ChatGPT Won’t Fix Your Website Conversions, but Here’s What Will

As a website copywriter, it’s my job to make sure the copy I write leads to website conversions. 

Meaning, the visitors to your website take the actions you want them to take. 

In most service providers’ cases, this means submitting an inquiry form to book services, signing up for your program or offer, or maybe purchasing a digital product you have for sale on your site. 

But what if you’re not working with a copywriter yet and doing it yourself? 

I get the temptation to lean on AI, but it’s not going to be your knight in shining armor in this case. 

ChatGPT Won’t Fix Your Website Conversions, but Here’s What Will 

If your website isn’t converting the way you think it should, ChatGPT can give you some generic advice or tips. But no matter how much information you feed it as a prompt, it can’t help you get to the root of the problem, because it’s not actually you! 

Sorry for this hard truth, but sometimes, as the business owner, we need to put in the foundational work and evaluate our business (or website in this case) with actual human eyes.

But First, What Is a Good Website Conversion Rate?   

Across industries, a good website conversion rate is considered to be between 2% and 5%, depending on what you offer and who you serve. E-commerce tends to be a little lower, while B2B (business-to-business) is on the higher side.

How Do You Measure Website Conversions? 

You can get pretty technical and set up some reports to track your website conversions in Google Analytics. Depending on what you’re tracking (inquiry forms submitted, digital products purchased, etc.), you can set up your Google Analytics account to track those things for you. 

But at the end of the day, your conversion rate is the number of actions taken divided by the number of visitors to your site or page, so you could also calculate it yourself.

So for example, if you’re a service provider and you’re measuring your conversion rate by the number of people who submit your inquiry form, you could simply track the number of inquiries you receive each month and divide that by the number of monthly visitors your website receives. 

How To Improve Website Conversions

Your visual branding, website design/layout, and copy could all be contributing to lackluster conversion rates on your site. For the sake of this post, however, we’re going to focus on your copy. 

This is where I see business owners struggle the most, because it’s the piece that people tend to DIY over the visual branding or design. 

So if I were to audit your website copy, here are the things I’d look at:

Is your messaging clear?

This is a big one. You need to know what you want to talk about in your copy before you write anything. 

I see so many business owners just jump in and start writing their website without any forethought into their overall messaging strategy, and that can absolutely leave your reader confused, uninspired, and x-ing out of your site before taking any action. 

I have a free Brand Messaging Blueprint that actually walks you through exactly how to create your messaging strategy and what should be included, so grab your copy here!

Are you actually writing what your ideal clients need to hear? 

Okay, I have a feeling I’m going to say this about every point, but this is another big one. 

I see many business owners write what they think their ideal client needs to hear to make a purchasing decision, not what they KNOW they need to hear. 

But how do you know what they need to hear??? 

You ask them! 

Every time I write website copy for a client, I scour every review or testimonial they’ve ever received, and I interview their past clients. So I always recommend this same process if you’re writing your own copy. 

I actually have a free guide on how to do this, too. You can download your free Client Voice Hacking Guide here, and quit guessing what your ideal client needs to hear and find out for SURE. 

Lead with the transformation your offer gives

Here’s something I want you to remember: your reader cares more about how their lives will improve after working with you versus the deliverables of your offer. 

Anytime you’re writing about your business, whether it’s your website, a sales page, emails, or a social post, your focus should be on the transformation your service or offer gives your clients. 

Not how many photos they get in their gallery. Not the number of web pages included in your design package. And not the number of modules included in your program. 

Yes those things are important to mention, but you shouldn’t lead with them. That’s the supporting information the reader needs to know AFTER they’ve been told all about how your offer will improve their lives or their circumstance. Make sense? 

Make your copy about the reader, not about you

Thanks to Donald Miller’s book Building A StoryBrand, you may be familiar with this concept already, but anytime you’re writing copy, it’s important to remember that the reader is the hero of the story, and you’re simply the guide. 

Everything you write needs to have what I call a ‘what’s in it for me?’ moment. 

For instance, if your about page is filled with a list of your accomplishments or accolades without explaining why those are beneficial to the reader, they’re out.

You can tell your story, but it needs to be done in a way that resonates with THEM. They should see themselves in your story. 

A good way to gauge if you’re doing this well or not is to count up the number of times you say “I” on your website versus “you.” You should have more yous that Is, because remember–they’re the hero, not you!  

Address their objections before they even ask

Okay, I guess I really can’t rank each of these points, because they’re all equally important, so I’ll just say again, this is a big one!! 

One of your copy’s primary jobs is to address (and overcome!) your reader’s objections before they even have to ask. 

Let’s assume your reader is like most potential clients. They’re probably wondering if your pricing is in their budget, what the timeframe is like when they work with you, what to expect in your process, etc. 

And if you don’t tackle these things proactively in your website copy, they’ll leave to “think about it,” and probably never come back. So can kiss converting them goodbye. 

Use Social Proof! 

Social proof (testimonials, case studies, etc.) is one of the most powerful tools in your copy toolbox.

It’s one of the best ways to build trust with your reader, because they’re seeing other people just like them who worked with you and had a great experience. It helps their brain justify the decision they’re about to make. 

But there’s a trick to using social proof correctly. It’s most effective when done well. I wrote all about how to properly use testimonials on your website in this blog post.  

Use Enough CTAs

Your CTAs (calls to action) should be abundant and clear throughout your entire site.

The layout of your site is really important for guiding the reader through the path you want them to take, and strategically placing CTA buttons throughout will do wonders for your conversion rate. 

Make sure the copy in your CTA buttons is clear, however. There’s a time and a place for cute and clever copy, but your buttons should make it crystal clear to the reader what happens when they click.

For example, if your button takes them from your services page to your inquiry form, “Inquire to Get Started” is much more effective than something cute like “Say Less.” 

And, and! make sure you’re placing your CTA buttons in the appropriate places on each page of your site. They should be placed at decision-making points. So when the reader gets to the point on the page where they could be ready to make a decision–boom! A CTA is waiting for them and guiding them along. 

Got it? 

Make These Changes To Improve Your Website Conversions

See what I mean about how ChatGPT could never?  

If you’re struggling with your website’s conversion rate, take a critical look at it through each of these lenses and make some changes accordingly. 

And if you would just rather hand it over to a pro…⬇️⬇️ 

Website Copywriting Services 

If we haven’t met yet, hi! I’m Dianna, website copywriter for service providers, and I help you make more money with your website words. Here are some of the ways I can help you: 

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