Got a press feature, podcast interview or launch coming up? A practical guide to getting your website copy ready before a lot of new people land on it, with a real example from a client who did exactly that.
The way I clean before someone new is coming round is like no other cleaning.
The kitchen gets done properly for the first time in a month (even behind the toaster), the hoover comes out at a speed that alarms the cat, that pile of tupperware on the side finally gets put away, and everything that doesn’t have a home gets bundled into the cupboard under the stairs with the door shut firmly behind it.
Because nobody opens the cupboard.
Until they do.
Someone goes looking for the loo roll, and there it all is.
Your website is that cupboard. Most days it’s fine, because the people who visit already know you. They’ve been reading your posts for months, and they forgive the homepage that hasn’t been touched since 2022 because they know what you’re actually like.
Then something good happens (a newspaper wants to feature you, or a podcast host with a proper audience finally says yes), and a lot of people who have never met you are about to go looking for the loo roll.
What happens to your website when you get press or a podcast feature?
A press feature, podcast or launch sends a wave of cold visitors to your website, people who have never heard of you and give your homepage a few seconds to decide whether you’re for them. Copy written for people who already know you (or that you haven’t touched since 3 offer stacks ago) often doesn’t give strangers enough to go on.
Your regulars forgive a lot because they’ve met the real you somewhere else, and new visitors don’t have that to go on. And if the big moment is in a field where people are already sceptical (health, money, coaching, anything with a comments section), they may be arriving primed to doubt you.
A real example: getting a doctor’s website ready for a national newspaper feature
I worked with Kirstyn, an NHS-trained doctor and personal trainer, in the run-up to a national newspaper feature. The day before our kickoff call, she’d read the comments under a peer’s article. They were exactly what you’d fear: strangers deciding a health professional was only in it for the money.
Her website at the time was, in her words, a DIY job that she’d changed a lot over the last few months, and she didn’t love it at all. She knew what she did and why. She just couldn’t see it written down anywhere in ways a stranger would get.
Except she could, because it was all over her social media. Her followers already knew the warm, sensible, slightly exasperated-with-the-nonsense version of her. The job was to bring that person onto her homepage and course page before the crowd arrived.
After the copy came back, she said:
“Without Peta’s help, I know I would have felt uneasy about a large volume of people landing on my website. Now, I know I will feel happy and content with what is on there.”
How do you get your website copy ready for a big moment?
Look at your homepage the way a stranger would, then build the new copy from words you and your audience already use. In order:
- Do the stranger test on your homepage.
- Plan your website copy from words you’ve already written.
- Put your credentials where the doubt lives.
- Give cold visitors one next step.
- Leave yourself weeks, not days.
1. Do the stranger test on your homepage
Open your homepage on your phone (that’s where most of them will be) and cover everything below the first screen.
Does what’s left tell a stranger who you help and what you do?
If you have to scroll to find out, so do they, and most won’t.
2. Plan your website copy from words you’ve already written
Before you write anything new, go back through your posts, newsletters, reviews, DMs and the comments your people leave. Copy out every phrase that sounds like you on a good day, and every phrase someone else has used to describe you.
Your best website copy is very often sitting in your own captions, in words your audience has already responded to.
It’s a much better starting point than a blank page (or a chatbot). And because it’s how you already talk, it’s the easiest way I know to get website copy that converts without sounding salesy.
3. Put your credentials where the doubt lives
If the people arriving are likely to be sceptical, answer the doubt early and simply, in words they’d use themselves.
Kirstyn’s qualifications are extensive and technical, but “NHS-trained doctor” is what a stranger actually understands.
Say the thing they need to hear to keep reading, then get on with it.
4. Give cold visitors one next step
People who’ve just met you are unlikely to book a call.
Give them one easy, low-commitment thing to do (join your newsletter, grab your free resource) so the attention you’ve earned doesn’t evaporate the day after the article runs.
5. Leave yourself weeks, not days
Copy that sounds like you takes some digging, and some sitting with once it’s drafted. Start early enough that you’re not rewriting your homepage at midnight before the big day, so you actually get to enjoy the moment.
Questions people ask about getting their website ready
What copy do you need on your website before a launch or press feature?
At minimum, a homepage that passes the stranger test and a page for whatever the new visitors came to find (usually your main offer or course). An about page that says why you’re credible, and one clear next step for people who aren’t ready to buy, will do more for you than a full site rebuild.
How long does it take to write website copy?
For a homepage and one offer page, allow two weeks from first conversation to finished copy. Most of that time goes on research and listening. The writing is faster once you know what you’re actually saying.
How far in advance should I update my website before press coverage?
As soon as you know the date. Features and interviews can go live earlier than expected, and you want time to read the new copy a few times and live with it before a stranger does.
Should I use AI to write my website copy?
It can help, if it’s working from your own words. Kirstyn’s old copy had been pieced together between her brain and a chatbot, and she didn’t love a word of it. Give it real context (your posts, your clients’ language, clear messaging), and it’ll save you time without flattening your voice.
If you don’t have clear messaging, then anything that gets written will be less focused and strategic – and less effective.
When they open the cupboard
Big moments are lovely, and they’re also slightly terrifying, because suddenly a lot of people can see the thing you’ve been meaning to sort out for ages.
The version of you they need to meet usually already exists, though. Your people have met them. It’s just a matter of getting them onto the page before the doorbell goes.
If you’ve got a spotlight moment on the horizon and you’d like another frontal lobe on the case, get in touch. I’ll happily talk through the best approach.