Endless Profits

If you’re looking for a market that’s a bottomless pit, then writing for websites is a great way to go. That’s because there are around 1.6 billion websites in the world today—and a high percentage of those are outdated and need a refresh. 

But that’s all. New websites are being created at an insane pace. Can you believe that half a million new websites launched every day? 

That’s a lot of websites! And here’s the thing…they all need words. Sure, images, themes, and visuals are very important on websites. But it’s still words that get the message across.

So every day, thousands of people hire writers to work some magic and turn their raw website into a portal that attracts clicks, visitors, and customers. The quality of the writing can make or break a business, so businesses know they must get that right.

They say you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, and a company’s website is often the first contact someone will have with a brand. If that first impression is not good, a potential customer may be lost forever.

That’s why thousands of businesses shell out good money every day to hire website writers. And if you’re able to write for this market, you can earn an excellent income. 

Multiple Opportunities

Websites fall into multiple categories, all of which offer good opportunities for writers. Businesses, organizations, and individuals create websites for a host of reasons…and they all create money-making options for you.

For Branding

Business owners know that when someone wants to learn more about a company, they will perform a Google search. They expect to see the company’s website come up in the results, so they can click through and check it out.

Because of this, it’s critical that the web pages communicate the brand’s message clearly and succinctly. That’s partly to do with the choice of colors, fonts, and layout, but the written word is critically important too. 

The main pages need to be written to attract the right kind of people, showing them they are in the right place. That means having the right tone of voice and vocabulary.

To Inform

Non-commercial organizations may have a different agenda. They are typically trying to inform and spread their message. The aim is to persuade people to support their cause and help out if they can. 

In this case, the writer needs to communicate what the organization is about and how the reader can play a useful role. The emphasis here is on clear communication and winning people over. 

To Generate Leads

One of the biggest reasons companies create websites is to generate leads. This could be anything from a plumber hoping to make his phone ring with new business to a mortgage broker persuading people to complete an application form.

Writers play a vital role here by helping potential clients take the right action. That might be entering their name and email address, booking an appointment, or making a phone call. Whatever is required, it’s the writer’s job to make it happen. 

To Sell

In many cases, the website exists to sell things directly. The company might sell products through a store and generate extra sales online or focus on online sales only. Either way, a good writer can make all the difference. 

Writing to sell is a specialist topic in itself and a high-paying one for writers. If you can master this skill, you can almost name your price for website writing work. 

There are lots of options when it comes to writing pages for websites. The key thing to remember is that this is an area where every word counts, so you truly have a critical role to play.

Make a Great Impression

So you’ve won a project to write all the pages for a website. That’s great. Now you need a plan for making it all happen. 

The biggest mistake you can make is to rush in without proper preparation. So do yourself a favor and invest a little time upfront in doing things the right way. It will save you a lot of time and frustration later on. You’ll get things right the first time, avoiding the need to rewrite and edit multiple times. 

Follow this simple plan, and you will find it easy to write for websites. 

Do Your Research

Conducting proper research is an essential step that’s often overlooked. Writers are often all too keen to get on with putting pen to paper, so they rush ahead and start writing. But that’s putting the cart before the horse. You can’t write effectively until you understand precisely what you need to say.

So the first step is to gather all the information you need. The client may already have sent you a brief with all the details. If so, check this carefully. You may need to read all the info several times before it makes sense.

If you don’t have all the information you need or have questions, be sure to get back to the client. If necessary, get on the phone or arrange a Zoom call. That way, you can fill in any gaps and be fully informed before you start writing. 

Remember, a good writer is a good researcher. Don’t try to cut corners here.

Plan the Pages

Next, you need to plan all the pages required for the website. You may need to talk to the web designer to find out what they have planned. There may even be wireframes for you to look at. These are simply graphic outlines of what each page is expected to look like. They can be very helpful in showing how much you need to write on each page. 

Although every website is unique, in most cases, you can expect to create most of these core pages:

Home

This is the ‘welcome’ page for the website, where most people will begin their relationship with the brand. On this page, you must clarify what the website is about—and why readers should stick around to find out more.

People searching on the web have very short attention spans. If they are confused or unsure of what they see, they will hit the back button and disappear. So your writing needs to be focused on reassuring them they have found what they are looking for. 

This page needs to have impact but should also be short and easy to take in at a glance. Keep all the essential information right at the top of the page. 

How it Works/What We Do

Every website visitor will be asking, ‘what’s in it for me?’ On the ‘How it Works’ or ‘What We Do’ page, you have a chance to answer that question. 

On this page, you have a little more room to expand. Give readers as much information as they need to understand what’s on offer. Go into detail and explain everything in clear, simple terms. 

About

Readers usually like to know something about the people they are dealing with. So they will often check out the ‘About’ pages to find out more. This page is important for relationship building and deserves serious attention.

Here you can delve deeply into the organization’s history, the values the founders believe in, and their approach to business. People love stories, so you add any interesting tales that are relevant.

This page can be on the longer side, too. If you have plenty to say, here’s a good place to say it. This is one of the most visited pages on any website and can significantly impact results. 

Testimonials/Case Studies

Readers want to see proof to support the claims you make in your writing. After all, there are many websites out there that are less than trustworthy. You need to show that this is not the case here.

Make the most of any testimonials from previous customers, especially those showing the results achieved. Make these as authentic as possible by including the full name of the person, plus any other details that show the testimonial is real.

If you can tell a longer success story (case study), that’s even better. Potential buyers will lap these up and use them to justify their own purchase. That makes testimonials and case studies very powerful!

Frequently Asked Questions

On any website, readers tend to ask the same questions repeatedly. A simple way to deal with this is to add a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQ) page. As the name suggests, you simply list the most common queries and give detailed answers.

A good FAQ page will cut down the number of customer support queries, reduce funds and increase sales. That makes it a no-brainer to include every time.

Contact

Last but not least comes the ‘Contact’ page. This is the page that helps readers get in touch for more information. 

This page can be short and to the point. Explain to readers that they are welcome to get in touch. Provide them with several options for making contact…and double-check that all the details are correct. A mistyped email address or phone number could cost the business a fortune.

There may be other pages required, depending on the circumstances. But if you cover off the core pages, you will be on track to do well as a website writer. 

Page Profits

For any online business, a website is a shop window that showcases what’s on offer. It’s a vital component in the marketing strategy that deserves careful attention. Because of this, businesses will pay good money to hire a good website writer.

The amount you can earn depends very much on the size of the website. Some have only a few core pages, while others have hundreds—or even thousands—of pages.

Because of this, you must know what you are getting into before you start. Ensure that the number of pages you will write is clearly defined. You don’t want to end up writing far more than you expected, especially if you have quoted a fixed price.

The safest solution is to quote a rate per page or for a batch of pages. However, you should also allow some budget for the time you will spend on research. Here’s the kind of money you can typically expect to earn. 

Of course, these are only guidelines. As you become more experienced, with a few websites under your belt, you may find you can charge much more…and still have clients lining up to work with you. 

Getting Optimal Results

The better the results you can get for clients, the more repeat business and referrals you will get. So it pays to do the best job you can. Here are some tips to help you succeed as a top-flight website writer.

Write for Mobile Users

Bear in mind that most people view websites using mobile devices. This means your website pages must be easy to read on small screens, such as those on smartphones. To this end, keep your sentences and paragraphs short. 

It’s a good idea to make the pages skimmable, too. People on mobile devices will often flick quickly through the text, reading only the headlines and subheads. So make sure these readers still get all the information they need. 

Write with Personality

Create a personality for your copy that is in tune with the brand message. If customers are college kids, you can write in an informal tone. If you are addressing senior business executives, you should use a more formal style—but you can still keep it lively and interesting. 

The main thing is to avoid being boring. You don’t want readers to lose interest and click away. Even CEOs like to have fun, so keep your copy sharp and edgy. 

Write Powerful Titles

You’ve already learned the importance of writing great titles for blog posts and articles. Fortunately, you can apply the same principles to creating great titles for your web pages. 

Compelling titles will keep people interested and encourage them to engage further with the website. So a little time spent working on strengthening your titles is well worthwhile.

Link Internally

As a website writer, one of your jobs is to help people find their way around the website. The best way is to use links within your pages to help people navigate. 

Whenever you mention another page or section of the website, make it a hyperlink so people can quickly find their way to the right page. 

Follow these simple tips, and you will find that writing excellent website pages is easy, fun, and lucrative.