Your website copy should be evergreen, meaning it should work for your business for years without needing more than a few tweaks. But, there are a few events that should trigger a review of your website copy. These may require a complete rewrite or just changing, adding, or removing some sections. Let’s dive into the times when you should update your website copy.
New Client Type
If your business has changed its ideal customer type, then it is time to update your website copy. You want your website, marketing materials, and content to be appealing to your ideal customer type. This is one of the biggest changes your business could make and should trigger a complete review of everything.
Everything an ideal customer sees from your brand should build likeability and trust. If you have changed customer type or demographic, then different things will inspire like and trust in those customers. Your new ideal customer will have different needs, wants, and likes than your old ideal customer type. Some of the things that attracted your old customer type may be a turn off for your new ideal customer type. So take the time to get to know your ideal customer type, review your product if necessary, and then tweak or completely change all of your website copy.
New Product Offering
Sometimes, businesses start as one thing and then expand to capture related market needs. If you started your business selling women’s razors, it is not such a reach to expand into all body hair needs, including exfoliating, shaving cream, razors, and hot wax. But your customers won’t know that they can get everything they need for body hair on your website if you don’t tell them that’s the case. So, once you’ve trialled the new offerings, it’s time to update your website.
During the first few years in business, the focus is all on how to get your business off the ground. Now that your business is stable (congratulations!) it is time to decide where your business’s long-term future lies. Do you want to be known as the best razor producer that also offers shaving products for convenience or do you want to know as the body positive body hair shop? It’s time to sit down with your marketing team and a trusted copywriter to decide on your messaging moving forward.
Company Restructure
If your company restructures at any time, it is a great opportunity to review your marketing materials, including your website copy, to ensure it still matches. This is most relevant for service-based businesses where a solopreneur does so well that they are able to expand and hire a team to help them assist more customers. It is a very exciting time and means you are absolutely killing it, so well done!
This is not the case if you are outsourcing the business tasks of your company, like you’ve hired a social media manager or VA. It is only applicable if you hire people to do the work that customers pay you to do. For example, if you are a freelance graphic designer who hires another graphic designer to help them complete the volume of orders they are getting. When that happens, you should look into updating your website copy as soon as possible to reflect your new business model. A lot of companies go through a complete rebrand when they move from freelancer to “agency,” it is up to you if that is right for your business.
Your Current Copy Doesn’t Align With Customer Pain Points
This could be for any number of reasons. You could have missed some major pain points when writing your website copy the first time, or your customer’s pain point may have just changed. Sometimes competitors catch up, and now the pain point you’re marketing to no longer exists. Netflix is a prime example of this.
When Netflix first became a streaming platform, it solved a problem its customers had. There was never anything to watch on TV. You either had to plan your life around things you wanted to watch or sit through yet another rerun of Friends. Netflix allowed people to choose what they wanted on their TV as background noise or to watch when they were hungover.
Now, competitors have caught up, and every movie studio and TV channel has a streaming platform so people can watch what they want when they want it. Netflix is quite, unfortunately, losing out in bidding wars for new TV shows and movies, and their marketing still focuses on solving the customer problem that doesn’t exist. Regardless of what Netflix wants to blame for the reduction in subscriptions, the simple fact is; they are no longer solving a customer pain point. Now, multiple streaming platforms are competing to secure the best programming, and consumers are sick of having to have multiple subscriptions that keep rising in price.
Your business may be experiencing the same thing. The problem you used to solve is no longer a problem or a pain point for your customers. First, you need to look at what changes you may need to make to your product to address pain points. Then, you need to update your website copy and other marketing material.
You Feel Embarrassed About Your Website
If you feel embarrassed sending people to your website, that is not a good sign. Your website should perfectly capture everything your brand is and how it aspires to be seen. You should want to send everyone to your website with no disclaimers or “it’s a work in progress” to cover your embarrassment.
When you first start your business, you may be operating on a shoestring budget. You may have written your business website copy yourself or hired a copywriter for peanuts. That is fine; in the initial stages of business, just having a website is often better than nothing. But as your business grows and you have the cash to spare, it is time to update your website. Your business model, product type, and how you sell your product will determine the importance of your website. For an online service provider, websites are vital; that is where followers become clients. But for someone who sells their product in a supermarket, the website may not be that important. The importance of your website in your marketing plan will determine how much money you allocate to it.
But, even if your website is not that important, you should never feel embarrassed by it. Potential investors, potential customers, and potential vendors may stumble across your website, and its quality may factor into their perception of your business. So, if you feel uncomfortable when people ask for a link to your website, it is time for a change!
Your Website Is Not Converting Well
This is perhaps the most important reason to update your website copy. If you notice your website conversion rates have dropped (or weren’t great in the first place), then it is time to check out why. If you like your website copy but it is not performing well, then professional copywriters will recommend using a heat map to analyse your website performance. This allows you to track exactly where you lose your customers and therefore what needs to change.
When you hire a copywriter, send them your website heat map (ideally before the discovery call), so they can base their strategy around your business data.