Most weak website copy has the same problem. It describes the business when the reader came to find out whether the business can solve something for them. “We are a leading provider of innovative solutions” could sit on ten thousand websites and mean nothing on any of them.
The fix isn’t clever writing. It’s deciding what the reader needs to know, in what order, and saying it plainly.
A rewrite, start to finish
Here’s a fictional homepage for a small accounting firm, as it often reads before anyone thinks about the reader:
Welcome to Petrov & Partners
Established in 2004, Petrov & Partners is a dynamic team of dedicated professionals committed to excellence. We offer a comprehensive range of accounting services tailored to your needs.
[Learn more]
Every sentence is about the firm. Nothing tells a visitor whether this is for them, what they’d get, or what to do next. Here’s the same page rewritten:
Accounting for small businesses and freelancers in Sofia
Monthly bookkeeping, VAT returns and payroll, handled by one named accountant who answers your emails. Fixed monthly fee, agreed before we start.
[Get a quote for your business]
Clients include cafés, design studios and online shops. Read what they say below.
What changed:
- The headline names the customer and the service. A freelancer in Sofia knows within a second that they’re in the right place.
- Features became things the reader cares about. “Comprehensive range of services” became the three jobs the customer actually needs done. “Committed to excellence” became “answers your emails”, which is something you can check.
- A worry got answered. Small businesses fear surprise bills, so the fixed fee goes near the top.
- The button says what happens. “Get a quote for your business” instead of “Learn more.”
- Proof follows the promise. The last line points to reviews instead of claiming the firm is trusted.
The second version only works if every word is true. If you can’t promise a named accountant, don’t write it. Specific copy that turns out to be false is worse than vague copy.
Write for people who scan
Most visitors don’t read a page top to bottom. Nielsen Norman Group’s eye-tracking research has found the F-shaped scanning pattern on desktop and mobile alike: people read the first lines, then skim down the left edge looking for something relevant. Write for that.
- Put the point of each section in its heading and first sentence. If someone reads only those, they should still get the argument.
- Start lines with the word that matters. “VAT returns filed on time” scans better than “We make sure that your VAT returns are filed on time.”
- Use lists for things that really are lists: services, steps, what’s included. Don’t chop an argument into bullets just to look skimmable.
Turn claims into evidence
For each claim on the page, ask “how would a reader know that’s true?”
“Fast service” is a claim. “Quotes sent within two working days” is evidence, if you keep to it. “Experienced team” is a claim. A named person with a photo and a short description of what they do is evidence. “Trusted by local businesses” is a claim. Three real reviews with names is evidence.
Where you can’t back a claim, cut it. The page gets shorter and more believable at the same time.
Answer the objections before they’re asked
People hesitate for specific reasons: price, time, risk, effort, whether you serve someone like them. Look at the questions customers ask on the phone or by email, and answer the most common ones on the page. A starting price, a rough description of how the process works, what happens after they send the form. Each answered question removes a reason to leave and think about it.
One page, one next step
Every page should end in one obvious action, worded so the reader knows what they’re agreeing to. “Book a 15-minute call” sets an expectation. “Contact us” doesn’t. If a page offers three equally loud buttons, decide which one matters and make the others quieter. Copy and layout have to agree on this. Why good-looking sites don’t sell walks through how to check that on a real page.
An editing checklist
Before you publish, go through the page once with each question:
- Does the headline say what you do and who it’s for, without the logo next to it?
- Count “we” and “you”. Is the page mostly about the reader?
- Is there any sentence a competitor could paste onto their site unchanged? Rewrite or delete it.
- Is every number, promise and time frame something you actually deliver?
- Read it aloud. Anywhere you’d never say it that way to a customer, change it.
- Is the first paragraph doing work, or is it a warm-up? Often the real opening is the second paragraph.
If you’d like help writing or restructuring the copy on your site, tell us what you sell and who buys it. In our website projects, discovery covers the content as well as the design, because the words and the page structure have to make the same case.