Words That Win: Turning Website Visitors into Customers Part 1

In this episode:

Karen Vick is joined by Sarah Guilliot, a Seattle-based website designer, copywriter, and brand strategist, to unpack the essentials of copywriting and brand voice for service-based small businesses. With a background in UX and web design at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, T-Mobile, and GoDaddy, Sarah Guilliot shares her entrepreneurial journey and actionable tips for crafting copy that connects and converts.

• Sarah’s Career Pivot: From 20 years in corporate tech and design roles to launching her own business, including the Coach Lift Off service for coaches wanting an easy, all-in-one website and marketing solution.

• Copywriting 101:

  • What copywriting is—and isn’t.

  • The difference between content writing (blogs, social media) and copywriting (websites, sales pages, emails).

  • Why your website is not just a digital brochure.

• Brand Voice Essentials:

  • Why your copy should sound like you, not a robot (or a generic AI!).

  • How reading your copy out loud helps you catch awkward or stiff language.

  • The importance of consistency and authenticity across all touchpoints.

• Copy Misconceptions:

  • Common mistakes, like using old brochure copy or product descriptions as web copy.

  • Why your copy needs to fit its platform—social posts, blogs, or website pages all have different needs.

• SEO & Standing Out Online:

  • The balance between writing for people and ranking for search engines.

  • How being authentic and using real client language can boost your SEO naturally.

• Market Research Tips:

  • Using conversations and testimonials from real clients to inspire and refine your copy.

  • “Copy stalking”—a method for gathering actual phrases and words your audience uses.

• Coach Lift Off (Sarah’s signature program for coaches – details forthcoming in her network)

• EEAT by Google (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness): https://searchengineland.com/e-e-a-t-and-seo-392924

• “Copy stalking” concept credited to Mariah Coz

• Read Your Copy Aloud:

  Sarah's top tip—record yourself or read website/email copy out loud to spot unnatural or stiff language.

• Gather Customer Feedback: Review testimonials and set up discovery calls to understand the language your clients use when talking about your services.

• Customize for Your Audience: Adjust your brand voice to be true to yourself, while still clear and relatable to your customers—especially if you serve a multi-cultural/multi-lingual audience.

• Don’t Rely Solely on AI: Use AI as a draft or brainstorming assistant, but personalize and humanize all final copy.

• Repeat Key Info: It’s OK to reinforce core messages on different pages of your website—users might land anywhere!

Guiding Brands Podcast listeners can schedule a call with Sarah at https://www.sarahdesign.com/guiding, to get personalized insights about your brand.

You can also find Sarah on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sarahdesignagency

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The Guiding Brands Podcast: https://guidingbrandspodcast.com

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