In an ideal world, visitors would land on your website and instantly turn from casual browser to committed client.
But just because we don’t live in an ideal world doesn’t mean that the above scenario is completely off the table. In fact, with the right website copy, you may be closer to achieving the ideal than you’d think.
But why is website copy so important?
Well, for one, it’s the core text that guides readers through your entire site. It engages visitors, provides information, expands your reach, and converts initial passers-by into customers.
The power of language itself is undeniable, of course, and there are many other elements that make a good website stand out, but excellent web copy can be the make or break.
So how do you go about creating effective engineering website copy?
Below, I’ll take you through some of the top tools of the trade to help you move from boring text to compelling copy.
1. Be specific and succinct
If you’ve ever joined a new running or exercise program, you’ll be familiar with those oh-so-sweet phrases of “only a 30-second sprint” or “only 10 reps”. You can do 30 seconds. You can do 10 repetitions. But if your instructor had told you it’ll only be a 5-minute sprint or there are 50 reps ahead of you, your motivation would be slightly lacking and you’d likely give up before you even got started.
The same goes for website copy – the shorter, the better.
This doesn’t mean short copy is less powerful, just like doing short bursts of intense exercise isn’t less impactful. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; it’s efficient.
And if there’s one thing that engineers like, it’s efficiency.
Your engineering website copy should be short and direct, providing quick information and easy solutions. This is particularly true for homepage content and product or service pages.
If you don’t grab someone’s attention within the first few seconds of them landing on your site, chances are they’ll bounce right off and head to the next website.
Optimizing for readability is also good SEO practice, so focus on using shorter paragraphs and simpler language to make your site more user-friendly, push up rankings, and help drive website traffic.
Using AI can help if you’re really stuck on specific aspects of your web copy, but I’d recommend using it for inspiration only – especially if you’re writing about something as technically complex as engineering.
2. Appeal to the heart through the head
The opposite is true for most industries – you’re motivated to spend thirty minutes on the treadmill not because you know the scientific reasoning of how it affects your body but because you know it’ll allow you to enjoy more donuts at the end of the day.
But engineers are accustomed to carefully weighing facts and valuing data over emotion. Your copy needs to reflect this.
Think about your unique selling points and present facts in a clear way that will give your readers solid information, use technical terminology that engineers will be familiar with, and use data and case studies to drive your narrative.
Even if you’re not an engineer yourself, effective engineering website copy will give the illusion that it was written by an engineer.
3. Highlight features as well as benefits
Every marketer (and good copywriter) knows that it’s the benefit that sells a product or service, not the feature.
But for engineering content, you may find yourself doing both – highlighting the features as well as the benefits.
So, for example, engineers will need to know how a certain product benefits them, but they will also need to know whether or not the product meets their technical specifications and if it is compatible with their existing equipment.
It’s not helpful to be sold an amazing treadmill that will make you look and feel great, only to come home and discover that you don’t have the right connections to plug it into your wall.
So don’t overlook features and data when crafting website copy for engineers.
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4. Include statistics, quotes, and original data
Instead of making broad statements, it’s helpful to quantify your claims with figures and statistics that appeal to your engineering readers.
In fact, including statistics often strengthens the points you make in your content and helps increase your authority. But it’s also important to include real-life experiences.
Do you have client testimonials or quotes you can use? Specific case studies are also a good way of communicating your capabilities as they add social proof from your satisfied clients.
As a marketer, you need to strike a balance between original data and citing relevant and timely statistics, and keeping both updated and refreshed as and when required.
5. Include a good amount of visual elements
Writing effective engineering copy is more than just writing. In fact, it’s often about the overall layout and adding in enough visual breaks.
This is particularly important when writing web copy (more so than when writing for print) because readers are often accessing your website from relatively small devices – about 60% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Visual elements help break up text and make it easier to read on a smaller screen.
Of course, visual content will include basics like photographs, videos, animations, and graphics, but don’t forget about infographics and charts, which can help explain your content in more visual ways.
You can also consider color combinations or different formatting styles to break up chunks of text and help specific content stand out.
Parts of this will relate to web design, and there is only so much you can do to web copy if you’re working on a shoddy website template. However, even if you’re working on a terrible template, you can still make your copy more appealing by adding in visuals and bolding or italicizing aspects of text to make it stand out.
That said, the ideal would be to work off the back of a well-designed website.
Putting it all together
If you put all of these together, you’ll end up with engineering website copy that works in your favor.
And if you need someone to help you with this, pop me a message – that’s what I’m here for.
Engineering Website Copy
Does my copy need to include CTAs?
Most website copy will include a clear CTA (call to action), even if you’re not trying to sell a product or a service. Perhaps you’re simply trying to get someone to sign up for a newsletter? Or to click through to the next article? If your content is well-structured, you should always include well-placed CTAs so that the reader knows what steps to take next.
What tone of voice should I be using?
You want your website copy to be professional yet approachable. Ideally, it’ll be written like you’re talking to a friend, but you still need to remember that you’re in a B2B or B2C sphere and an online context, so you should always remain professional and courteous.
How often should I be updating my website copy?
It’s worth looking at your analytics reports to help with this. Is your copy working? Are people engaged and working their way through your funnels? If yes, then it may not be necessary to update your copy as regularly – as long as statistics and important information have stayed the same. If there have been any major changes or your content is not working for you, you’ll need to update your copy more regularly, as required.
Can I use humor on my engineering site?
Well-placed and strategic elements of humor work well, but this should be used sparingly and only if it aligns with your brand’s tone of voice.
How do I start planning my web copy?
This largely depends on what type of web copy you’re producing. Are you writing a homepage or a long-form engineering blog? Are you trying to sell a product or a service? The first step is always identifying what you want to achieve with the page in question and identifying your target audience.
