Copy is at the heart of your business. Without it, nobody would understand who you are or what you do. But having just any copy versus no copy simply won’t do. It’s important to spend time crafting effective copy that will not only inform, but help persuade and influence people to engage with or buy from your company.

Do you think your business’ copy could need some work? Here are some fantastic tips for improving copy across all aspects of your business.

Adopt a tone of voice

Having a tone of voice for your business is as important as having a logo or a strapline. It can help you to find the best way to communicate with your intended audience, while also helping you to find a consistent style of writing for your business.

Identifying your brand’s tone of voice can take some work, and you’ll need to test it out with different people before you commit to it. Once you’ve found it, however, you can feel more confident knowing you’ve got a writing style you can stick to that reflects exactly what your business is about.

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Send people for copywriting training

Writing is a skill, and while some people have a natural talent for writing, others need to learn it. It’s not something that’s easy for everyone, but some basic copywriting training can help your teams out. Everyone has to write something for their job at some point from emails to social media posts, and that will require being able to write in a way that connects with the recipient and makes it clear what you’re trying to say.

There are some fantastic courses available to provide your teams with copywriting training. You can bring a trainer in-house to deliver a course that suits your business’ specific needs, or send employees on an external course. It’s also a good idea to share some tips for improving copy with your teams so that they can refer back to them as needed.

Copywriting is useful in all kinds of careers and job roles, so it’s a useful training course to send your employees to.

Evaluate the effectiveness of your website copy

Your website is one of the most important aspects of your business, and is a place where your copy needs to be the strongest. Web users have short attention spans these days, so you need to hook them in from the very beginning. Evaluating your website will help you to identify where the weak areas are, where your conversion rates are dropping and which pages people respond to best.

Once you’ve assessed your website, you can start finding ways of improving it. If you’ve adopted a new tone of voice recently then this could be the perfect opportunity to start fresh with your website copy and breathe new life into your website.

Communicate in a variety of languages

Do you work with international clients and customers? Why not try communicating with them in other languages? Your business can benefit in several ways from a multilingual website and shows that you care about reaching a wide number of people.

When it comes to having multiple languages on your website, however, you need to make sure that you get it right. Incorrect translations can easily offend, and you also need to consider the syntax and context to make sure that what you’re saying translates the right way. Understanding the differences in translation versus interpretation will make it easier for you to feature multiple languages successfully. Hiring experienced translators will help make sure you get it right.

Remember to follow basic grammar and spelling rules

It might seem almost impossible to make spelling errors with spell check so widely available these days, but you’d be surprised at how many people continue to make basic spelling and grammar errors in their web copy. You should always proof any copy (or have it proofed with someone else) to make sure it’s error-free and that it makes sense to the reader.

Don’t forget you can also benefit from online grammar checkers to help you check through your work before you press publish.

Think about your layout

As well as the words you use, you need to think about the layout of your copy and how it looks to the reader. Choosing your website font is more difficult than it sounds, and while you might want to try something modern and cutting edge, it might not sit well with the reader. Simplicity tends to be the best option in these cases.

The layout of your copy should always be clear to read. Short, concise paragraphs, especially when it comes to emails and website pages, will help the reader read what you’re saying more clearly, and will make them more likely to read through until the end. Lay your copy around different images and graphics to help make the page more visual and keep a reader’s attention.

Remember to include SEO

SEO is an important aspect of your website. It helps your business to be seen among those first results on a web search, and means people can find your business easier. Some great SEO tips for beginners include using keywords that people are likely to use when searching for businesses like yours, as well as remembering to use outbound and inbound links on your web pages. It can take some time to bring your SEO up to scratch, but you should notice a surge in website traffic when you get it right.

Keep it simple

The most important thing to remember when it comes to copy is to keep it simple. Using language that is too complicated, formal or technical won’t sit well with the average reader. Use simple language and keep your points clear to get the best result.

Creating the perfect copy for your business is important, so make sure you set aside some time to revise your approach to copy and bring some much necessary improvements to your business.