Your website is like a book on a bookshelf.

How do you make it into something that wants to be picked up off the shelf (out of allll the others out there) and looked at and then bought from the store, or noted to come back to later?

Several weeks ago, I did a quick website audit for a photographer whose work I LOVE. The Top Tip I gave her is my top tip for you if you’re seizing the chance before the busy summer to freshen up your website and make it stand out on the virtual “shelf” of websites.

Here it is: make sure you have a solid line or three of copy above the fold, aka on the first part of your site that the people see.

EITHER have a solid who you are and what you do (Instagram bio style. For me this would be my typical “I’m Abby and I write creative, minimalist copy for small businesses and nonprofits.”)

OR have a more attention-getting headline posed as a question or a statement of how your service or product will benefit your potential clients, (for example for me, this would be something like “Are you tired of not knowing what to say about your business?”) and then use the next sections of your site to speak directly to their pain points and how you can help them.

If you don’t have this, it makes it hard for your website visitors to know where to go. They have to search to figure out who you even are and why your business is relevant to them, just like if a book doesn’t have a clear title no one will know if they want to read it or not. Don’t make it hard for them! It’s kind to be clear right from the beginning!

Do you have this on your website already? Or not yet?