How strategy and collaboration led to clean, clear website copy for ~100 webpages
Highlights
- Surrey Place completed a website makeover and needed website copy to match
- I worked with the Surrey Place team to ensure consistent tone and voice, inclusive language and Canadian Press Style standards
- Results: Surrey Place was able to launch their new website on time with ~100 pages of clean website copy that included SEO
Before: The challenge
Charitable organization Surrey Place had just underwent a complete website redesign. It was a milestone and step in the right direction, after their website went unchanged for a while. Now, they wanted to launch it soon but needed the copy to up to date.
However, what the Surrey Place team realized is that revising the copy was not the challenge. Rather, it was ensuring that people who visited their website knew they were in the right place. The Surrey Place team was well aware of the stakes: A new website with inconsistent copy looks unprofessional and untrustworthy.
The challenge: How does Surrey Place create a consistent editorial voice and tone through their website copy?
During: The solution
I began working with the Surrey Place team in 2021. Together, the team and I discussed the project scope, shared their customer research and personas, style guide and other pertinent information. While I viewed the strategic documents, I focused a lot on their editorial style guide. It included details I needed more information about, namely word choice, in order to ensure inclusive language use. Once we figured that out, it was time to revise the copy.
We had a system that made the experience smooth. With the copy, we all wanted to avoid confusing website visitors by placing jargon anywhere that it wasn’t necessary. But the objective was to make Surrey Place easier to find online. I used copywriting best practices, including SEO tactics, to ensure our system stayed in tact and there was alignment between the copy and organizational values.
The key to success was asking good, effective questions that got to the point. Instead of asking what someone was trying to say, or instance, I asked what the context was of a particular word or phrase. After a few months, the project was completed. However, I did suggest that their team create a style guide, which they did with me just a few weeks later.
After: The results
As a result, Surrey Place was able to launch their website with brand new copy that clearly explained their programs, services, organizational structure and more. Their website was easier to find and be seen because the website navigation matched the website copy on the pages.
Furthermore, their website appeared in Google search results pages properly. The meta descriptions that made it easier for people to know that they were in the right place. As well, the improved copywriting increased the visibility, value and perceptions of the website.
Reflection
Website copywriting includes more than just putting words on a page. It also includes strategies and best practices that guide the language choices, tone, voice and messaging decisions you make. For a website redesign, it’s so important that those decisions match the visual messages you’re trying to send. If you remember anything, it should be these three C’s: Consistency, clarity and conciseness. They are the collective key to better copy.
Create a singular copywriting voice that your audience understands.