What Does a Website Copywriter Do?

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I recently discussed what a copywriter does, but now let’s drill down into some categories: What does a website copywriter do?

If you’d prefer watching a video, here you go. Otherwise, scroll past it for All. The. Words.

First, what is website copywriting?

Website copywriting is exactly as it sounds: You’re writing the words that appear on websites. In this case, we’re talking about company websites. Go to any business website and look at all the pages. Someone had to write those words, right? And that someone is often a professional copywriter.

I say “often” because not every business website under the sun was written by a pro. The business owner might have penned their own site. This is especially true for small businesses that are a party of one. But when a company gets big enough, they’ll often outsource the copywriting to a writer or to a web design firm or marketing firm (and those firms will either have writers on staff, or they’ll outsource to someone like me).

Do all copywriters do website copywriting?

It’s hard to be a successful copywriter today if you don’t have any website copywriting skills. Just about all businesses have an online presence. The company website typically serves as the main hub.

That said, I’m sure there are copywriters out there who only do, say, email marketing or long-form direct response copywriting for printed sales letters. But I suspect those folks are exceptions and not the rule.

Isn’t website copywriting just . . . copywriting?

Not when you add the words “search engine optimization” or SEO to the mix. I’d argue that all website copywriting is (or should be) called SEO copywriting. Because you want to optimize a company’s website for search. You want to attract people who are already searching on phrases related to your client’s products or services.

Of course, as I write this blog post in May 2023, we’re possibly in the midst of a seismic shift in how search is going to work moving forward. Yes, I’m talking about ChatGPT, Bard, and Google unveiling Search Generative Experience (SGE).

So moving forward, good website copywriters will likely be thinking about SEO and SGE . . . and whatever else we have to think about to keep up with how people search . . . and how search engines deliver results to search queries.

OK, so let’s get back to the question: What does a website copywriter do?

A good website copywriter will write compelling, optimized copy that draws in targeted traffic and helps you turn that traffic into leads and eventually customers.

Website copywriters will draft optimized copy for things like . . .

  • Home pages
  • Landing pages
  • Calls-to-action (CTAs)
  • Robust “About Us” sections
  • Product/Service pages

You get the idea.

But before they get to the writing, a good website copywriter will . . .

  • Have an in-depth discovery call with the client
  • Study the client’s target personas
  • Review competitors’ sites
  • Review and analyze the current website (if there is one) and all related marketing materials
  • Collaborate with the designer, marketing manager, and other key decision-makers
  • Do keyword research/analysis

That’s not an exhaustive list, either.

A good website copywriter will also keep up with SEO trends and SGE (see above).

So there you have it. Hopefully, this gives you a good sense of what a website copywriter does.

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