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How to Write Website Copy – 23 Questions You Need to Ask

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When it comes to successful copywriting, you need to know as much as you can about the subject you’re covering.

Photo of a laptop a pen and a pad of paperYou need to get inside the heads of your visitors and customers. You need to understand what their goals are and what motivates them

It goes beyond reading background materials, reviewing old marketing pieces and doing some cursory research on the web.

So how do you get inside someone’s head? Simply use a questionnaire to get the information you need to simplify the copywriting (and marketing) objectives.

This use of a questionnaire or copywriting brief is a tool used by ad agencies and corporate marketing and creative departments to streamline copywriting.

You can use this form yourself, or help clients complete it if you’re writing for someone else.

Remember, good input is key to a successful project, campaign, or marketing program. This copywriting brief is designed to elicit good input. But it takes thorough and thoughtful answers on your part.

Let’s see what’s on the form.


Copywriting brief

Please answer the following questions carefully.

1. What is the description of the piece(s)?

  • salespage?
  • web page?
  • podcast?
  • video voiceover?
  • free downloadable resource, etc?

2. Which keywords/key phrases are being targeted?

3. What is the marketing focus?

  • What products or services need describing?

4. What is the communications problem that the piece(s) must solve?

  • Awareness?
  • Positioning?
  • Repositioning?
  • Product introduction?

5. Who is the audience?

  • Demographics?
    • Age?
    • Income?
    • Gender?
    • Location?
    • Status?
    • Interests?
  • Job title?
  • Function/role?
  • Responsibilities?

6. What is their point of view about the product, service, category?

7. Who is the secondary audience(s), if any?

8. What business problems or issues does the product(s)/service(s) solve for the audience(s)?

  • Efficiency issues?
  • Profitability issues?
  • Operations issues?
  • Technology issues?
  • Health?
  • Relaxation?

9. What effect do we want the piece(s) to have on the target audience(s)?

  • Make a purchase?
  • Make a phone call?
  • Visit website?
  • Request more information?
  • Increase their awareness, etc?

10. What can we offer to achieve the desired response?

  • Demonstrations?
  • Situation evaluation?
  • Sales collateral?
  • Personal visit?
  • Skype call?
  • Instant messaging chat?
  • Free sample?
  • Free trial?
  • Free report?
  • White paper, etc?

11. What is the single essential message we must tell the target audience(s) to achieve the desired effect?

  • Be as concise as possible! :)

12. What evidence is there to support our claims?

  • Features and benefits?
  • Testimonials?
  • Expertise
  • Case studies, etc.?

13. Can anyone else make a similar promise?

14. Are there any technology issues to address?

  • Compatibility
  • Operating systems
  • Hardware requirements, etc.

15. What specific industry issues must be addressed?

  • Trends?
  • Legislation?

16. Are there any industry, product or competitive issues to be avoided?

17. What tone should the piece employ?

  • Hardhitting/serious?
  • Educational/informative?
  • Humorous, etc?

18. What do you like about your current piece(s)?

  • Look and feel?
  • Tone?
  • Messaging?
  • Functionality, etc?

19. What don’t you like about your current piece(s)?

  • Look and feel?
  • Tone?
  • Messaging?
  • Functionality, etc?

20. What overall impressions (look and feel, etc.) would you like the piece(s) to make?

21. Will this piece(s) be used with any other pieces?

  • Proposals?
  • Collateral?
  • Letters?

22. How will the piece(s) be used  and at what point in the sales cycle?

  • Read online?
  • Printed?
  • Forwarded on?

23. Any other comments/notes?


It’s a long list – for sure – and you need to be flexible was you work with it.

If you opt to ask the client to fill it out, why not use it as an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting and interview the client and complete the form with the client and ask them to review the form at the end of the session. Any sort of collaborative approach works well.

In the end, think to yourself/stress to your clients that if they want more clicks, more leads and more sales, they want to actively participate in the input process.

One you have all the information you need, you’re ready to write a winner.

Get the template for free…

If you’d like to try out this process, why not save yourself a bit of time and download my free copywriting brief word template? word icon (just right click and choose “Save Target As…”)


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