This sounds counterintuitive because it’s your website, so you should be talking about you and your business—right? Wrong. The first piece of information you should offer visitors on your website should be about them.

When visitors immediately see the solution to a problem they’re trying to solve, you’ve achieved the hardest thing you can do—capture their attention.

In those first few seconds that someone visits your website, all they want to know is that you have the right solution to a problem they need to solve. Give them this information immediately “above the fold” to entice them to read on. Otherwise, the odds are stacked against you that your first two or three sentences will be the only words they ever read.

Your copy has about five seconds to make an impact in the limited space they can see. Choose your words wisely using the Goldilocks principle of just enough to captivate their interest.

The most common mistake businesses make on their websites is to focus on themselves right out of the gate: who they are, why they exist, how long they have operated, and details about services and products. This information is important and has its place. But the very first things your website should announce to visitors are:

1. You know the problem they’re trying to solve.

2. You can solve it.

3. They need look no further.

NOW YOU HAVE THEIR ATTENTION

You must keep it and convince them that your business is the only solution they need. If you do this right, your website visitors will scroll down the page or visit another page looking for information to convince them to invest in your business.

There are too many websites that do what you do for anyone to waste their time on yours without good reason. So, always give them a good reason to stay and consume your copy.

At this point, they’re now interested in your business and experience—only to satisfy their initial curiosity that you can solve their problem better than anyone else. They need to know that you’re not just a solution—but the solution. Sprinkle this into your copy but keep the focus on them.

Always tell your visitors what to do on your website: where to go for information, and how to buy from you or sign up for something valuable. Your visitors expect to be directed and not have to find information for themselves.

If you make your visitors search for information they need, they’ll be on your competitor’s website between sips of coffee.

CREATE A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Every section of copy on your homepage should prompt your visitors with a call-to-action button to commit and create a relationship with you. If they’re not ready to do this but are still intrigued, they’ll continue reading. That’s a big win.

Of course, the ultimate commitment is for them to buy from you. But if they’re not ready to do that, continue being helpful and valuable even if no sale ever transpires. Great web copy is more than a transaction. It's about forging a connection and building a relationship as much as it’s about making a sale.

Keep building that relationship on and off your website. A firm commitment might not happen today, tomorrow, next month, this year, or ever. However, your web copy will keep your business on their radar. And when they’re ready to commit or make a recommendation to another prospect—you’re the business they think of first.