Copywriting is writing whose job is to get the reader to do something: buy a product, call for a quote, book a consultation, sign up to a list. Headlines, service pages, product descriptions, adverts, emails and landing pages are all copy. Where an article informs, copy persuades, though the best copy persuades mainly by informing clearly.
How copywriting works
Good copy starts with research, not words. The copywriter needs to know who the reader is, what problem brought them here, what they are worried about, and what would make them trust this business over the alternatives. The richest sources are usually the business’s own: sales calls, enquiry emails, customer reviews and the questions people ask at the counter.
With that in hand, the writing follows a broad pattern. It names the reader’s situation in their own words, shows that the business understands it, explains what it offers and why that helps, deals with the objections that stop people acting, and ends with a single clear call to action. On a web page this structure is supported by headings, short paragraphs and lists, because most visitors scan before they read.
Copy also has to sound like the business. A consistent tone of voice means a family-run bakery does not read like a fintech, and a solicitor’s site does not sound like a nightclub’s.
Why it matters
Two businesses can sell the same service at the same price and get very different results, simply because one explains itself clearly and the other does not. Copy is the part of marketing the customer actually reads. Weak copy wastes every pound spent bringing people to the page.
In the UK, copy is also regulated. Marketing claims in ads, on websites and on social media fall under the CAP Code, enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. Claims must be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and the advertiser must hold evidence for any objective claim before publishing it. “The fastest broadband in Leeds”, “clinically proven” or “London’s best-rated dentist” all need proof on file. The ASA publishes its rulings, so a complaint can lead to a named public decision against your business.
Common mistakes
- Writing about yourself. Opening with company history when the reader wants to know whether you can fix their problem.
- Features without outcomes. “24-hour response” means more when the copy says what that changes for the customer.
- Unprovable superlatives. “Best”, “leading” and “number one” invite complaints if there is no evidence behind them.
- Too many calls to action. Asking the reader to call, email, download and follow on social in the same section usually means none of them happens.
- Writing for search engines first. Copy stuffed with keyword variations reads badly and converts badly.
How to act on it
Pick your most important page, usually a core service page or the landing page for your ads. Gather twenty genuine customer phrases from reviews and enquiries. Rewrite the opening so a visitor knows within a few seconds what you do, who it is for and what to do next. Check every claim against the evidence you hold, and remove or soften any you cannot support.
For a practical walk-through of structuring a page, my article on how to write a service page covers the order I use. If you would like the copy written alongside the search research, that work sits within my content SEO service.