Ever glanced around the web at some massage therapy websites for inspiration, and been stopped in your tracks by a website so convincing that you couldn’t help but read every single page?

Did you wonder what drew you in?

What caused you to linger?

Just how did they make their wording capture the exact thoughts that were going through your mind as you read?

That, my friend, is the power of well-written copy.

You see, even though society tends to cast writers as “creative types,” when it comes to copywriting for business it’s more science than art.

For the uninitiated, “copy” is anything written with the intention of helping you sell something—in this case, you’re selling yourself as a therapist to potential clients who visit your website.

As a crucial element of every small business marketing strategy, copywriting comes through for you when you need it the most: to sell your services on your behalf.

Good copywriting will sell you and your business to readers in a way that is natural, easy, and gimmick-free if you do it right.

But where do you begin?

And how do you get it done in a short timeframe, with limited money, and no writing skills?

You need an easy-to-follow system for writing your website copy. A system that is replicable so you can use it over and over again anytime you need to update your website branding, pages, or other online marketing materials.

You need a simple branding and copywriting system, and that’s exactly what I’d like to share with you.

I’m Margo, a Massage Therapist who turned my passion for the wellness industry into a second career as a copywriter for wellness business owners. I help massage therapists, health coaches and other small businesses launch authentic, profitable websites and I’m here to share with you the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

 

Marketing used to be something I didn’t enjoy doing—in fact, I thought most marketing was “pushy” and overly aggressive!

But then I learned the straightforward, simple system of copywriting and began to fall in love with the process of marketing authentically to clients who already want what I’m offering.

Once I started writing website copy for other massage and wellness professionals, I was hooked.

So don’t worry, this article isn’t just for the marketing junkie, it’s also intended for the reluctant marketer who needs help writing copy that sells without going crazy in the process.

In this article you’ll learn:

• My simple 5-step process for writing the copy on your massage therapy website.
• Which free tools I recommend using to make writing your copy a painless process.
• At the end of the article, I’m sharing a free email challenge to help you implement all of these copywriting techniques, so be sure to read all the way to the end!

So let’s get this party started with the process you can use to get your website done already!

5 Simple Steps To Get Your Massage Website Written This Week

Even if you’re someone who enjoys writing, it can still be time-consuming.

I should know, as a copywriter for wellness entrepreneurs, I do it for a living.

Most business owners I know cram it into their to-do list somewhere between Bookkeeping and Getting New Business Cards, and tend to let it slip to the bottom of the list as the days go by.

I like to keep things simple and easy to remember, so a 5-step plan is perfect for me. Go ahead and swipe my system to get your website copy written the right way!

1. Learning

The learning phase of your copywriting journey is like the first course of the meal, it’s going to introduce your palate to the flavours and textures you’ll be marrying together over the following four steps.

You’re going to dig deep into the core of your business here, your clients. (Or your future clients, if you’re just starting out)

If you haven’t already, this is where you’ll take the time to create an ideal client profile, and make it as detailed as you possibly can, from where your target client lives, to how old they are, their gender or even their occupation. All of these little details will inform the next step in our process.

This might feel like an abstract “thought exercise,” but I promise you it’s not! This profile is vital to getting your website copy written right.

2. Planning

If you’re a person of action (like me!), you may have gritted your teeth to get through the learning phase of copywriting, but it will all pay off, I promise!

The key here in the planning phase is to find out your ideal client’s pain points (what their struggles, desires, and needs are), and then take note of everything you learn for use in your copy.

To find their pain points, you’re going to take your ideal client profile and go seek those people out, wherever they already are, to do some serious market research. We’ll find them sharing their needs and desires in a number of places.

If you already have a client base, you’ll utilise surveys of your current clients to find out what they needed/desired when they came to you, and how you met their needs. You’ll also want to go through your online reviews written by past clients to get useful information there as well.

Create a Google Doc titled “Client Language” or “Website Copy Market Research,” and start copying and pasting the useful comments that you gather straight into it so they’re all in one place.

3. Writing

Now you need to get all the ideas about what your clients need down onto the page and piece together the puzzle that is your website copy.

It’ll be fun, I promise!

You’re going to start like every good writing project starts, with an outline.

You’ll create a Google Doc with an outline, with sections for each piece of your copy for the pages you’re writing.

For example:

Home Page

• Headline
• Subheadline
• Body Text

And so on…

Remember that the goal here is to use your ideal client’s needs and desires to form the way in which you attract them to your services. Their needs—pulled straight from their comments online and their testimonials/reviews of your work—is what you’re writing your copy from, and it’s SO much faster than trying to think of interesting things to say about yourself or your massage training.

Whether you have a web developer who you’ll be sending the copy to for uploading, or you’re creating your own website, having the entire thing in one Google Doc is helpful for ease of use. You can make edits, take collaborator comments, and much more all in one place. It’s much more robust than Microsoft Word, and it’s the only thing I use when writing my 1-on-1 clients’ copy.

4. Editing

Make sure you set aside ample time to proofread your website copy after it’s written!

This means not only editing for grammar and spelling, but also the flow and transition between ideas as well as the overall “tone” of the site.

Is the tone consistent? Are your thoughts logically connected? Do you provide proof where necessary?

5. Launching

You can now proudly hit “publish” and go celebrate! Pat yourself on the back, this copywriting thing is tough work!

You’ll be spending the weeks following your website launch working out the kinks.

Even with all the editing, you’ll do, you’ll probably find a link that’s broken or a small error here or there that needs to be fixed after it goes live.

Beyond these basic edits, I highly recommend following your analytics closely and possibly even A/B testing some of your headlines and graphics to see which ones perform better.

Free Tools I Recommend For Writing Your Website Copy

Grammarly

If you’ve ever been embarrassed by a spelling mistake that your spell checker in Word or Google Docs didn’t pick up on, then this is the tool for you.

Grammarly takes spell checking a step further with intelligent formulas to evaluate for complex grammar errors.

One of my favourite features of Grammarly is the web application, so you can use it in any web browser that you’re writing something in, from a Facebook post for your business to the back end of your Squarespace or WordPress site before you hit “publish.”

Google Drive

Since I’ve been referring to it throughout the post, you can probably guess that I’m a huge fan of Google Drive for keeping track of all my notes and copy documents in one place.

Google Drive is a small business owners’ dream because it’s an easy way to create and store documents and files of all kinds, as well as a great collaboration platform since Google Docs allows you to add collaborators to documents and view comments all within the document.

Even if something happens to your computer, you don’t have to worry because your work is stored safely in the cloud.

And even better, you can easily organize your Drive cleanly into folders and subfolders for all of your website content.

Pro Tip: Place all of the photographs and graphics for the site into their own folder, then you can share that entire folder with your graphic designer (if you have one) so they can easily drop in their files when they’re ready instead of emailing large files back and forth!

Closing Thoughts

Alright, it’s now officially time to stop procrastinating and get your website written (or rewritten) already!

No more excuses about your website being “good enough for now.” Your business deserves a facelift, and since most of your clients will visit your website before they come in to see you, your website is definitely the right place to start.

Feel free to add to the conversation—do you have a writing or marketing tool that you love that I might have left out? Question about the tools I use or how I organize my Google Drive? Share it in the comments!

“What do massage therapy associations even do?” I get this question all the time.

We’re not an insurance company, although we do offer insurance, and we’re not a union, although we do represent Massage Therapists. We’re not lobbyists, although we do promote massage therapy to government and stakeholders, and we’re not a money grab because we put every single penny back towards working for you.

We’re an association.

We’re a group of like-minded individuals with a common goal.

So why would you want to give your hard earned money to your professional association? What’s the benefit for you? What do you get for your money? In addition to the obvious benefits like preferred rates for insurance, continuing education opportunities, networking opportunities, access to research, and referral services, we provide insight and guidance, programs and services, tools and resources. But there is a much larger long-term benefit.

We Advocate For You

Advocacy, in its most basic form, means to speak in favour of something.

So, your association speaks in favour of the profession of massage therapy. We promote massage therapy as a part of primary health care to government, the insurance industry, the general public, and other stakeholders. We make people aware of what it is that massage therapists can do, how well you do it, and why it works. We make sure that massage therapy is an important part of the healthcare landscape.

We work for you.

Advocacy is often seen as “big picture work”. Sometimes it’s complicated and often takes a long time, but it also has a direct and practical impact on your career as an RMT. It impacts how you practice, how patients find you, and how you’re viewed. It’s not only your professional association that can make a difference – you can too.

There are really two ‘yous’ when it comes to advocacy. There is the ‘smaller you’ and the ‘larger you’. The ‘smaller you’ is each individual health professional (that’s you!). You demonstrate a commitment to professional practice, ongoing education and continuous improvement. You are the health professional that people point to and say “they are the reason that massage therapy is a valuable health care profession”. You are dedicated to your profession and are able to easily articulate why you have chosen massage therapy and why it works.

The day-to-day interactions with patients and the way you present yourself professionally are ways that you advocate for the profession – perhaps without even knowing you’re doing it. This is advocacy on an individual level and is incredibly important.

It is, in fact, the basis of all advocacy.

The ‘larger you’ is all Massage Therapists combined. It is a “coming together” as an association with a common purpose. It is team work, co-operation and collaboration combined, and that team work has the power to make a real difference. A large group with a common goal can do things that individuals can’t. Doors are open for associations that are not open for individuals. Together, the ‘larger you’ has a louder voice.

The “larger you”, the association, amplifies that voice and directs it towards the appropriate people and organizations. We get the right message to the people who are in a position to make change happen. There’s power in numbers, and numbers get people in a position of power to take notice.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Whatever the association achieves for Massage Therapists will affect you whether you’re a member of the association or not. I get it – it’s easier to save your money, put your head down, and do your job. But as part of the association, you get a say in the way the wind is blowing and how the boat is steered. When you’re not a part of the association, you’re along for the ride whether you like it or not.

Associations reach out to their members to get feedback. We want to know what you need, when you need it and how we can make it happen.

Most, if not all, RMTs think we should have access to extended healthcare benefits. They want to be respected as a primary health care provider. They expect and deserve to earn a suitable income.

Massage therapy associations are the groups that make sure massage therapy is a viable, respected and accessible profession. We want to make it easier for Massage Therapists to do their jobs. You already know how to get a patient back to optimal health. Our job is to make sure that you can provide your professional healthcare services and earn a living so that you can continue to do so.

Increasing Credibility Of Our Profession

Massage therapy associations are run by a board of your peers, chosen by you, who identify the issues and trends that will impact the profession and what we should do about it.

The board does extensive research to ensure they are representing the profession and the issues that are current to the day. They talk with members – the people these decisions will directly affect – and determine the way to position the profession for maximum success and the steps that should be taken in order to achieve the vision for the profession.

Massage therapy associations are run by Massage Therapists, for Massage Therapists. We keep a finger on the pulse of the profession and the landscape in which it operates.

Massage therapy associations work for the profession, and massage therapy regulatory bodies are primarily concerned with the public interest. Although these two groups may seem to be opposites, they are really two sides of the same coin. We both work in the best interest of the patient by making sure they are able to access massage therapy receive proper and appropriate care from Massage Therapists.

Both the association and the college must communicate with each other to work towards our separate mandates and our common goals. We both want Massage Therapists to be able to positively contribute to the health of Canadians.

RMTs are working with doctors, physiotherapists and chiropractors, in palliative care, and in hospitals – situations that may not have seemed possible in the early years of the profession. Massage therapy is now seen more often as a valuable healthcare option, which was made possible through years of advocacy undertaken by associations.

I suppose that provides an example of the answer to that frequently asked question ‘what do massage therapy associations even do?’ Associations determine the direction this profession should be heading, determine what we need to do to get it there, and then we actually do it.

The credibility of the profession has increased dramatically over the past few decades, thanks in part to the work of associations. Massage therapy remains the most utilized paramedical benefit in Canada behind drugs and vision care.

But we still have work to do.

Advocacy takes time. To make a significant change takes time. Developing the argument with the inescapable conclusion that massage therapy is an effective and critical piece of the healthcare puzzle is how we spend a large part of our time.

But this is time well spent.

It will ensure that massage therapy is and remains a solid and respected part of the health care landscape. It will ensure that you are appropriately rewarded for your time and effort. It will bring new patients to you because they will be aware of what massage therapy is and how it can help them, and it will ensure that you remain valued as a healthcare professional.

Canada is searching for solutions to the impending healthcare crisis. Massage Therapists are a part of that solution. It is the dedication and passion of Massage Therapists, which can be amplified by professional associations, which ensures massage therapy can remain an important part of health care. In your own community, and through your day-to-day professional life, you can advocate for the profession by the way you practice and the way you communicate that practice.As the larger you, your professional association is part of the important conversations, the important decisions, and the necessary actions now and in the future. Check out what your association is doing about the issues that affect you and your profession. It’s your profession and your association.