I’m low key nervous to admit this to you, because I AM Website Girl, after all… *gulp* but:

I’ve never sat down and written my entire website copy in a wireframed Google doc like I do for my clients.

(I KNOW! I know. I know. Okay? I know.)

When I created my first-ever website (on GoDaddy 🤢) I wrote all of the website copy as I went, while DIYing the design, guessing about, well, everything.

I didn’t know shit about fuck back then. I was charging $50 for a blog post, cold pitching everyone, working with randoms from Facebook, cobbling together a business.

When I created my second-ever website, shifting to my Squarespace era, I did the same thing. 

By that point, I’d transitioned from “aspiring freelance copywriter who will write anything for anyone” to “baby website copywriter who isn’t even sure if she knows enough to call herself a website copywriter but she’s just gonna go for it,” so I knew a liiiittle bit more, but still… not even CLOSE to what I know now.

When, years later, I finally switched to Showit, I basically told Kleist to go wild with a Frankensteined mix of my old Squarespace site and an unfinished Google doc.

By THAT point, I definitely knew better, but I was rushing to launch my first website copywriting course to hopefully cover my $30,000 dental bill. Long story.

(I was a red flag client. She’s a saint.)

THIS TIME, THOUGH? I’m not fucking around. 

Website Girl’s got biiiiig fat daddy plans for 2025 (here’s a sneak peek 👀) and I can’t just *wing* my 130-page website. 

So, I thought it would be fun to walk you through exactlyyy how I’m writing my website copy, as someone revamping her website for the new year in order to better align with her goals — because I imagine there’s a good chance you might be in the same boat!

How To Write Your Website Copy

To be honest with you, I never thought I’d write this post.

Like, how the hell could I possibly fit everything you need to know about something as HUGE as writing your website copy in one cute baby blog post???

I can’t.

So, instead, I’m gonna tell you about the website copywriting process through the lens of exactly what I, Website Girl, am going to do to write my OWN website copy.

And my goal is to make this as easy as possible, taking as little time as possible, because we’ve got other shit to do.

Maybe another time we can talk about my website copywriting process for my clients, because THAT is different. More in-depth. More professional. Less.

(Ya know, something actually worth the money they pay me to be the best website copywriter and get them the bomb results—and ROI—they’re looking for? Yeah.)

What You Need To Know BEFORE Writing Your Website Copy

Hate to break it to ya, but there’s some pre-work involved. I know I told you it would be easy, but you can’t go in blind, k? You can’t successfully market (or write copy for) ANYTHING if you don’t first know these 6 things:

1. Who you are
2. What you do
3. Who you do it for
4. Why they need it
5. Why they should want YOU, specifically, to do it
6. What their life will look like once they have the thing (and why THAT life is so much better than the life they currently have)

If you can answer all of those things, you’re golden: you can start writing your website copy right now.

(If not, you may need this.)

Once you’ve determined that, yes, you DO know a sufficient amount about your brand, your offer(s), and your target audience, you’re ready to start drafting!

I recommend writing all of your website copy in Google Docs, using their sick new “tabs” feature to create a new tab for each page, so you don’t get confused with one long ass website doc.

If you want to make drafting even easier than THAT, you could use my website copywriting template — but creating your own works just fine, too.

Step 0: Assess Your Current Website Copy

A lovely student in my website copywriting course, Anabelle, asked this question the other day, and I thought it was the *perfect* opportunity to share what so many website copy DIYers are wondering at the start of writing 👇🏻

This was my answer:

“Great question! I’m actually doing the same thing for my own website right now. What I’m doing is going page by page and taking note of all the things I DO like, AND all the things people have commented on / referenced / mentioned liking, and making sure I include those.

Ex: I rank pretty highly for “website copywriter” on my homepage, so I’m going to keep a lot of the headings that use it (like my headline “the website copywriter your narrative needs”).

Another ex: people often reference how they love that I say I’m “a hoe for italics” on my About page, and my comment about being “a chocolate addict with no intent on seeking recovery” so I’m gonna keep those.

I think this will make drafting your new website copy a little easier bc you’re not starting from complete scratch!”

TIP: Look at your current website copy and see if there’s anything you definitely want to keep, then add that into the Google doc you’re writing your website copy in.

RESOURCE: Site Series® SPRINT — this is my self-paced website copywriting course, which comes with a private Slack community where you have access to me 24/7 to ask questions like Anabelle’s.

Step 1: Define Your Website Pages

Start by making a list of all the pages you need to write.

…aaaaand don’t be shocked when that list is longer than you thought it would be.

If you’re committed to making the next iteration of your website copy the BEST it can be, you’ll want to consider every possible angle of your reader experience and client experience.

Of course, you’ll need Home, About, Services, and Contact.

You’ll also need 404 Error.

And I bet you’ll want a blog, so that means Blog Home, Blog Categories, and Single Blog Post page (aka the actual blog post itself, bc yeah, that counts—just look at everything included in this post, at the end!).

If you’re email marketing, you’ll need an individual landing page for all of your freebies, a landing page for your newsletter, and a confirmation page to confirm the reader’s download or subscription. You might also want a page for all of your freebies to live.

You’ll definitely want a custom confirmation page for people who inquire, so you can confirm that you’ve received their inquiry and explain next steps to them.

Maybe you’ll want to add a Resources page or Favorites page, or a page for all of your affiliate and discount links.

If you have a podcast, you’ll need a page for that.

If you use social media, you’ll want a Links page.

You see where I’m going with this?

Suddenly, your 4-page website is a 20-page website, and your website copy is overwhelming the fuck out of you, because you had no idea it would spiral into this.

TIP: START with the complete page outline, so you know what you’re getting into.

Step 2: Keyword Research

Because I’m not starting from scratch, this part of the process is a little easier for me. I already rank pretty highly for some keywords I’m proud of, and I get Google traffic that I’m happy with.

Buuuut now that I have more evergreen offers, and I’m switching a few things up, I need to make sure that my target keywords for each page are still aligned, and I need to select NEW target keywords for each new page.

(Side note: your “target keyword” is the one keyword you’re hoping to target on a given page, meaning it’s the focus of that specific page of copy, and it’s the one you’re hoping search engines will recognize you for to give you that sick, coveted Page One spot.)

I also want to be mindful of not changing my current copy TOO much to affect the rankings I’m happy with, which means my Home page and my Services page copy will likely stay pretty similar to what it is now, since I don’t want to lose my #1 and #2 spots for “website copywriter” and “website copywriting services” / “copywriting services.”

I use SEMRush for all of my keyword research for myself and my clients, and it’s definitely pricy, so unless you are also a website copywriter (or designer, or SEO specialist), I don’t recommend using that. You should use UberSuggest instead.

Also, don’t forget to literally just ✨ Google it ✨

TIP: Do your keyword research BEFORE drafting, so you can choose the best target keyword for each page. (And if you have website copy you feel okay about right now, consider your current rankings.)

RESOURCE: SEO x Copy Workshop — this teaches you everythinggg you need to know about keyword research, where specifically to put your keywords on your website, and more.

Step 3: Set A Website Copy Finish Line Date

And make sure that finish line date is ACTUALLY solely for finishing your website copy, not for launching your website. Those are two completely different beasts.

Setting a finish line date is one of my best tips for DIYing your own website copy, because it makes it REAL.

I may be calling you out with this one, but chances are “write my website copy” has been WILTING on your to-do list for weeks, months, YEARS… and who’s to say NOW actually *is* finally the time?

You are.

YOU are the one to finally decide that YK WHAT HELL YEAH (pls tell me you know that TikTok sound lol) it’s finally time to get serious about your website, considering it’s your brand’s literal home, and it’s *THE THING* responsible for making you money online.

TIP: Set a finish line date. It transforms the task of writing website copy from an elusive goal to a PLAN.

Step 4: Do The Easy Stuff First

This looks different for everyone, but I always do my “easy stuff” first.

I don’t know if it’s my raging ADHD demand averse squirrel personality or what, but I don’t think you have to write your website copy in order. Who cares? Write what you’re inspired to write, then worry about the rest after.

You’ll always feel better having a good chunk done when you go into the “harder” pieces, so it makes zero sense to me to *not* move on when you get stuck on something.

For me, the “easiest” parts of writing website copy are:

• Home page headline
• Services page headline
• 404 Error page
• What I call all the “fact-based” sections, like what’s included with your services, or your process, or FAQs, because those things are just straight facts lol

TIP: Once the “easy” stuff is done, then you’ll have some confidence under your belt, and you’ll be inspired to move onto the other pieces that require a bit more creative juice and strategy.

Step 5: Gather Social Proof

After all the easy stuff is done, and you’ve filled in anything else you found the gall to write thanks to the gorgeous momentum, there may be a time when you hit a lil slump.

That’s okay!

Use your testimonials, reviews, nice DMs, comments, etc to identify exactly what your people love about working with you or buying from you.

This is something I do for all of my clients. I go through all of their testimonials and make a big, fat list of bullet points, pulling out the things their clients and customers most appreciated about their experience.

For example: my client, Amber, is a social media manager for interior designers (stalk her website here), and her clients most appreciated how EASY she made social media feel, how collaborative her process is, and how impressive their results were after working with her, so we made all of those things main focuses in her copy.

TIP: Look through all of your social proof to identify the main positive themes, and use those as inspo for writing your copy.

ANOTHER TIP: (This one’s from my former HR Exec mom, lol) Create a “PRAISE” folder on your desktop or in your email of all of the positive things people say to / about you! I save every Slack and Instagram DM, every newsletter response, every Thread, every testimonial, everything!

This is also a great turnaround for any bad day you’re having 🙂 just open your “praise” folder and see how many people have awesome things to say about you!

RESOURCE: Glowing Testimonial Guide — this is my free downloadable feedback request survey, so if you don’t have social proof yet, or you don’t have social proof you LOVE, you can send this to your clients and customers to get some glowingggg reviews for your new revamped site.

Step 7: Cross The Finish Line, Baby!

By now, you’re THIIIIIS CLOSE.

You know who you are, what you do, and who you do it for.

You’ve outlined all the pages you’ll need to make your website a success.

You’ve chosen your target keywords.

You’ve written all the easy parts.

You can do this.

Schedule time on your calendar to bang your website copy out — you’ve done the hardest part already: YOU’VE STARTED.

RESOURCE: Site Series® SPRINT, my website copywriting course, teaches you everything (literally, every SINGLE THING) you need to know about how to write your website copy.

Pro Tip: Quit While You’re Ahead

One of the most common mistakes I see my students make is getting hung up on one specific section, line of copy, or page for too long.

If it’s not working, REMOVE YOURSELF. Stop writing. Quit while you’re ahead.

Don’t stare at something for hours and will it to write itself.

Stop halfway through the sentence, and either write “blah blah” where you’re stuck, or highlight it in an alarming color, — something to signal to yourself to come back to it later — then MOVE ON.

OR, close the laptop. Pick back up another day. It’s okay to take a break, and the time away from your screen is usually beneficial.

Want help with learning how to write website copy?

You already know I’m ur GUUUURL.

In my self-paced website copywriting course, Site Series® SPRINT, I’ve outlined exactly how to write website copy in easy-to-understand “sprints” — so you can write your website copy FASTER, without sacrificing quality, and have your ideal clients running to your inquiry form in no time.

The course teaches you how to uncover who your ideal client is, define who you are as a brand, write ALL of the necessary pages of your website copy, and successfully launch your website, all with the help of the site sprints, my signature website copywriting template, and ridiculously in-depth “how to” and “how it’s done” video trainings (with hundreds of real-life examples).

ANDDDD I have an entire chapter of the course entitled WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE STUCK with over 20+ exercises designed to help you get unstuck from the most common sticky places. AND I add new exercises to this chapter every single month.

Students have called it “the best website copywriting course on the Internet” and said it helped them “immediately put what they learned into action.”

(See for yourself right here!)

To learn more about what’s included with the website copywriting course, check her out — and when you sign up, (my designer slayed the sales page, so it’s impossible not to, I think), message me in our private course Slack group & tell me you came from this blog post, and I’ll write your homepage headline for you to kickstart your progress. 😏