How to Write Copy that Inspires Action in 2026

Introduction

I’ve always thought of words as the bridges we build between ourselves and the rest of the world.

When it comes to writing copy, we want to inform, persuade, and inspire people to engage with the mission, product, or initiative we find important and meaningful. When crafting copy for a website, you are literally creating the voice of your organisation, your mission, and the image website visitors have of you.

The language you use, and how people respond to that language, can be the difference between someone clicking away and someone purchasing a service, signing up to a newsletter, or getting involved in your initiatives.

Here’s how to write copy that inspires action on your website without compromising what your brand stands for.

1. Know Your Audience

To write website copy that inspires action, you need to start by really getting to know your audience. If you don’t know who you’re speaking to, you risk creating content that speaks to no one.

The best way to get to know your audience is to do some research. Start with desk research, proto personas, and build on your team’s tacit knowledge about your audience. It’s likely you’re not just writing for one homogenous group of people, so define your key audience segments. Understand their goals, motivations, and challenges. Tailor your copy to each of these different groups and perspectives.

The best way to gain an accurate understanding of your audience is to leverage real user insights from real data. This can include both qualitative data, such as opinions and anecdotes from surveys, interviews, as well as quantitative data gathered through analytics.

Use this data to understand the behaviour of your audience and feed this into your communication strategy. Over time, you can monitor user engagement with your content, letting you create better and more on-target copy.

2. Hook Them In 

Great copy all begins with a great hook.

Especially as everyone’s attention spans are whittling away before our eyes, hooks are more important than ever in grabbing your reader’s attention and making sure they stick around… for at least half a second.

My favourite kind of hooks are those that speak directly to the reader. These hooks are created by shifting the attention from “us” to “you”, asking the audience a relevant question that fosters intrigue, and really articulating what you do that sets you apart from the rest.

You can’t get away with a mediocre hook. It has to be a showstopper:

• Make it personal.
• Make it curious, relatable, or intriguing.
• Get ultra specific.

Without a great hook that stops people in their tracks, you won’t have anyone to come along with you for the rest of your storytelling journey…

3. Become a Storytelling Master

Humans are wired to enjoy stories. We can’t help it; it’s how we evolved to connect with each other. Our brains favour information that has a narrative, especially stories grounded in emotion and empathy.

So, if you want to write copy that inspires action, then you need to tap into the brain’s reward network and craft stories that emotionally resonate with your audience.

Storytelling brings a human voice to your brand, building engagement and trust. Tell emotionally resonant stories highlighting one person, one project, or one moment that captures your impact.

Crafting a compelling story relies on a few key elements, following a clear narrative arc with content that both informs and inspires:

• A central character: Centre your stories on one person or group of people, get specific and avoid abstract references.
• A challenge or problem: Any great story requires a challenge that the protagonist must overcome. Detail why something is a problem as well as the actions taken to address it.
• Your brand’s role: End with a hopeful resolution and showcase what you do as a brand that makes a difference to people’s lives.

4. Clarity Before Persuasion

Clarity builds trust; if people don’t understand the language you’re using, then you’ve already lost them. When you’re deeply connected to your brand, it’s easy to get lost in the details and not see the wood for the trees. Passion and expertise are undoubtedly strengths, but they can lead to pages of dense text, insider language, or assumptions about what visitors already know. Be clear on what you mean and empathise with the reader and their (likely) level of understanding on your topic area.

Writing for clarity doesn’t mean you should ignore all the charms and power of creative language, either. Clever metaphors and similes, when done right, can make copy more enjoyable to read and bring a smile to people’s faces. For example, when explaining complicated or abstract topics (e.g., cloud computing systems), analogies can be a really powerful tool to help relate something the reader doesn’t know about with something they do.

Once you’ve shown yourself to be a brand or organisation grounded in reality and secured your audience’s trust, you can inspire them to take action.

5. Create Clear CTAs

Calls-to-action (CTAs) are one of your most important conversion levers. They quite literally tell readers where to go next and how to take action. But you’ve got to make that next step appealing and enticing.

Using generic link phrases like “Click Here” is not only unimaginative and unhelpful for sighted users but also inaccessible for screen reader users. Use descriptive, action-focused link text instead.

CTAs catch visitors’ attention and help users navigate their journey through your website, so make them count!  If the next step isn’t obvious, people won’t take it. Don’t hide them, bury them in text, or make people guess what to click.

Best practices for CTAs:

• Use action-focused language: “Donate Now,” “Join the Movement,” “See What We Can Do”.
• Make buttons visually distinct: use contrast and whitespace so they stand out.
• Place CTAs above the fold and repeat them throughout the website page.

Make the path to action obvious and inviting so visitors aren’t confused or hesitant about what step to take next.

Final Thoughts

Writing effective website copy is about how you use words to inspire action. When you combine audience insight, a clear value proposition, emotional storytelling, and strong CTAs, you create a site that doesn’t just inform, but moves people to act.

In a crowded digital space, your copy has the power to make you stand out. Be purposeful with your words and capture people’s attention and interest with more than just information, but a personality that demonstrates who you are as a brand. People respond to words delivered with passion and empathy. And now, more than ever, they’re responding to language they can feel has a real human behind it. Because people want to hear from people.