The second consideration when writing your website copy is understanding your target audience (who is going to your website and why). You'd be shocked to learn how few companies actually take their target audience into consideration when writing website copy. Here are important questions to ask yourself before you start writing copy for your website:

• How many target audiences does my website have?
• Who is my target audience, and what are they looking for?
• What questions do my target audience need answers to?
• Will my target audience prefer to read industry jargon, or should I write in non-technical terms?
• What products or services is my target audience searching for?
• How many products or services do I really have, and how can I segment these?
• What terms will my target audience recognize for my products or services?
• During which part of the "buying process" will my target audience find my website, and how can I help them to the next step of this process?

Understanding your target audience and writing website copy tailored to your audience is the key to conversion. If your target audience doesn't understand your website copy because it is too technical or they don't understand what products or services you're selling, your target audience will leave your website. No amount of keyword loading will keep a confused prospect on your site.

After your write your first draft of website copy, I recommend placing your website copy on a test site and asking a sample prospect to visit this page for the first time. Do they understand who you are and what products you offer? Do they understand the terms you're using to describe what you do?