I’m in a “pinch me so I know it’s real” mode after hearing news of just how impactful this website copywriting project has been for my eCommerce copywriting client, Bonnie of Archer & Olive.

Before Bonnie’s new website launched, she was averaging around $6,000 per month with her bullet journal-style dot grid journals and sketchbooks brand (that are amazing, by the way).

After working together, her conversion-ready website helped her drive over $300,000 in revenue from October 2018 to December 2018. (That’s in only one quarter, friends!)

Those are some incredible results all on their own, but do you know what’s even better?

Archer & Olive generated $1.9 million in revenue just ONE year after working together!

With a website copywriting investment around $4,400 (not including custom add-ons and product descriptions we’ve worked on since then as her business grows), it’s safe to say this project has been a wild success based on her ROI.

So how did we do it?!

I’m excited to share a deeper look into the strategic decisions we made during the website copywriting project and how her website was intentionally built for this level of growth. Let’s dig in!

(Ready to start your own website copywriting project? Let’s work together!)

The Story of our Website Copywriting Project

When Bonnie first contacted me in July 2018, I was fully booked with other projects during her desired start date. Even though her website design deadline was already set, we both knew we wanted to work together to create something epic.

After adding a little wiggle room to my calendar, I found a way to make it work. And boy, am I glad I did! It’s turned into one of my most enjoyable and profitable projects to date.

At the time, Bonnie decided to outsource her copywriting because she was struggling to keep up with her growth on Instagram (seriously, look how cute her feed is!!) while juggling all of the other hats of running her business. Who else can relate? *raises hand*

Creating a more optimized website was at the top of her to-do list as she set goals for the second half of the year. After hiring the incredible design team at Go Live HQ (and later taking the design in-house while working with The Owls on UX design improvements), she enlisted my help with all things website strategy and copywriting.

There were a few areas on her old website that we immediately wanted to improve:

• The call-to-actions were somewhat hidden and unassuming on her old website, which didn’t inspire people to explore her site.
• She wanted to increase her conversion rate from 1.3% to around 3% (which she has demolished since then!).
• Her biggest product differentiators weren’t highlighted on her Home and Shop pages.
• Her product descriptions didn’t include all of the benefits and features of her unique product.

From there, we talked about bringing her bright spirit and infectious energy into the copy by infusing the beautiful, community-oriented brand personality she’s well-known for on Instagram. Then we geared up for the first steps of my signature website copywriting process.

__________

Bonnie’s Brand Voice

motivational / fun / organized / feminine / inspiring / warm / friendly

__________

Website copywriting case study: Behind the strategy

Before I write a word of copy, I always collect information about my client’s brand foundation (things like their mission statement, core values, and things of that nature), website goals, and brand voice (things like words they love and don’t love).

From there, I translate all of that information into a custom conversion-ready website strategy that fits their business goals. This is primarily done by creating a visual layout of how the content will be displayed once the website design is created. I LOVE when clients give me full creative freedom to create something unique to them.

By using these layouts (which I call “copy wireframes”), I can show my clients all of the strategic decisions that go into each page. After their small revisions, I get to work on creating the actual copy while knowing that we’re both on the same page. (Not meant to be a copywriting pun… oops!)

Here are some of the winning features of each page we created for Archer & Olive.

Home page

After playing around with a few different headline options from the Home page, we settled on “Less Dreaming. More Doing.” We originally tossed around the idea of having the words change so that the headline would show different variations of “Less ___, More ___”, but we decided that keeping it simple would do the trick.

The “Shop Now” call-to-action is much better than her previous website because you can tell it’s a button. Not only that, but it also includes her signature foliage sketches and design, making it stand out even more.

Knowing that Bonnie wanted to be known for the dot grid journals with the ability to branch out into other related products in the future, we found a way to highlight her signature product above-the-fold (meaning before you have to scroll on the Home page) while giving her room for additional products.

A year after our project, she has added more sketchbooks, planners, and other paper goods to her shop that give her audience a variety of options to choose from without becoming overwhelming.

We also simplified her website navigation to make the search process much easier.

One of my favorite features of the Home page is this breakdown of exactly why Archer & Olive’s products stand out. Instead of putting the features and benefits into a typical list format, we decided to create a layout that was visually stunning, easy to skim as you scroll through it, and packed with additional information for visitors who wanted to learn more.

We also included these same differentiators in the Product landing pages on the right-hand side to remind visitors of why they should purchase from Archer & Olive.

Another Home page feature that packs a punch is her email sign up form. We strategically put it toward the bottom of her Home page to ensure it didn’t distract from the main call-to-action of exploring her shop, but it also has been a great way to build her email list.

The header copy that says “Plan your week with confidence” speaks to her audience’s strongest desire when using their dot grid journals or planners. We also had some fun with the sentence “We turn Mondays into your favorite day of the week…” to approach the topic with a casual, fun flair. The brand voice matches the beautiful and playful designs you see here.

PS: Since the launch of Archer & Olive’s website, Bonnie made a small change to the Home page headline in 2020 to highlight the eco-friendliness of her products and the social responsibility of her new packaging. As such, she’s made a few tweaks to the design as well, but the vast majority of her copy has stayed the same. This shows how you can slightly update your design and messaging over time while keeping the foundations intact.

About page

One of the main reasons I decided to make room on my calendar for this project was because of Bonnie’s personal story. On her previous website, there was no mention of the true motivation behind her starting Archer & Olive. Once I heard it in her own words, I knew I wanted to play a part in helping it come to life through ghostwriting.

If this is the first time you’ve heard the term “ghostwriting,” it refers to the act of writing in someone else’s voice and publishing it as if it was written by that person. This describes most of the work I do as a behind-the-scenes copywriter, and I loved putting it into action by telling Bonnie’s story from her perspective.

The main focus of her story was to explain how journaling has made a tremendous impact on her self-discovery and mental health journey, especially in helping her manage a bipolar disorder and general anxiety disorder diagnosis. Summarizing a huge chapter in someone’s life and condensing it down to a small paragraph isn’t easy, but it’s the kind of challenge I really love. We both were so happy with the final product!

But before we launched into her personal story on the About page, we chose the headline “Your journey to self-discovery starts here” to inspire her audience and entice them to continue reading. Since Bonnie sees journaling as a self-discovery tool, it allowed us to put the focus back on what really matters.

We also added a “Customer Care” and “Our Mission” section to address her audience directly, letting them know they’re in the right place and promising they will receive the same quality service they put behind their quality products. At the very end of the page, you’ll see what I call “summary blocks” that include three different page options so people who are browsing through her About page can find what they need.

The Future of Archer & Olive

Since our website copywriting project, Bonnie has not only seen explosive growth in her revenue and pageviews, but she’s also been able to confidently launch new limited edition products and artist collaborations.

I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with her on creating copy for many of these launches, writing everything from poetry-inspired Instagram captions (like this and this) to email newsletters to new product descriptions.

So, when I say I love being a long-term strategic partner for my clients, I clearly mean it. *wink*

Thank you so much for reading this in-depth website copywriting case study! There are so many more stories I could share from this incredible project that’s continuing to evolve, but let’s shift the attention to you for a moment.

If you have been:

• putting your website copy on the back burner
• struggling to sound anything like yourself
• focusing on the design rather than your messaging

… let’s chat!

I take on a selective amount of custom website copywriting projects each quarter so I can give clients my full attention. You can start by learning about my services or telling me more about your project.

The post From $72k to $1.9 Million: A Website Copywriting Case Study appeared first on Sindie.

With a winning SEO strategy and personality-infused writing, Allison of AllieMarie Design and I created website copywriting that sells Allison’s visual branding services an autopilot while connecting her with ideal clients that are pre-qualified and willing to wait nearly a year to work with her.

Since Google now generates 80-90% of Allison’s client leads through targeted organic search (which means we haven’t used ANY paid advertising dollars!), she is able to book visual branding projects 9-12+ months in advance after implementing her new website copy.

In short, her website SEO is definitely working for her!

Allison went from feeling burned out as she tried to constantly attract new leads (some of which didn’t fit her ideal client profile) to creating a full client waitlist. Her client projects are more rewarding than ever, and she’s never felt more secure, confident, or respected as an independent designer.

The results sound wonderful, but how did we get there?

That’s what I want to dig into for the rest of this client story. I thrilled to see how Allison’s website copy has increased the profitability of her business while giving her more time to focus on partnering with ideal clients she loves. I know the same results are possible even beyond the graphic design industry. 

Here is an in-depth look into how we approached Allison’s website copywriting.

The story of our website copywriting project

After meeting Allison on Instagram in 2016, we became fast friends over hot chocolate (for me) and a vanilla latte (for her) as we talked about our experiences in running a one-woman business.

At the time, Allison had been in business for over three years and was working her way toward sustainability. She enjoyed some of her ongoing design work, but after seeing her wide grin and high-spirited expressions when she talked about her visual branding projects, it didn’t surprise me she wanted to shift more of her attention toward brand design.

When we decided to work together on new copywriting for business, there were a few things to consider:

• Allison didn’t want to work with only one industry in order to be successful. Without a traditional niche, she struggled with how to create targeted messaging that would still speak to her ideal clients.
• Allison is one of the most attentive, organized small business owners I know, but there was nothing in her copy that articulated the time and care she put into her client process.
• With her focus being on the website’s design (and rightfully so!), she hadn’t thought about which keywords would give her the most SEO value before we worked together.

Our solution was to create SEO-optimized website copy that felt like a having a casual conversation over coffee with a friend. We wanted to highlight Allison’s welcoming and warm personality while weaving thoughtful keywords into her copy in a natural way.

__________

ALLISON’S BRAND VOICE

warm / welcoming / collaborative / knowledgeable / understanding / friendly

__________

Website copywriting for graphic designers: Behind the strategy

I have a pretty unmistakable love for all things website strategy! I love bringing it to life with the tangible result of copywriting, but my mind totally geeks out in the strategy stage.

As I prepared Allison’s new website strategy, we agreed to pull inspiration from two of her taglines that still felt like a great fit for her brand. Because she likes working with “small businesses with big hearts” and creating “happy, thoughtful, inspired designs”, it was easy to find a place to fit these taglines into her About page and Services page.

Speaking of her website pages, here’s an inside look into how we wanted to utilize each page of her new website (which you can see has been brought to life here):

Homepage

Our primary goal with the Homepage was to keep the copy concise yet powerful. We decided on a two-column layout so it would match Allison’s minimal design.

We used Allison’s tagline in the header and all of the body copy points to the main call-to-action, which is a button to learn more about how to work with Allison. Since we want every Homepage visitor to land on her Services page, this was an easy choice!

About page

I usually recommend writing a more client-focused introduction before introducing the business owner on About pages, but we tweaked out strategy a little because Allison didn’t want to target only one kind of entrepreneur. Instead, we decided to create a bulleted list of the types of businesses she likes to work with so they still feel like they are in the right place.

We collaborated on a proper bio for her About page, detailing the heart behind her business, how she got started, and a deep look into her professional experience.

To give the page even more personality, we added the “On a Personal Note” section so visitors can get to know Allison before they hop on a consultation call. She laughs now about how much clients ask her about her study abroad trip to Paris and mutual love for Gilmore Girls.

My favorite part of her About page is absolutely the Core Values section. With short blurbs of copy, we set the tone for what prospective clients can expect from the collaboration while infusing some of Allison’s inviting, fun personality in between. Concise copy is my jam, so this was a really fun section to put together!

We ended the About page with “My Promise”, which builds the visitor’s confidence in Allison as a designer, collaborator, and business owner. It’s the perfect final touch before directing people toward the rest of her website.

Services page

Our main goal for Allison’s Services page was to not only highlight her visual branding skills but also educate visitors on the true value of quality brand design. Letting incoming client leads know that building a brand encompasses more than a logo design was incredibly important for Allison.

After educating visitors in the introduction section, we decided to reintroduce Allison on this page in case someone came to the Services page before they visited her About page. Since Allison’s business is named after her and she is the main point of contact, it was crucial for us to highlight the face and personality behind the business.

Before digging into the specifics of Allison’s signature design process, we wanted visitors to self-identify themselves as a good fit or not by setting expectations in a casual, light-hearted way.

Then we introduced her offerings along with a more in-depth look into her process. Clear call-to-actions were placed throughout her Services page so people could easily find what they needed (like the contact form, investment guide, or other materials).

After almost two years, we haven’t had to make ANY tweaks to this page and it still drives the majority of her contact form requests, meaning that it is successfully converting visitors into client leads.

After our website copywriting project

Not only does Allison feel more confident in her messaging and website than ever, but she’s also been able to create a waitlist of clients who are willing to wait almost a year to work with her.

Even though Allison is in a highly saturated industry with other brand and website designers, she can confidently stand out in the crowd, knowing her website copywriting educates and sells her visitors on why she is the right choice.

Investing in website copywriting gave her a solid foundation that she can build her business on for years to come. With every new offering she launches, she returns back to the strategy and copywriting we created in early 2017 to guide her overall messaging.

Here’s what Allison had to say about our website copywriting partnership:

“Working with Kayla on my website copy was nothing short of dreamy. She gracefully led me through her thoughtful process from start to finish, taking the time to listen to my needs and dig into the heart of my business, and then turn everything into beautiful writing that speaks directly to my ideal clients and has a clear strategy behind it. My brand voice has never been as strong, polished, and “me” as it is now, thanks to Kayla’s brilliance and love and talent. Since working with Kayla, I have received inquiry after inquiry from small businesses who found me via Google – talk about marketing on autopilot! When you work with Kayla, you’re in the best of hands.” – Allison of AllieMarie Design

Are you ready to invest in website copywriting to attract and convert the right kind of leads while keeping your brand voice intact? Let’s talk today about your vision and see if my signature website copywriting process is a good fit for you!

The post Website Copywriting Portfolio Spotlight: AllieMarie Design, Graphic Designer appeared first on Sindie.

While I adore blogging (heck, it’s how I got my start), I decided at the beginning of Q2 to pour all of my energy into my copywriting and content creation clients. After transitioning from brand strategy coaching to copywriting, I owed it to my clients and myself to streamline and perfect my workflow.

I fell into what I’m calling my “perfect flow” of client projects pretty quickly. Much of the credit goes to my incredible clients who have given me the opportunity to work on some remarkable projects.

Rather than simply updating my copywriting portfolio, I thought I’d highlight some of my favorite projects of the quarter and tell more of the story behind each. Let’s dive in!

Website Copywriting: Tribe Photo Co.

The story behind our website copywriting project

After Richard, the founder of Tribe Red Leaf Studios, found me on Instagram (no, seriously!), we immediately connected over our love for poetic content and intentional community building.

I had the opportunity to collaborate with Richard and his team to create copy for the new tribephoto.co website, which launched last month as a brand extension of the renowned Tribe Red Leaf. It’s been one of my favorite projects to date! Since then, we’ve also created some blog content and additional copy for their marketing materials.

What I loved most about our website copywriting project

I’ve never had so much creative freedom in a single project, something I am deeply honored by and grateful for. Richard believed in my poetic voice from the beginning and gave me full reign to craft website content around the adventure of being an indie photographer intentionally lost in the woods.

Oh, and I wrote all of the copy on my patio looking out at the lake while surrounded by trees. Can you say dream job? I was in the zone the whole time.

Blog Ghostwriting and Content Creation: ConvertKit

The story behind our ghostwriting project

Continuing with projects I’ve been honored to work on, the Product Creation Masterclass project I worked on with ConvertKit was no different. I’m not shy about my love for ConvertKit, my long-time email service provider and now copywriting client.

When Darrell, the previous lead of Business Growth at ConvertKit, came to me with a ghostwriting project that would become their biggest affiliate driving offering yet, I said a huge YES to working together. Together, we created 20 full-length lessons (we’re talking 1.5-2k words each) for subscribers who wanted to learn exactly how to build their first digital product in 30 days flat.

What I loved about our content creation project

Besides working with a highly-motivated, extremely inspiring team of entrepreneurial spirited members, I loved that the Product Creation Masterclass led to an ongoing opportunity to write for their blog, Tradecraft. Cheesy, I know, but when I work really well with a client, I love having the chance to keep working together. It’s one of the major highlights of what I do.

Launch Sales Page Copywriting: Holly Meyer Design

The story behind our sales page copywriting project

As a copywriter, it should be easy to find words to explain how much Holly Meyer means to me but alas, I cannot. Holly has been my client since the very beginning when I solely partnered with small businesses as a brand strategist. I helped her quit her day job to pursue her visual branding business full-time, and she invested in me when I transitioned from coaching to copywriting. I’m convinced that business owners who grow together, win together.

Back to the project before I get overly sappy. I recently had the chance to write sales page copy for Holly’s preassembled brand suite shop launch, Brand Provisions. We infused her personality into every section of her copy. My words have never looked more beautiful since they’ve been paired with her brilliant designs.

What I loved about our sales page copywriting project

Saying I loved everything probably isn’t specific enough, is it? In that case, I’ll say my favorite thing was how effectively and quickly everything came together. From contract to first drafts to launch, we were up and rolling in less than a month! This must be what happens after working with one another for over a year. #winning

Various Content Creation

One of my favorite things about what I do is collaborating with heart-centered small businesses to create ongoing content for their blogs and newsletters. Nurturing these ongoing client relationships is my greatest privilege.

Looking at the list below, you’ll see there’s a HUGE variety in the topics I cover for clients. And yes, I really do like it this way. Here’s a sneak peek at the work we’ve produced together in Q2:

ConvertKit

You probably noticed ConvertKit made the list twice. It’s been a joy to work with their team on an ongoing basis after finishing up the Product Creation Masterclass.

How to Make Your Freelance Services Stand Out on Your Website

How to Set Your Rates for Your Freelance Services

How to Make Your First $1,000 as a Freelancer

ThinkSEM

Back when I was an online marketing n00b paying my dues in college, I interned with ThinkSEM. The company’s founder, Clint, encouraged my passion for entrepreneurship from the beginning. Now I work with them with them on a freelance basis and it’s so rewarding. The blog content we create together ranges from responsive web design to conversion rate optimization to SEO.

7 Ways to Double Your Website Traffic Through Social Media

Sidebar or No Sidebar: The Battle for Higher Conversions

Pretty vs. Performance: How to Choose a WordPress Theme for Lead Generation

Claire Dobson

Along with Holly Meyer, who I mentioned above, Claire and I have worked together since the beginning of my business. She was actually my first client EVER, and thankfully we’re still collaborating like champs today. Together, we worked on her Insta-Success course sales page and a select few blog posts to beef up her content strategy. We’ll have even more content for wedding professionals coming in Q3 so stay tuned!

5 Quick Steps to Seriously Optimizing Your Instagram Profile

How to Get the Right Brides on Instagram to Book Your Services

3 Ways to Feel More Confident as a Service Provider on Instagram

Courageous Creativity

I met Anung Vilay, the founder and apparel designer behind Courageous Creativity, years ago at the Minnesota Bloggers Conference. She became one of my first ongoing content creation clients when I transitioned out of coaching. We get to create heaps of adventurous content for her introverted audience, including a 5 lesson email course on learning to say “no” intentionally.

Finding Your Footing: An Introvert’s Journey Through Career Building

5 Real Ways to Purposefully Say “No”: An Introvert’s Manifesto

10 Excuses to Overcome in 2017

Kristen Dyer Photography

I had the pleasure to collaborating with Kristen Dyer to create blog, email newsletter, and social media content for the launch of her Motherhood Sessions around Mother’s Day. She graciously leads our local Minneapolis chapter of TuesdaysTogether where we met. Here’s a sample of our work.

…And that’s a wrap!

Can you see why I was okay taking a minor step back from the blog this quarter? I can’t wait to share with you next quarter what other projects I’ve been working on behind-the-scenes. Until then, follow along on Instagram and Twitter for project updates, copywriting inspiration, and some silly Boomerang videos.

The post What Launched in Q2: 2017 Copywriting Projects Recap appeared first on Sindie.

More often than not, if someone is trying to sell you something, they will feature at least one testimonial. You’ll see testimonials on landing pages, websites, advertising pages, and more.

So why do you want testimonials of your own?

They highlight that customers were beyond satisfied with your product or service

This lowers the barrier to entry, meaning if a potential customer had doubts before, they might not after reading a stellar review from someone else.

It looks less self-promotional

Sure, you can explain how amazing your product or service is until you’re blue in the face, but that doesn’t mean your audience will take your word for it. Anyone selling anything online is going to promote the benefits of their work. When someone else does it for you, that’s when people take notice.

It shows that you care about what your audience thinks

You don’t just create a product or service, leave it as is, and watch the money come rolling in. You want to include outside opinion to show your authority. It makes a big impact on the selling process.

Testing a new product or releasing a new service can be scary, especially if it’s your first time.

What if I told you I had a way to get high-quality testimonials before you publish your product or service?

I put together a non-icky step-by-step guide to help you along the way.

#1 Make a list of all the bloggers you want to reach out to

It would be smart to start with some of the well-known bloggers in your niche as they are figures your visitors will recognize. Having a big name behind your product or service speaks volumes about its quality.

You can also use social listening to create a list of bloggers who are interested in the subject of your product or service. People are always posting on social media about how they wish had more information or resources on a topic. Use this to your advantage and create a win-win scenario for you both.

Don’t forget your BBFFs (blog best friends forever)! They will often be more than willing to help out because they already support you in so many other ways. They will usually give the most glowing testimonials too. #bloglove

#2 Create and send an email to each blogger from your list

Your pitch should explain:

• What your product or service is
• Why that person should care
• Why you’ve chosen that person to give feedback (very important!)

Please take the time to personalize each email. It’s good to have a framework, but if you copy and paste the same response to everyone, it won’t lead to an endorsement. No group emails either. That’s just icky.

Remember, this is NOT a sales pitch. You are solely reaching out to offer them either a free (or very, very discounted) product or service in exchange for feedback.

IMPORTANT: Always lead by asking for feedback. If the feedback is more critical than positive, send a nice thank you email for their time but don’t ask for a testimonial since it most likely won’t lead to one. However, if the feedback is beyond positive and the blogger loved your product or service, this is the green light to ask if the blogger would feel comfortable writing a testimonial to recommend the product or service.

It’s good to know now that your effort may not result in a testimonial every time. A blogger may flat out say no from the get-go. This is okay. Keep reaching out and encourage bloggers that do take part in the process to be very honest. Make it a no pressure zone. Besides, you only want to feature authentic quotes from people who are happy to sing your praises.

#3 Follow up

Bloggers are beyond busy. We all get hundreds of requests and emails a week. Check in with the blogger to ask for their initial thoughts. Do this one week after a service and one to two weeks for a product. From there you can have a better timeline of when the blogger will be ready to send over their feedback.

This process is more of a marathon than a sprint. It may take some time and extra effort on your part, but the quality of testimonials you get will be incredible and it’ll help you smoothly launch your product or service.

The post How to Get Testimonials Before You Launch appeared first on Sindie.