A great looking website is a necessity but take away the words on your website and what are you left with? Just a bunch of pretty pictures that don't really mean much. You website might as well be an art gallery!
Loren Ipsum isn't copy.
We've seen designers and agencies often forget or neglect client copy—believing it's up to you to write and it's just their job to make what you have simply look pretty. We can do better than that.
Nothing is worse on a website than seeing the dreaded "coming soon" text on a page or even the popular Lorem Ipsum placeholder text where the client is "supposed" to put in their copy when they have time. Most of the time, if these pages were actually important, they would be done upon launch.
You may have heard other agencies say "people judge a book by its cover" or point out that users don't "read" on the web—so designers put more emphasis on the visual design of the site.
Both are only half truths.
Writing for the web is an art in itself.
It is true that users generally don't read every single word on a website: they actually skim website content—but users will read extended pieces of text when they feel the content is answering their questions.
And for those few words that you do have, will the copy satisfy search engines? And most importantly users?
Taking copy from a competitor or from another website, changing a few words, and calling it your own is a sure fire way to not only look amateur, you can also get dinged if Google decides to flag you with a duplicate content penalty.
How will you stand out?
So, yes, the devil is in the details. Ultimately we need just the right amount of original words. And that web writer also needs to have website experience.
Writing great headlines with stellar copy, bulleted lists, callout quotes, and an effective call to action can be a full time marketing job for some.
Today, crafting original, helpful content is more important than ever before.