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You’ve written the copy for your site (or you’re about to), but will it get the results you need? Put your copy to work and get everything out of your site that you possibly can by following these 6 strategic tips.

But first, let’s just get this out of the way: dumping your copy into your site and calling it good will lose business for you. Period. Think about it. When you create an email or landing page, you likely pour over precise pixel placement, copy and button placement. Why wouldn’t you do the same for your website, particularly now that your home page isn’t the guaranteed entry to your website. (Check your analytics, you’ll likely see that your home page isn’t necessarily your front door any more.)

Search continues to change the game so you should make sure every page is playing its part in giving the right impression and achieving your objectives.  You have a narrow window to grab a user’s attention and get them where you want them to go.

Now let’s get to the tips! We’ve split this up into two areas of focus: the first is the “30,000 Foot View” (the big picture) and the second is the “100 Foot View” (digging into the details).

Plan the 30,000 Foot View

Start by defining the big picture. Make a plan for your content that considers how people would want to engage with you. Think about your sales cycle. Are the people coming to your site inclined to make an impulse decisions or do they need to go down a path of gradual discovery before making a decision? Whichever end of the spectrum you sit at, the content of your site should closely align with how you engage with clients and your sales cycle in order for it to be an effective tool for you. Follow these tips to create a solid big picture plan for making your copy really work for you.

Tip # 1: Determine your site’s top 3-5 objectives.

There may be fewer objectives if this is a campaign-related site or an email. The main take away is that all of your content should be supporting or directly fulfilling your objectives. Do you want people to make a purchase, download a whitepaper, sign up for a newsletter, fill in a contact form, look at your portfolio or clients, etc.

Tip #2: Create a strategy for your content.

Before putting pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard) you need to create a plan for all of the copy and content your site will cover — even if there are only a handful of pages.

• Create distinct content buckets
• Associate or group similar content together
• Use clear language that your audience will easily understand
• Use a site map to document your strategy page by page

Tip #3: Create pages with purpose.

If a page doesn’t have a point and isn’t supporting an objective, then toss it. This is where Tip #1 and Tip #2 need to work together. From a high level, every page on your site should do at least one of the following:

• Let users know where they are
• Call out what’s important on the page
• Provide details needed to make a decision
• Clearly outline what the next step should be (a.k.a. fulfill your objectives)

Some pages only need to accomplish one of these, others may need to accomplish all four.

Next, Plan the 100 Foot View

With the big picture now defined, take a look at each pages you’ve defined. You know what your objective are for each page. You have the content ready and you know what you want people to do. But how do you get them to do it? At the page level, you need to make key decisions for your users. You should be thinking about your website in terms of creating focused paths with an end destination. Wandering users will lose interest and lose business for you.

Tip #1: Create a consistent content hierarchy.

An effective content hierarchy accomplishes a few critical things for your website. A consistent presentation of similar content types helps you make key decisions for your users and in return promotes greater usability and wayfinding. The hierarchy means users no longer have to determine where they need to look on a page for a specific type of content and they no longer need to decide what the most important information is on the page because you have already made those determinations for them. As a result, your site is easier to use, there will be fewer clicks to the wrong place and lower frustration levels.

In the end, users feel a greater sense of control over where they’re going, how they’re getting there and what they’re getting out of the experience. Do keep in mind that there are other key factors that need be in play too. To really be successful, a strong content hierarchy needs to be working in unison with  a thoughtful site architecture, defined use cases and carefully planned workflows.

You should start by prioritizing the messaging and content  for each page by creating an order of highest to lowest priority. Next,  define standard sizes, colors and placement for the types of content and copypoints on your site. Here are some things that effective hierarchy use to create effective visual cues for the user:

• Complimentary typefaces
• Different type colors
• Discernible differences in type size and style
• Consistent placement on each page

Tip #2: Create scanable page content.

Don’t confuse this with content hierarchy. You can have a solid hierarchy but not have scanable content. Scanability focuses on laying out  your content so that users can consume the the high level messaging and the key take-ways in a short amount of time. The strategy here is to cater to where people are in their decision making process. You don’t want to make users wade through the details to glean the high level information they need early on in their decision making. Help them find what they’re looking for quickly. Make the page easy to scan so users can choose where they want to dive in for more details and deeper reading. Also, keep in mind that there is more to effective hierarchy than bolding content.

Based on your objectives for the page and the established content hierarchy, determine what the critical take-aways are beyond the title of the page, the call to action or other subtitles. Use these things to pull out the main points on a page:

• Bulleted/numbered lists
• Different font size or color for headlines or strategic copy points
• Supportive icons/graphics
• Pull quotes and captions

Tip #3: Establish clear CTA’s (calls to action).

Get people where you want them to go and avoid DEAD ENDS. Yes, users should make their own choices but remember you should orchestrate the choices they are given. Clear and relevant CTA’s remove the guesswork for users. Create clear next steps and put you in the best position to fulfill your objectives – be it Buy Now, Register, Download, Learn More, Connect, etc. An effective CTA has to be relevant to the page, easily seen and positioned at the point when users are most likely to take the last step to convert. Don’t leave users hanging or frustrated. Tell them what you want them to do!

Now, get out there and put your copy to work!