They're "just words," right? Wrong. Your website provides a unique opportunity for you to tell your readers exactly why they should buy your product or sign up for your service. If your copy is boring, wordy, or sounds amateur, it's highly unlikely that anyone reading your site will stick around for very long.

So, how do you make your copy work for you? Here are five tips for making sure your content makes the grade.

Treat your homepage like valuable real estate. If it's cluttered with text, or if the text that's there has no discernible value to the reader, you're devaluing your homepage and your product, brand or service as soon as people get to your site. Bottom line: if it's not a major component of your business or service, take it off the homepage.

Don't make the reader work. It's a simple concept, but one that some people fail to grasp: the reader doesn't want to work to find the information they need. Find out what it is that people come to your website for, and then make sure it's easy to find it when they get there.

Invest in good copy. No, I'm not just saying this because I'm the Founder of The Cultivated Word. Good copy--and a good copywriter--will both draw readers to your site by optimizing your content for search engines, and keep them there by making that content easy to read and understand. If you don't have the resources to invest in a copywriter and intend to write the copy yourself, refrain from falling victim to what I call "My Top 5 Copywriting Pet Peeves."

Think about the big picture. When you look at your website copy, check your immediate response. How do you react? If a quick glance produces a response like, "Make it go away!" or if you can't be bothered reading through what you currently have on your site, other people will be just as bored with the copy as you are.

Good copy and design go hand in hand. User interaction research tells us that you've only got a few seconds to convince a visitor to stay on your website. If you've got good copy and a crisp website design, chances are you'll make a positive impression on visitors, and you'll find it's easier to navigate your site, too. Not sure what "decent design" means? Check out Andrew Houle's blog post, "4 Principles of Good Design for Websites."