In the past 4 years, I’ve cut my teeth strategizing & writing award-worthy, revenue-increasing, results-snatching copy. And what really lights my fire is writing for woman-owned and BIPOC-led brands. I’m talkin’ the first day after a braiding appointment type of excited! Energizing them to go big with their bold ideas so that when launch time happens, the world thinks “OMG FINALLY, I’ve been waiting for something like this.” And giving them the tools to diversify the market.
Everyone remembers a website that looks good—but you rarely think about the science it takes to create a website that’s fun to use.
Yu only have 3 seconds to capture attention and 8 seconds to communicate value. In that brief window, people decide whether to stay or leave, trust or doubt, convert or bounce. The websites that win this battle aren’t just functional—they’re genuinely enjoyable to use.
Happy website visitors take action, so it stands to reason that website designers and copywriters want to make websites that are enjoyable to be on. But how does one do that?
In this post, I’m breaking down the psychology and practical strategies it takes to create a website that people love AND that drive serious business results.
Positive emotions lower any mental barriers people will have that prevent them from purchasing. Like trust—when you see client testimonials, success stories, user-generated content (UGC), and media mentions from credible sources, you start to believe that the person trying to sell to you is trustworthy. Which makes you have less anxiety around clicking the ‘Buy’ button.
Then there’s dopamine, which makes people feel pleasure, satisfaction, motivation, and contributes to learning and attention. Triggering dopamine in the brain can make people more engaged in your website, and influence them to make decisions—like clicking a button!
And reducing the friction around your user experience—or, in other words, making it easy to use your website—also makes people trust you. Because why trust a brand with a difficult, non user-friendly website?
Our brains go through a lot of information on a daily basis, and that overwhelm KILLS conversions. So it’s CRUCIAL to create a website that’s easy to use and simplifies complex decisions. That could look like:
According to Google and Ipsos, the chance of a site visitor bouncing increases by 32% when page load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds, and by 90% when it goes past 5 seconds. And for mobile users, if a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, 53% of them will leave the site.
Again, people have to process a lot of information every day, which means their time is precious. And it’s annoying to have to wait for a website to load in an increasingly online world. So the faster your load times, the more satisfied your site visitors will be, and the more likely your sales rate will go up.
You can ensure you create a website that’s as fast as The Flash by:
Any tool that monitors your on-page performance and traffic—like Hot Jar, Google PageSpeed Insights, or Pingdom—will help you monitor and improve your page load speeds. And, of course, going on your website on your own devices and seeing for yourself how long it takes a page to load.
96% of people go on the web from their phones (Data Reportal), so it’s non-negotiable to create a website that’s mobile-first. I already mentioned this in my Copywriting 101 blog post for startup founders but just as a refresher, you want to:
I won’t lie, if you ask me to create a website, design is NOT my expertise—but there are some things I’ve learned from art directors and designers I’ve worked with over the years ⬇️
Certain colours make people feel different emotions. That’s why health and wellness brands often use the colour green, and financial companies use red or blue to signify trustworthiness. Then again, a financial education brand targeting Gen Z women might pick brighter, bolder colours that evoke uniqueness, personality, AND trust.
Plus, having a contrasting colour for call-to-action buttons can make them seem more click-worthy and spark conversions.
So consider how you want people to feel, and then build your brand colours around that!
There’s a reason typical websites have a big headline in a bold, eye-catching font, followed by a dynamic subhead font, and then an easy-to-read font for body copy. It’s because brands want to guide your eyes toward conversion points—a.k.a. the button.
And while it may be tempting to pick a bold font that you like, that doesn’t mean it’s the best one to use for your website. So try and pick a font that evokes the emotion you want to get across while also being easy to read.
Keep a good amount of spacing around each letter, word, and line, and make sure your copy isn’t getting too up close and personal with the margins.
If you follow any website designer, they’ll share their favourite fonts—and if you hire one, they’ll help you choose the best fonts to enhance the user experience.
Just how I mentioned above you want to give your margins breathing room, I’m going to say it again—because having to read copy, or view site design & imagery that’s crammed tight on to the page puts too much strain on a person’s already strapped mental energy.
So, in other words, having white space reduces cognitive load. But it also gives you a chance to direct a person’s eyes to where you want them to take action: watching a video, reading the copy, or clicking a button.
I love to use storytelling in website copy because it’s a powerful psychological technique that:
So I encourage you to use a narrative structure in your copy: for the lead-in to your value proposition to differentiate yourself, your brand story to build an emotional connection, product and service descriptions that make an impact, etc. And try to integrate your ideal customer’s story throughout the site—whether that’s with insight from your research or using a UGC video.
It may not seem like much, but it’s the little things that leave an impression. When you click on a broken link, it’d be nice to see a branded 404 error message that keeps your positive mood up instead of something generic.
Or button copy that not only reduces anxiety but gets people excited about the action they’re about to take. Or loading states that entertain while users wait—just think of any app or website you’ve used where you hit ‘Submit’ and you’re waiting for the action to complete. Don’t you remember the ones that had something fun to say while you wait? Yeah, I thought so. So try when you create a website for your brand, consider the microcopy.
Social proof is any external validator of your credibility and helps people make decisions when they’re not sure what to do. Studies show that people are actively searching for social proof like testimonials, success stories, media mentions, awards and certifications, etc.
So you’ll want to use social proof strategically whenever you make a claim about your brand, product, or service. Use reviews and testimonials that feel authentic. UGC that builds community. And trust signals that don’t feel staged.
A/B testing is so vital to your website’s continued success. You can test emotional responses to your copy and design, not just click rates. That qualitative data will matter just as much as the quantitative data. because it shows that people are satisfied with your website in the long-term instead of just giving you short-term conversion bumps.
Just how you want to be strategic with where you put social proof, you want to do the same with conversion elements like call-to-action buttons, pop-ups and strategies for when people are about to ‘x’ out (be careful with this, because it CAN affect your bounce rate).
People don’t like when you switch up in how you talk to them, so you want to be consistent with your brand voice across all touchpoints—your website, social media, printed materials, the works. Also, I’ve found that when I’m vulnerable, I get a lot more engagement—because vulnerability builds connection, just as much as humour and personality.
If there’s anything else that’ll make people trust you more, it’s being open and honest about your return policies. It’ll make people feel less anxious about purchasing your stuff. Plus, privacy statements, security badges and certifications—they build confidence that you’ll treat their information with care.
Creating a website that’s both enjoyable and high-converting isn’t about tricks or hacks—it’s about genuinely caring about your users’ experience while keeping your business objectives clear and top-of-mind. When you reduce friction, build trust, and create moments of delight, conversions naturally follow. Start with one section of your site and apply these principles as you go along.
And if you have no idea where to start, my Website Copy Pep Workbook is a great first step! This resource helps you make sure you have everything prepared before the website copywriting process starts.
The Website Copy Prep Workbook includes every question I ask my clients, leaving no stone unturned. Helping you prep your: