using too much ‘I’ instead of ‘you’

It’s natural to want to establish credibility and value by highlighting your accomplishments or talking about your offer…its features etc. While that’s important, your potential clients should also feel seen, heard, and understood while reading about you/your offer. 

Using more ‘I’ instead of ‘you’ statements can shift the focus from your client’s needs and aspirations to you. To avoid that, try to write your copy keeping your ideal client in mind. Make it centered around them instead of yourself. 

The only place you can use more ‘I’ statements – your About page. But even then, make sure your copy still focuses on your potential clients. 

2. Not doing enough market research on their ideal clients

If you want to truly address your clients’ needs, desires, and aspirations, you need to actually know them. That means doing a deep dive into what drives them, who they are, where they hang out, how they speak etc. If you have an idea of your ideal clients and how your offer can help, but no thorough audience research, you will have issues with:

• clearly identifying where their needs overlap with what you’re offering
• figuring out what content and messages people care about
• knowing the appropriate tone and voice for your message
• Clearly defining your message

Here are some questions you can answer to help you understand your ideal clients better

1. What are their pain points or fears that your offer can help with? (using their words)
2. What social media platforms do they hang out on?
3. How do they communicate? (again, record the exact words they use)
4. What are their goals in relation to your offer?
5. What transformation will your offer provide them?

We understand that audience research is time-consuming, but once you thoroughly know who you are serving, writing copy for them becomes 100 times easier. 

3. Not having a clear idea about the goal/flow of their website

Before you even start writing your website copy, decide what information will go where. Determine the goal of your website (brand awareness? Sales? leads?) and each page within it. 

• What action do you want your potential client to take when they land on your website?
• Where do you want them to go next? Do next?
• What do you envision them doing when they are reading a particular section? 
• Does your copy address these questions? 

Ensure your clients are taking the action you want them to take on each page and section. Add CTA’s where necessary to take them to the next step of their journey. This will also help your designer create a great website that’s aligned with your audience’s journey. 

4. Putting in too much information in their website copy

Your clients are busy. Chances are they don’t have too much time on hand to go through extensive details and paragraphs of information. They want answers, and they want them quick. Adding too much information to your website will only create friction. It might even make them leave halfway through. 

Instead, try to keep your copy:

• Concise
• Organized
• Easy to navigate

allowing visitors to quickly find the information they need.

5. Trying to be grammatically correct all the time

Sometimes following every rule of grammar and using all the right words in the right places can make your copy dull. And who wants to read dull copy?!

Yes, spelling and grammar matter for a professional online presence. But if you don’t want people to snooze when they’re halfway through your website, you need more. You need to know when to bend the Grammar rules a little to create interest and texture to your words. 

🔥 Start sentences with ‘and’. Or ‘or’.

🔥 Use uppercase letters in the middle of a sentence to draw ATTENTION to certain words.

🔥 End sentences with a preposition.

🔥Use sentence fragments.

6. Focusing on features instead of benefits when writing website copy

When you list the features of your offer, you talk about what your potential clients will get when they invest in your offer. When you talk about the benefits of those features, you drive home ‘why’ those features are important. Benefits detail out the value and transformation your ideal client will get by working with you. 

For example, instead of writing:

• Get access to a private Facebook group.

You write:

• A highly supportive Facebook group where you get access to a network of like-minded peers on the same journey as you.

7. Not showing up as themselves

When you write website copy, don’t be afraid to be yourself. That is what will make you stand out! You really don’t want to sound like every other coach in your niche. Which is what hiding your personality will do.

You don’t need to share every aspect of your life, but people want to know you, and whether or not they resonate with you. Ask yourself what your core values are. Are they reflected in your brand personality? 

Don’t be someone you are not because this is who you think the world wants. Don’t be afraid to let your whole self shine. Some people will be turned off.  Others, however, will completely and whole-heartedly resonate with you. You will attract your ideal tribe of followers by being authentic.

8. Not including social proof

There’s nothing more powerful than heartfelt words from someone who’s already received value from you. Who’s already a fan of your offer. And let’s face it, social proof establishes credibility. Its absence might make people wonder. 

So get that case study, that testimonial, that screenshot of someone saying how great it is to work with you…

And make sure you incorporate it in your copy.

9. Trying to be too clever or too complex

Does your ideal audience use jargon? Can they understand when you use it? If the answer is a resounding NO, don’t use jargon in your copy. As far as possible, avoid being too clever or too complex with your words. People need to understand your copy, and your words, to invest in you and your offer. And most people don’t have the time to try and unravel what you meant to say. Keep your copy simple, concise, and easy to understand. This includes not clearly stating what your offer is. 

10. Not clearly stating their offer

The rule of thumb for an effective brand message and website copy – make it crystal clear:

• WHAT your offer is
• WHO is your offer for
• HOW it helps them 

Highlight what you do and how it helps your ideal clients on every page of our website. Using different words of course. Make sure people coming to the website know exactly who the offer is for. Your copy should also quickly make the transformation you are offering very clear.

Clarity allows your audience to quickly understand how your offer meets their needs and motivates them to take the next step to work with you. 

Website copy, if written well, works. Plain and simple. I have received leads and clients from my website alone. And it can happen for you too. You just need to avoid these mistakes.

Need help writing and building your website? Amazing OBM is a team of master marketers standing by to provide done-for-you copywriting, branding, and web-designing services. Contact us for a free consultation so we can chat about what your business needs.