A site that is visually appealing, easy to navigate, easy on the eye and well-structured will go a long way in keeping visitors on the site.
….but – design isn’t the only thing that keeps your audience engaged on your site. Your site’s copy is just as – if not more – important than the look and feel.
Copy is the core of your brand – it is how you present yourself and your products to the world.
How you describe yourself, your products and your services leaves an impression on your audience (customers and potential customers) and what they think of your brand.
Web copy is also important to convey product and service information, and to explain how your product or service works and how it will impact and improve the customer’s life. The better your copy, the better your conversion rates.
Conversely, ignoring your copy will have a negative impact on conversion rates.
How Good Copy Works
CRO Optimised And SEO Enabled Copywriting Can Boost Your Sales
Good copy is more than just about selling a product – it is about informing, engaging and relationship-building.
Informative: Your copy should inform your visitors about your product or service, along with its unique features and benefits.
Evocative and actionable: Copy should invoke emotion and tug at the consciousness of the consumer – and in turn, drive action and persuade the customer to make a purchase (if that is the end-goal).
Cultivate a relationship: Your copy should highlight your values, mission and purpose and demonstrate how it aligns with those of the customer/visitor. This helps build a lasting relationship.
For a quick recap – check out our Web Story HERE and share it with your network!
Here’s a deeper look at how CRO and SEO work together to make for better copy.
CRO & SEO Optimised Copy
RO & SEO Optimised Copy
Writing for the web, however requires more than just well-strung sentences – your copy needs to be aligned with your business goals – that is, to increase sales and profitability – and in line with the best SEO practices, to ensure that your content actually gets discovered by the people who most need it. This is where CRO and SEO optimisation comes in.
CRO:
This stands for Conversion Rate Optimisation. CRO as a strategy can be used to increase the percentage of any desired goal: increase the number of website visitors who become paying customers, increase the number of people who sign up and give you their emails, etc.
Anything that requires action on the part of the site visitor will require a degree of CRO. When it comes to copy, adopting CRO will ensure that your words convey the right message in a convincing manner.
SEO:
This stands for Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is the process of optimising your website’s content and structure for search in order to receive organic placements on the search engine results pages or SERPS.
It’s the process of making your web page easy to find, easy to crawl, and easy to categorise. It is about helping your customers find your business from among a thousand other companies.
SEO is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy, because it makes your website more visible, and that means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers, which means more sales for you.
It also serves as a valuable tool to boost brand awareness, build relationships with prospects, and position yourself as an authority and expert in your domain.
CRO: The Basics
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your site – ie converting. Conversion Rate Optimisation is the process of enhancing your website design, speed, content and other features to boost conversions.
It supports the overall performance of your site by increasing the number of site visitors who convert to actual paying customers.
CRO tactics increase the value of your website to each visitor, prompting them to stay longer and take action, and focuses on getting more out of existing traffic and leads, as opposed to generating new traffic. While CRO is a set of tools and tactics, conversion rate is a metric. Conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the number of visitors, and multiplying that by 100, which gives you the final percentage.
CRO involves testing and reviewing a multitude of factors – AB testing two versions of the same website or landing page against each other, testing big elements like the checkout process, or minute details, like the colour or font of a button.
It also involves analysing content and copy, and understanding what is resonating better with your audience and prompting them towards positive action.
CRO Copywriting: Best Practices & Essentials
Like we mentioned above, copy is a major conversion driver, and it is one of the first ways in which a prospect interacts with your product or service.
It helps visitors take that all-important next step (signing up for emails or giving you their contact details) and gives you the opportunity to secure the information you need to further engage with them.
And finally, copy gives them the information and assurance they need to make a purchase/convert. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating CRO copy.
Write for your traffic type: The nature of traffic that your website is getting will be a determinant in how you should write your copy, since this is an indicator of how familiar users are with your brand. Is it search or display traffic?
Top-of-the funnel users who came by an advert or landed on your page after a Google search may not be that familiar with your product or service and wish to learn more.
However, users who already know of your brand – and already know what makes you unique – will require less detailed information.
Your copy needs to cater to the kind of users you are attracting, because information that doesn’t suit them will drive them away. Analysing what kind of traffic is going to your landing page will dictate your length and information of your page
Always include the USP: Your unique selling proposition or unique value proposition is what sets you apart from the competition, and your copy needs to revolve around it. This needs to be put forth in a clear, considerate and comprehensive manner.
Create smart headlines, sub-headlines and CTAs: A concise headline that touches upon the USP, followed by a sub headline that supports and reinforces the headline – whether it’s an offer, pricing or explanation – is a must. It also helps to keep it action-based and spark curiosity, so that the reader sticks around.
Let’s take an example for a subscription-based cooking magazine.“Get recipes, videos and shopping lists delivered to your inbox, daily.” Followed by the sub-headline “Try your first month for just $1.99.”
Your CTA or call-to-action buttons should tell the user immediately what they are doing – or what they are getting – when they click it. The words you use here are important, because for one, you only have limited space, and two, this button is critical to get the user to move to the next step – whether it’s a signup, purchase or demo.
Formatting: Formatting is important – and so is getting everyone’s attention at a glance. Website visitors today rarely read – they scan. They will not go through your copy unless it is formatted correctly.
So you need to have a proper information hierarchy, with the most critical information in the first few paragraphs. Using two columns also helps, so you can list information and post an image side by side. Bullet points are also your best friend, since they help break down information and make it easy to read and digest.
Evoke emotion: It is also essential to evoke emotion with your copy and responses on site. Be sure to include positive storytelling to help convey the benefits of your product or service, and help readers envision how they will benefit from it.
Benefits Of CRO
There are many benefits of CRO. Some of them include:
Data-based decision making: CRO eliminates guesswork and gives you solid data to work with, ensuring that you take decisions and change copy based on what your customers like.
Better results: When you make decisions based on data that caters to audience preferences, you automatically get better results.
Learn more about your audience: Adjustments to your copywriting approach means that you are constantly learning about your audience, and understanding their likes and dislikes.
Increased sales: CRO also brings in more revenue in the long run, since you are making continuous adjustments to your copy based on how your audience is responding, and tweaking your website to suit their needs and drive them towards action.
SEO: The Basics
Optimising content for conversions isn’t just about writing a compelling webpage, blog or piece of content – it also involves SEO, which boosts your visibility in search engines. The more visible you are, the more traffic you will attract. And increased traffic = better chances of driving conversions.
SEO copywriting means writing keyword-rich content that is easily found and understood by Google, and also happens to be the kind of content that your audience will want to read, like and share.
SEO Copywriting: Best Practices & Essentials
Keyword research: One of the most important aspects of SEO is to be able to find profitable keywords. Make a list of all the search terms and and keywords you want your website to be found for.
Get into the shoes of your audience – how would they want to find you? What would they be searching for on Google, in order to find your business? By the end of your research, you should be able to find enough relevant terms that your audience will use.
Choose a niche and find low competition keywords: Choosing a niche is important, especially when it comes to blogs. This will bring in some contextual relevance and help you position yourself as an authority.
Analyse blogs within your niche that have overall low authority and rank. You can then check which keywords your competitor ranks for and get an estimated keyword difficulty score for each of them, giving you an idea of how competitive each keyword is.
Then you need to check for volume, since low competition keywords tend to have lower search volumes. Then, check the “searcher’s intent” – this is one of the best ways to determine profitability.
Once you have found a low authority domain and found which of their keywords you would like to target, check the on-page difficulty of those keywords. (This can be done by searching the keyword you are looking to rank for in Google and analysing the top search results for content quality, relevancy, and depth.)
Once this is complete, check for off-page difficulty. This will give you approximate authority scores on the pages and domains that come up for your keyword. If there are not that many high authority domains on the first page, and it passes the on-page difficulty test we recommended in the previous step, this is likely a low competition keyword!
Don’t ignore technical SEO: While SEO is a blanket term for optimising your site for search engines, technical SEO is something different. According to Moz, “Traditionally, the phrase Technical SEO refers to optimising your site for crawling and indexing, but can also include any technical process meant to improve search visibility.”
Some of the important elements of technical SEO include crawling, indexing, rendering, and website architecture, all of which have a direct impact on your copy. Making a website faster, easier to crawl and easily understood by search engines are essential for technical SEO. If you are able to execute these elements well, you are more likely to be rewarded with higher rankings when a user conducts a search.
Benefits Of SEO
You can’t have a website without SEO. Here are the benefits:
Quality traffic: SEO is aninbound marketing strategy, which means that customers find you when they are looking for a solution to their problem or looking to make a purchase. You get leads who are already interested in what you have to offer, as opposed to cold calling where you may end up targeting someone who has no interest in your business.
Economical: With SEO, you don’t have to pay for ads – because you have already
created a page that search engines deem worthy of directing their users to.
Boosts brand visibility: When your content shows up at the top of relevant search engines, you grab more eyeballs – generating more buzz and awareness for your brand.
Builds trust: Showing up at the top of search results also positions your business and brand as an authority in your domain/segment, which will help users trust your site and make a purchase.
A Combination Of CRO + SEO For Better Sales
It’s important to note that while the approach and elements of these practices differ, they go hand in hand to get you increased sales. Employ both – because both these strategies need to work together to ensure higher profitability for your brand, while filtering prospects through the conversion funnel.
Watch: How CRO-Optimised & SEO-Enabled Copywriting Boosts Sales
For Curious Minds
Effective SEO copywriting is about building a conversation between your content and what users are actively searching for. It ensures your website is not just visible but is seen as a relevant and authoritative answer by search engines, which directly translates into more qualified, high-intent traffic.
Your goal is to align your message with search intent. A company like GlowUp Beauty, which sells organic skincare, could increase its organic traffic by 40% in six months by focusing on this. Their strategy would involve more than just keywords; it would be about creating a content ecosystem.
Semantic Relevance: Instead of just targeting "organic face cream," you create copy that answers related questions: "best moisturizer for sensitive skin," "natural anti-aging ingredients," and "vegan skincare routines." This shows Google you have deep expertise.
Structural Optimization: Your copy is structured with clear headings (H1, H2s), short paragraphs, and internal links. This makes it easy for search engines to crawl and understand the hierarchy of your information, which is a key part of technical SEO.
User Engagement Signals: Well-written, engaging copy keeps visitors on your page longer. This signals to search engines that your content is valuable, which can boost your rankings.
This process is fundamental for building brand authority and ensuring the visitors who arrive are genuinely interested in what you offer. To see how this integrates with persuading them to buy, continue reading our analysis.
Conversion Rate Optimization in copy is the art and science of using words to guide a visitor toward a specific goal. It transforms your website from a passive brochure into an active sales tool by focusing on psychology, clarity, and motivation, directly impacting your bottom line.
The core function of CRO is to reduce friction and increase desire through language. For a SaaS company like ProjectFlow, optimizing their landing page copy could increase demo sign-ups by 25%. This is achieved by systematically refining the message. Key elements include:
Benefit-Oriented Headlines: Shifting from a feature-based headline like "Our Software Has Gantt Charts" to a benefit-focused one like "Finish Projects On Time, Every Time" speaks directly to the customer’s needs.
Clear and Compelling Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Vague CTAs like "Submit" are replaced with specific, low-risk ones like "Get Your Free 14-Day Trial." The copy reduces anxiety and clarifies the value exchange.
Building Trust with Social Proof: Integrating testimonials or statistics like "Trusted by 10,000+ project managers" into the copy provides evidence that validates your claims and makes the decision to convert easier for the prospect.
This focus on persuasive architecture ensures every word serves the business objective of conversion. Explore the full article to learn how to combine this with SEO for maximum impact.
An SEO-first strategy and a CRO-first strategy address two different stages of the customer journey, and the ideal approach integrates both. Focusing only on SEO might bring traffic that does not convert, while a CRO-only focus means your brilliantly persuasive pages get very little traffic in the first place.
A subscription brand like Wanderlust Books needs both to succeed. An SEO-first approach would create blog posts like "Best Fantasy Books of the Year" to attract searchers, hoping they discover the subscription box. A CRO-first approach would perfect the sign-up page with compelling testimonials and a clear value proposition, but it would rely on paid ads to get visitors there. The balanced approach is superior.
Initial Stage (Launch): A slight emphasis on SEO is needed to build initial awareness and organic traffic channels. The goal is to appear in search results for relevant discovery-phase queries.
Growth Stage (3-6 Months): The focus should shift to a 50/50 balance. As traffic grows, you gather data on visitor behavior, which you then use to apply CRO principles, A/B testing headlines and calls-to-action to improve your subscription rate from 1% to 3%.
Mature Stage (1 Year+): CRO takes a slightly larger role. With steady traffic, small conversion lifts have a huge impact. You are now refining the copy for different segments and optimizing the entire user journey, from blog post to checkout confirmation.
The right balance depends on your business stage, budget, and traffic sources. Read on to learn how to build a unified workflow that serves both goals simultaneously.
The choice between evocative and informative copy depends on whether your primary goal is a quick transaction or building a long-term brand relationship. While informative copy is essential for clarity, evocative, story-driven copy is what fosters a memorable connection and drives loyalty.
For an apparel brand like Patagonia, their success is built on evocative copy that sells a lifestyle and a mission, not just a jacket. This approach creates brand loyalists who are willing to pay a premium. An objective evaluation involves looking at:
Informative Copy: This focuses on features, materials, and fit. It answers practical questions and is crucial for reducing purchase anxiety. Example: "Made with 100% recycled polyester fleece." Its strength is in clarity and SEO-friendliness for specific search queries.
Evocative Copy: This connects the product to the customer's identity and values. Example: "This is the fleece you wear to watch the sunrise over the mountains you helped protect." Its strength lies in emotional resonance and creating a tribe around the brand. This can increase customer lifetime value by as much as 30%.
The most effective strategy blends both. Use evocative copy in the product story and headline to capture imagination, then provide clear, informative details in a separate, easily scannable section. This satisfies the emotional and rational needs of the buyer. Discover more examples of this hybrid approach in the full post.
Successful companies use copy to build a community, not just a customer list. They achieve this by infusing their brand's values and personality into every touchpoint, making customers feel seen and understood, which is a powerful driver of retention.
Take Chewy, the online pet supply retailer. Their copy consistently demonstrates a deep understanding of the pet owner's emotional world. Instead of simply stating "We sell dog food," their messaging revolves around the joy and responsibility of pet ownership. This relationship-first approach solidifies their market leadership. They accomplish this by:
Aligning with Customer Values: Their copy emphasizes pet health, happiness, and the human-animal bond. This shows they share the same core values as their audience.
Using a Consistent, Empathetic Tone: From product descriptions to customer service emails, the tone is warm, caring, and knowledgeable. This builds trust and transforms a transactional relationship into a personal one.
Celebrating the Customer's Identity: The copy positions customers as more than just buyers; they are "pet parents." This validation creates a strong sense of belonging and community.
This strategy is proven to increase customer lifetime value, as a loyal customer is estimated to be worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. Uncover more case studies on how brands build lasting relationships through words in our complete analysis.
For a B2B company, landing page copy must quickly build credibility and communicate value to a discerning audience. Applying CRO principles systematically removes friction and clarifies the benefit of taking the next step, making a 20% increase in demo requests an achievable goal.
A project management tool like Asana, for example, does not just list its features. Its copy is meticulously crafted to drive action. To achieve a similar uplift, a company should focus on three key areas of its copy:
Headline and Sub-headline: The initial copy must address a major pain point. Change "Project Management Software" to "The Easiest Way for Teams to Track Work and Get Results." This immediately frames the product as a solution.
Bullet Points with Benefits, Not Features: Convert feature lists into tangible outcomes. Instead of "Gantt charts and Kanban boards," write "Visualize project timelines to hit every deadline" and "Manage team workflows to eliminate bottlenecks."
Call-to-Action and 'Click Triggers': The CTA button copy should be specific. Change "Submit" to "Request a Live Demo." Directly below it, add a 'click trigger'—a small piece of text that overcomes last-minute hesitation, such as "Takes only 30 seconds" or "100% privacy guaranteed."
By implementing and testing these CRO-driven copy adjustments, you are directly addressing user motivation and reducing uncertainty. Dive deeper into the methodologies for testing these copy variations by reading the full article.
Creating effective initial web copy involves a structured approach that marries visibility with persuasion. You must first understand who you are talking to and what they are searching for, then craft a message that speaks directly to their needs while guiding them toward a purchase.
A disciplined process prevents you from writing copy that is either undiscoverable or unconvincing. For instance, a new artisanal coffee brand like The Daily Grind could see a 15% lift in initial sales by following this framework.
1. Identify Core Keywords and Customer Pain Points: Start by listing the primary problems your product solves. Find 3-5 high-intent keywords your ideal customer might search for (e.g., "organic whole bean coffee"). This ensures your copy is relevant to both search engines and humans.
2. Structure with a "Problem-Agitate-Solve" Formula: For your homepage and product pages, first state the customer's problem ("Tired of bitter, mass-produced coffee?"). Agitate it ("It ruins your morning ritual."). Finally, present your product as the solution ("Discover our smooth, single-origin roasts.").
3. Weave in a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Every page needs a purpose. Guide the visitor with explicit, action-oriented CTAs like "Shop Our Bestselling Blends." This is a core CRO principle that turns passive readers into active customers.
This foundational approach sets the stage for more advanced optimization later. For a deeper look at integrating these strategies from day one, explore the full guide.
Systematic testing is the key to transforming homepage copy from guesswork into a high-performing asset. A content team can achieve this by adopting an iterative CRO process that isolates variables, measures results, and compounds gains to significantly lift trial signups.
The process begins with a clear hypothesis. For a SaaS platform like Canva, a hypothesis might be: "Highlighting our 'free forever' plan more prominently in the headline will increase signups by 10% because it reduces perceived commitment." The team would then implement a structured plan:
Week 1-2: Establish a Baseline. Ensure analytics are tracking the current visitor-to-trial conversion rate accurately. This baseline is your benchmark for success.
Week 3-6: Run A/B Tests on High-Impact Elements. Do not change everything at once. Test one element at a time, starting with the headline, then the primary call-to-action (CTA), and then the social proof section. Let each test run long enough to achieve statistical significance.
Week 7-10: Analyze Results and Iterate. If a new headline wins, make it the new control. Then, test a different element, like the sub-headline. This continuous optimization cycle ensures improvements are cumulative.
Week 11-12: Report and Plan Next Cycle. Consolidate learnings and report on the overall lift in conversions. Use these insights to inform the next quarter's testing roadmap.
This methodical approach turns copywriting into a data-driven discipline. Learn more about the specific tools and metrics needed for this process in the full post.
The evolution of search requires a strategic pivot from simply matching keywords to comprehensively answering a user's underlying questions. Modern SEO copywriting must now focus on building topical authority, where you aim to be the definitive resource on a subject, not just a single search query.
This shift means your content strategy becomes deeper and more interconnected. Instead of writing one article on "how to choose a running shoe," a brand like Brooks Running would create a content cluster. This includes a main "pillar" page about choosing running shoes, supported by "cluster" articles on topics like "pronation explained," "running shoe types for beginners," and "best trail running shoes." This model impacts copywriting in several ways:
Focus on Concepts, Not Just Keywords: Your copy should cover a topic from multiple angles, naturally incorporating a wide range of related terms and synonyms.
Prioritize User Journey: The copy must guide users logically from one related piece of content to another using internal links, keeping them engaged within your ecosystem.
Emphasize E-E-A-T: Copy needs to demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This means including data, expert quotes, and clear, well-researched information.
The future of SEO copy lies in creating a rich, satisfying user experience that fully addresses a user's needs. Dive into our complete guide to see how to structure these content models effectively.
AI content tools are becoming proficient at generating structurally sound, SEO-friendly text, but they cannot replicate genuine brand personality or create a true emotional connection. The future role of the human copywriter is to move beyond mere information delivery and become the architect of the brand's voice and soul.
AI can generate a generic product description, but it cannot capture the quirky, irreverent voice of a brand like Dollar Shave Club, which was central to its viral success. A human copywriter's competitive advantage now lies in their ability to infuse copy with unique, strategic elements:
Strategic Empathy: A human can deeply understand the nuanced fears, desires, and aspirations of a target audience and translate that insight into copy that resonates on an emotional level.
Brand Stewardship: The copywriter is the guardian of the brand's unique voice, ensuring consistency, tone, and personality are present in every word, from a homepage headline to a tiny microcopy button.
Creative Storytelling: Humans excel at weaving narratives that connect a product to a larger story or mission. This brand storytelling is what builds a memorable identity that AI cannot currently create.
AI should be viewed as a powerful assistant for research and first drafts, freeing up human copywriters to focus on high-level strategy, creativity, and emotional resonance. Explore our detailed article for more on how to blend AI tools with human talent.
This widespread mistake stems from an internal focus, where companies are experts on what their product *is* but not on what it *does* for the customer. The solution is a deliberate shift in perspective from features to benefits, which bridges the gap between your product's capabilities and the customer's needs.
A feature is a factual statement about your product, while a benefit is the positive outcome the customer experiences. For example, a productivity app like Todoist might see its conversion rate double by reframing its message. Here is how to make the shift:
Translate Every Feature into a Benefit: Take a feature, like "cross-platform sync," and ask "so what?" The answer is the benefit: "So you can capture tasks on your laptop and check them off on your phone, never losing track of your to-do list."
Lead with the Outcome: Your headlines and opening sentences should always lead with the benefit. Instead of "Our App Has a Priority Flag Feature," write "Focus on What's Truly Important and Make Real Progress on Your Goals."
Use the Customer's Language: Listen to how your customers describe their problems and desired outcomes in reviews or support calls. Use their exact language in your copy to show you understand them.
This benefit-driven approach makes your copy instantly more compelling because it centers the entire conversation on the customer's success. Find more techniques for this transformation in our complete guide.
The common problem of siloing SEO and CRO leads to a disjointed user experience and wasted marketing spend. The solution is to create an integrated workflow where insights from each discipline continuously inform the other, creating a powerful feedback loop that boosts both traffic and conversions.
An effective strategy treats the customer journey as one continuous path, not two separate stages. For a travel booking site like Expedia, an SEO specialist might find that a page is ranking for "cheap family vacations," but a CRO analyst sees a 90% bounce rate. An integrated team would work together to solve this. The solution involves:
Shared Goals and Metrics: Both teams must be measured not just on traffic or conversion rate, but on a blended metric like revenue per visitor. This forces collaboration.
Data-Informed Content Creation: SEO research should define the topics and keywords, but CRO insights from user surveys and heatmaps should dictate the tone, structure, and calls-to-action within the copy.
A Unified Testing Process: When testing new copy, the team should analyze its impact on both search rankings and conversion rates. A change that boosts conversions but harms rankings is not a true win.
This holistic optimization model ensures that the copy you create is not only discoverable but also highly persuasive. To learn how to structure your team for this kind of collaboration, explore the full article.
Chandala Takalkar is a young content marketer and creative with experience in content, copy, corporate communications, and design. A digital native, she has the ability to craft content and copy that suits the medium and connects. Prior to Team upGrowth, she worked as an English trainer. Her experience includes all forms of copy and content writing, from Social Media communication to email marketing.
Growth Strategy and Planning
