Website Copy for a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist Case Study
“My copy sounds so cringy. It just doesn't feel like me."
That's what Hillary, a Registered Dietitian, super strong human, and someone I've secretly admired from afar, wrote when she filled out my website copy inquiry form.
(I squealed internally AND externally when I got her inquiry. I have no ability to play it cool over here).
Besides the fact that she's super cool, I was so excited about writing Hillary's new website copy because everything she said during our discovery call just hit for me.
Project goals:
Hillary knew she wanted her copy to:
Show off her personality (in a non-cringy way)
Hillary felt like her current website copy just didn’t feel like her. She also wasn’t sure how to incorporate her personality into website copy that didn’t feel overly professional and corporate.
Explain her expertise and approach in a way her audience can understand
Hillary has a ton of credentials, but getting her audience to understand them was a challenge for her. She also focuses on helping people who want to look and be strong get stronger. She wanted to emphasize that she’s not pro-diet culture, but if her clients want to incorporate that, they can— shame-free.
Highlight that her work is science and research-backed (because she's not into wellness misinformation!).
One of the things Hillary and I bonded over is how much we hate wellness misinformation (we even included a reference to not doing coffee enemas, which I think is my favourite thing I’ve ever written on a client website).
We wanted her website to stand out as the obvious choice for people looking for science and research-backed nutrition help.
So basically, all my favourite things for a client to want their website copy to be.
Goal one
Adding more personality, less cringe
Hillary's a little sarcastic, a little jokey, and all around just a great human. Her copy needs to show her ideal audience how she’ll be on a coaching call, in her Instagram DMs, or anywhere they interact with her (because your personality is a big part of why your people love working with you!)
So, here's how I naturally incorporated Hillary’s personality into her copy:
Added in little sneaky asides throughout her website mentioning the things she loves (like Poptarts, but hers have to be gluten-free, and emotional support water bottles!).
Kept her copy conversational and focused on empathy, not shame. We want her copy to feel more like a friend who understands you, rather a nutrition expert who will shame and punish you for eating a little treat before bed.
Here's an example of how her personality shows up on her Home page:
Goal two
Making her expertise and approach easy for her readers to understand
Hillary's clients are hiring her because she's the nutrition expert... not them. Her ideal clients are people who WANT someone who know their sh*t. She wanted to make it really clear that she has a TON of education and experience in her field.
So, here's how we did it:
Broke down exactly what you need to be a Registered Dietitian, and framed it as “it's a lot, because we take your health seriously!”. I didn't want to shade other health providers who don't have as much education, so I framed it in a non-shamey way that still positions her as a super-educated expert who wants the absolute best for her clients (because yes, you can position yourself to stand out WHILE not sh*tting on others in your industry!)
Highlighted her research-backed nutrition approach. I wanted to reassure her ideal clients that she's only going to recommend things that are tried-and-true, not random hacks or fixes.
Here’s an example from her About page to show exactly how we did it:
Goal three
Strategically highlight her science and research-backed approach to nutrition
Hillary hits this really cool, middle-ish spot in her field. So many dietitians either focus on weight loss (esp. in a diet culture-obsessed way) OR body positivity/weight neutrality.
Instead, she supports her clients in getting stronger- and they can decide if they want no-shame weight loss to be a part of that. We needed to speak to the shame-free approach AND make it clear where Hillary's approach stands!
So, here's how I did it:
Got really specific and positioned her coaching for people who want to look AND feel strong as they are. It would have been really easy to say “nutrition coaching for people who want to lose weight!” or “for people who want to look strong!”. Sure, she'd probably get more leads that way- but they wouldn't be people she'd want as clients. Instead, we're speaking to a more specific audience and calling in only the clients she ACTUALLY wants to work with.
Focused on copy that “adds”, not subtracts. So much of the typicaly diet culture language focuses on getting thinner, shrinking, losing, etc. And WHILE Hillary supports clients through weight loss (if they ask her to), we wanted to make sure her clients understand that this isn't solely about weight loss. It's about getting stronger, feeling capable, and loving the muscles you're growing!
This was such a fun site to write- and I'm crossing my fingers I get to write more website copy for science-backed, cool AF professionals like Hillary in the near future!!
And if we haven’t met before, I’m Maddy— a website copywriter and brand messaging strategist for cool professionals who don’t fit the “boring” mold of their industry. Want copy that makes you sound as cool as you are?
