There are two key elements to a successful website:
The design – If your website design doesn’t look polished or is hard to navigate, your readers likely won’t stay on it for long.
The web copy – A.K.A. the words on your website. If what you’re saying doesn’t resonate with your ideal audience, you’ll either be attracting the wrong clients, or you’ll be sending people away from your site.
If you are a sleep consultant, chances are you already have a website (or you’re in the process of setting one up) which is where people will get to know, like, and trust you. Because even though social media is an amazing tool at times, it can also be fickle – random outages, sudden account shut downs, or changes in the algorithm plummeting your engagement.
But when you have a website, you have more control over it, so it makes sense to direct your people there. Additionally, exhausted parents will happen across your website at 2 a.m., and you want to make sure that what they see is what you want to communicate.
And that’s where a web copy audit comes in: Do the words on your website communicate what you want them to? Do they sound like you/your brand voice? Are you attracting your ideal client, or are you unintentionally attracting unideal clients with your words?
So whether you’ve spent hours crafting the words on your website or you’ve outsourced your web copy to someone else, conducting a web copy audit periodically helps to ensure that your voice stays on brand as your business evolves.
When to audit your web copy
You can audit your web copy as often as you’d like, but here are a few times when we’d recommend you really sit down to make sure your words are still true to your brand.
You’ve done a rebrand of your business.
If you’ve done a total brand makeover, it’s the perfect time to evaluate what your brand stands for and whether the copy on your website still matches that. For instance, if you’ve recently rebranded to be more soft and comforting, your words should reflect that. As people read your homepage, they should feel those same feelings your logo communicates.
It’s been over a year since the last time you edited your web copy.
I get it – web copy can be ever-evolving. Maybe you go into your website each month to change your headings or your call to actions, or maybe when you launch new services you like to spruce up the language. But if you haven’t touched the copy on your website in over a year, it’s a great opportunity to give your copy a little refresh.
You’ve evolved in your sleep philosophy.
As humans and business owners, we’re constantly evolving. If you’ve changed your approach, methods used, or your sleep philosophy, auditing your web copy can help prevent a lot of headaches. You definitely want to communicate what you believe on your website, and if that’s changed, it’s important that your website reflects those changes.
Now that you know a few times when conducting a web copy audit can be beneficial, let’s get into how to actually do one.
Questions to ask yourself during a web copy audit
Of course, if there are sections on your website that you know no longer reflect your business, you can go in to change that right away.
Sometimes, though, it’s a little harder to identify whether the copy on your website is working for you if there hasn’t been a major shift in your business. If you find yourself in that camp, where it’s been a while since you’ve audited your copy but you’re just not sure what needs to change, here are a few questions to ask yourself.
What do I want my audience to feel when they’re on my website?
Confident. Supported. Seen. Excited. Comforted.
All valid feelings that you might want a tired parent to feel when they read your copy. And all very different from one another.
If you want your audience to feel excited, you’re likely going to use a lot of exclamatory statements or really paint the picture of what it will be like after you work with them.
If you want them to feel seen, you’re going to include statements that they’re likely already thinking, or explain the situation they’re currently in.
What words do I NOT want to use on my website?
This is a question that you may not consider much, but it’s important to ensure you’re attracting your ideal client.
Are there any words you don’t want to use?
Some sleep consultants don’t use the term “sleep training” when they’re talking about their work process and opt for other phrases.
On the flip side, some sleep consultants avoid using words like “gentle” because they don’t want people to assume that there will be no tears during the process.
There is no right or wrong answer here, only what you view as important in your business.
Does this copy sound like me?
When you’re deciding on your brand voice, you have two options:
Option 1: Your brand voice is exactly how you sound – it’s your voice. If you’re snarky or sarcastic in your personal life, you’re also snarky or sarcastic in your business.
Option 2: Your brand voice is based on what you want to communicate, but it’s not your personal voice. Maybe you’re usually reserved and soft-spoken, but you want to communicate joy and excitement in your business.
Neither option is better than the other, but option 1 is likely easier to keep up with. It’s much easier to show up on social media, for instance, as your true self than it is to step into your brand voice first. Of course, many sleep consultants have executed this perfectly, so if you know option 2 is best for your business, practice a lot so that it feels more authentic each time you do it.
So when you’re auditing your web copy, you want to make sure that it sounds like you – whoever that is. If your audience sees a tell-it-as-it-is person on Instagram and then goes to your website and reads copy that is very professional, it might feel a little confusing to them.
Across all platforms, it’s important that you show up the same to foster the trust that’s needed in the sleep consulting business.
And if you’re not sure whether the copy sounds like you, ask your friend, spouse, or fellow sleep consultant friend to read through it and note any areas that sound like something you (or your brand voice) wouldn’t say.
Tip: Be sure to tell them how you’re trying to show up online. If they’re only looking at it through the lens of the person they know, they may miss key details that you’re wanting to convey.
The copy on your website isn’t stagnant – as you grow, learn, and change, your copy should too.
So grab your cup of iced coffee, open your computer, and comb through your website with a fine-toothed comb to make sure you’re coming across exactly as you want to.