3 Copywriting Mistakes to Avoid on Your Freelance Website

call to action copywriting cta lead generation website

Your website should serve as more than just a billboard on the information superhighway, yet many nurse writers make copywriting mistakes that fail at selling their services. Let’s discuss the top mistakes to avoid – so that your website can become a lead-generating machine.

1. All features, no benefits

In marketing, we often talk about features versus benefits. Few people buy “features;” they usually buy “benefits.”

You can conceptualize a “feature” as an element of the offer. For example, the homepage of my freelance website contains a section labeled “Our Expertise.” This section lists all the types of content I can produce for clients, such as “blog posts.”

But people don’t usually buy “blog posts.” Instead, they buy the benefit of having a nurse write the blog posts, so I addressed that in my copy by adding, “Improve search rank and engage more prospective clients with high-quality blog content that keeps the top of your funnel full.”

Now the prospective customer can understand the benefit of hiring me to write their blog posts: Because my work can help them achieve their marketing goals in several ways.

The takeaway here is this: Whenever you list a “feature” on your website, you must also provide the benefit of it – because people generally buy benefits, not features.

2. All you, no them

Many novice freelance writers make the mistake of treating their homepage like a resume or biography. It’s all about them and not at all about the prospective client. Huge mistake.

Your copy should focus on the client, their pain points, and your solutions to their pain points. Your website actually should contain very little information about you. An easy way to accomplish this is to go through your site and strip out or change every instance of the words “I” and “me,” except as they relate to conveying benefits. Rewrite to change these to “you,” instead.

The word “you” is one of the most powerful words in copywriting. When you speak directly to the prospect, they connect with you on a visceral level. They feel seen, heard, and understood. And when they connect with you in this way, they’re more likely to want to continue exploring a working relationship with you.

Now, of course, it’s different for your About page. That definitely should be about you, but only to the extent that it amplifies the benefits you bring to the client relationship.

Do not treat your About page like a resume. Do not tell your entire life story just for the sake of telling your story. Instead, try to connect the ways in which elements of your story enable you to provide top-tier benefits for your clients, such as something like, “Nurse K’s lengthy career in hospital administration gave them deep insight into the pain points health system administrators cope with every day – and enables Nurse K to help clients better target their B2B content.”

It’s OK to include personal details on your About page, especially towards the bottom of your bio. I actually gained a client one time by mentioning on my About page that I have an Australian shepherd mix dog! But keep the personal details to a minimum.

3. No CTA

“CTA” stands for “call to action,” and your homepage definitely needs one! Too many nurse writers publish these gorgeous websites that never actually ASK the prospect to continue the conversation. Big mistake.

Your homepage, in particular, should sell. You need to determine exactly what action you want the reader to take, and then ask them to take it. Perhaps you want them to…