Why website copy always comes first (before website design)

I know what you’re thinking. She would say that. She’s a website copywriter. True. But let me tell you something… even my website designer friends agree (ooh-la-la). Because website copy is the thing that kicks your project off with a real ZING (read: success) and ensures your website design is strategic from the outset.

Context: you’re embarking on a new website…

But that’s only part of the story. Depending on where you’re at in your business journey (and budget), you could fit into one of these camps:

1. Taking the big (exciting) step of hiring a website designer for a custom website
2. Investing in a beautiful website template (like Showit) and having it customized and installed
3. Investing in a beautiful website template and DIY’ing it
4. DIY’ing it ALL – I’m talking website builder, using a free template, or even starting from scratch.

Whoever you are (and whichever scenario is yours), trust me, web copy will always come first. But enough of the ‘trust me’ assurances; let me explain why. Hint: it’s aaaalll about the strategy.

Website copywriting informs your website design

First things first, ask any website designer, and they will tell you that the website copy will have a huge impact on how they design your website. From hero text to headings, to call-to-actions and body copy in between, every piece of copy will have been crafted with the design in mind (or at least, it should be!).

Handing over website copy in a wireframe (more on that here) is like giving your website designer a plan on how the words work with the design. This maximizes how your design performs holistically. AKA how your website performs as a whole.

The short story? Strategic website copy allows for even more strategic website design.

Website copy = messaging, and messaging = a clear + focused business

When you’re clear on what you do (and how you do it, and who you do it for), it’s so much easier to work within your business. After all, there’s no more second-guessing what your elevator pitch is, what to write for that bio you’re submitting, or how to reply to someone who’s inquiring about your services.

Website copy is a chance to refine your messaging. It’s your opportunity to clarify what you want to put out there in the world (in your industry) and how you want people (your people, your dream clients) to perceive you.

Getting your messaging clear through working with a website copywriter will give you a dream-client-magnetising website experience — that’s to say, it’s strategic in attracting, engaging, converting, and retaining the right people. And, what’s more? Strategic website copy will also help you feel confident in other areas of your marketing, as your website will act as the centre of your messaging.

A website copywriter can advise on what pages you need (and don’t!)

While a wireframe will refer to each specific page on your website, a great website copywriter (ahem) will also advise on how your website works — from site maps (what pages you have, and where they live) to menu bars.

This is mostly the domain of your amazing website designer, but a website copywriter can often think about it from a sales funnel perspective, understanding how each piece of copy can nurture the prospect to convert.

This is really important to get right before any design work starts!

Get your SEO right from the start

Lots of amazing website designers get SEO from a design POV (i.e., loading times, compressed images, and all that jazz), but what you must remember is that your website copy is a huge part of SEO.

Working with an SEO copywriter will ensure that your SEO strategy is thought about from the very start. And guess what? I’ll pop all the tags (meta descriptions, title tags, heading tags) in — so your website designer has exactly what they need when they upload your website copy.

So what order to do your new website in?

Stage 1: brand

With any website copy project, I recommend starting with your messaging. Let’s get that right first. We’ll define who you are, what you do, how you do it — and what message you’re putting out to the world (y’know, saying the right thing to the right people). Your brand voice matters, too. So we’ll define how you talk, what words and phrases you use – and those you definitely don’t.

While all this is going on with your website copywriter, you may have a brand designer working on the visual side — confirming your logo, colour palette, typography, and more. That’s if you’re going through a total rebrand, revamp, or you’re a new business setting up.

Otherwise, your website designer may be waiting in the wings. I’m always happy to keep them in the loop – so they can plan their project timescales.

Stage 2: copy + SEO

It’s simple: now your words can come to life. This is the fun part (especially for me!) as I get to craft your words based on everything we’ve unearthed and confirmed in step 1.

Your lovely website designer? They’re waiting in the wings, and they’ll receive:

• A wireframe of your web copy — showing them exactly where everything goes, and how your copy works
• A google/ Word document so they can easily copy and paste, comment (if they have any questions), and access all the SEO tags (title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags)

Stage 3: design

Now that your website designer has the copy, they can go do their (amazing!) thing. One of my favourite recommendations is Little Hound Creative — the amazing Jess is an absolute Showit website pro.

Have I convinced you to prioritise your web copy?

Yes? But if the task of website copy is feeling overwhelming, why not drop by and say hi?