Competition is fierce. But that shouldn't stop you from getting your business up and running. Now, let's bedazzle them.
It’s safe to say that without a website you pretty much don’t exist. A website isn’t just a way of presenting yourself and your business. Copywriting websites are a great way to promote your business online and get leads while you’re off sipping a mojito by the beach.
We all dream of that, let’s not be coy about it.
In a nutshell, (and if done right) a copywriter’s website is the place where you present your business and services while also giving people a taste of what you can do. A blog is a great place to do that. You’ll need some SEO knowledge to push the right buttons but the idea is to write content that will attract visitors to your site, and then convert those visitors into customers.
But let’s start from step 1: the setup.
Choose a good domain name for your copywriter website
Before you start building your website, you need to choose a domain name. This is the address where people will find you online. With time, people won’t even have to type your domain into their web browsers when they visit your site, they will just Google “awesome copywriter” and you’ll come up.
Until then, think of a domain that’s short, easy to spell, and memorable. If you’re creating a personal brand, it could even be your name or some sort of combination of your name and the services you offer.
This might seem a bit technical but it's not. And even if it is, don't be intimidated. I often share ideas on this and more on my super on-point newsletter cause... who has the time to read the Bible in an email?
Set up hosting for your website
Once you’ve chosen a domain name, you’ll need to set up hosting. This is where your website will live. There are two main options: shared hosting and VPS (virtual private server). Shared hosting is cheaper than VPS, but it limits what you can do with your website. If you plan to use WordPress as your CMS (content management system), then shared hosting won’t work because WordPress needs its own space.
It sounds complicated but it’s not because most sites where you purchase your domain also sell hosting. I’ve worked in the past with GoDaddy and DonDominio and both work just fine.
Start creating all the necessary pages
Next, you’ll start creating pages and posts for your site. The pages you need to get you started are:
A dazzling homepage - the angle is always “this is what I can do for you” so don’t go on about your hundred years of experience doing a million things. Nobody cares. People that land on your homepage have a problem and they’re wondering if you can solve it. That’s your angle. Not you. Which might make little sense at first given that it’s your site.
Service page - use clear texts boxes, bullet points or any visual manner to quickly explain what exactly you do
Portfolio - select a few relevant projects that link back to your service offering. Don’t showcase newsletter sequences if you’re not offering it. It does show your capabilities but then if someone is looking for newsletter sequences, sees a project you’ve done but then doesn’t find this type of service in your Service page, it creates confusion. Never create confusion, it does more damage to your sales than a cold shower on a frosty January morning.
Contact - you got this, just have a unique message inviting people to contact you. Don’t just put a contact form. Give it personality.
Blogging
If you have time to post regularly on your blog, then create one. If not, don’t because if people visit your blog and see posts every 2 - 3 months they might think you’re not active. That perhaps you do copywriting as a side gig and aren’t 100% in it.
If you do create a blog, be sure to use tags to categorize your posts so people searching for certain topics can find them easily.
But that’s just me… thinking out loud.