Your First Copy Audit

So you’ve finally sat down to work on your website and social media copy and you’re feeling stuck. What’s the first thing you probably do?

Go to ChatGPT for inspiration, which eventually turns into almost word-for-word copy and POOF just like that your website is finished. 

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, you’re talking to an Editor in Chief here. AI can be spotted a mile away, not just by professional writers, but intrinsically felt by your audience. 

The biggest red flag in most business copy is that everyone is kind of accustomed to using AI these days. So when it comes down to it, the language is not SEO-friendly or hitting the audience business owners are looking to hit. For me, it’s easy to spot AI captions, blogs, newsletters, you name it. I can immediately tell when the language is too vague or too spirited and not directed at a particular person or group of people.

And here’s the hard truth: your audience can feel the lack of personality too.

One of the services we offer here at ACD is a copy audit to make sure your words are effective in connecting with the audience you want to reach. 

When I’m looking at a brand’s copy, one of the first things I look for is if I feel like a member of their audience or not. I imagine myself being a member of their target audience and try to find myself fitting in one of their boxes. A common notion in copywriting is that marketing that speaks to everybody actually speaks to nobody. 

Now, I’m not saying that I personally am everyone’s target audience, but the first, most important thing, about copy is to make sure there is a voice speaking to a specific group of people. If I can imagine myself as one of those people, your copy is in a good place.

The next thing I look for is if your copy is SEO friendly. What does that mean? It means your language is written to be easily found, understood, and indexed by search engines to make you rank higher in searches, like on Google. The higher you rank on Google, the more likely your business will be found, and the more conversion you will ultimately see.

One of the most obvious things I look for in a copy audit is readability—how easy is it to understand? Is your language clear and concise, or is it full of industry jargon that your audience might not know? And, of course, is the grammar and punctuation correct? Think back to your early English classes. Let’s put all those good practices to good use and make sure your copy is readable, first and foremost. 

Next I’m looking at links and calls-to-action. Are they appropriately placed on the website? Obviously, you want people to “Book Now” or “Buy Here,” but it’s important that those buttons are not just thrown in on the website any chance you get. They should be strategically placed on your website so that the reader is following along on a journey and the next natural thing they have to do is exactly the thing you want them to do.

So what really happens when we’ve completed your audit and your copy is polished?

Well, first and foremost, you start to see conversion. Once you can speak to your proper audience, place your calls-to-action in the right place, and everything is spelled correctly, your positioning yourself as a professional who really understands their work and field. You become a trusted resource in that community, which is one that your ideal target audience wants to be a part of. 

If you notice, we write these blogs weekly, and not only are they professionally written, if we do say so ourselves, but there is also social media copy that goes along with it. So, people are clicking on links, reading our blogs, browsing our website. We see all these analytics in real-time and we’re getting results immediately just by having polished copy. One thing to point out is that you might not see a “buy” conversion immediately, but you will see engagement conversions. The more engagement you get, the closer you are to that purchase. 

I know it's November, but Halloween is my favorite holiday, and since it just passed I couldn’t help but think to myself, if bad copy was a Halloween costume, what would it be? (This isn't a joke, though it is turning out like one.)

The answer? A VAMPIRE!

Bad copy sucks the life and blood out of your business. If you have bad copy, your business is over. You’re not coming back to life. This is not to scare you, it’s just to say that if you want your business to thrive, and not have those sinking teeth sucking the soul out of you, polished and original copy is going to be the garlic and sunlight to your vampire. 

If you’re ready to get your first copy audit started, click the link here to schedule a FREE discovery call or navigate back to our Contact Us Page and select “Copywriting” in the dropdown to schedule your first audit :)