There is a common belief that website copy should sound professional, polished, and impressive. This belief produces websites full of phrases like "delivering innovative solutions" and "committed to excellence" that say nothing and persuade nobody.
Good website copy does one thing: it helps the right person quickly understand whether you can solve their problem. Clarity is more persuasive than cleverness. Simple is harder to write than complex, but it converts better.
The Visitor's First Question
Every person who lands on your website asks the same first question: am I in the right place? They answer it within five seconds, mostly by reading your headline and scanning your page.
If your homepage headline is your company name and tagline - "Acme Services Inc. | Excellence in Service Since 1998" - you have answered nothing. The visitor does not know what you do, who you serve, or why they should stay.
A good homepage headline answers: what do you do, for whom, and what outcome do they get? It does not need to be clever. It needs to be clear.
Examples of clear headlines:
- "Bookkeeping for Canadian Small Businesses, Starting at $200/Month"
- "Custom Wedding Florals for Vancouver Island Couples"
- "We Help Ontario Landlords Navigate the Landlord-Tenant Board"
You can instantly tell who these are for and whether you are one of them.
The Five-Second Test
Before publishing any homepage, test it. Show the page to someone who has never seen it. After five seconds, take it away and ask them: what does this business do? Who is it for? What should you do next?
If they cannot answer all three, your homepage is not clear enough. This test costs nothing and reveals more than any analytics report.
Benefits Over Features
Features are what something is. Benefits are what it does for the customer.
A plumber who lists "14 years of experience, fully licensed, available 24/7" is listing features. A plumber who says "We stop leaks fast - so you can stop worrying about water damage" is leading with a benefit. Both communicate the same underlying truth; the second one connects to what the customer actually cares about.
For every feature you are tempted to list, ask: so what does this mean for my customer? The answer to that question is the benefit.
The You-Focused Writing Rule
Count the number of times your current homepage uses the word "we" or your company name versus the word "you." Most business websites use "we" far more often. This is backwards.
Customers are not interested in you - they are interested in what you can do for them. Rewriting sentences from "we provide" to "you get" is a simple mechanical change that meaningfully shifts the tone from self-focused to customer-focused.
"We provide comprehensive digital marketing services" becomes "You get more leads, without the guesswork."
"We have been serving the Greater Toronto Area since 2005" becomes "You are working with a team that knows this market."
Writing a Services Page That Drives Inquiries
A services page that lists service names and brief descriptions performs poorly. A services page that explains who each service is for, what the process looks like, and what the outcome is performs much better.
For each service:
- Name the type of person or business this is right for
- Describe what the engagement looks like from start to finish (briefly)
- State the outcome or result they should expect
- Include a clear call to action - not "contact us" but "Book a free 20-minute call" or "Request a quote"
Specificity builds trust. Vague descriptions of services feel like fine print. Clear descriptions of outcomes feel like a promise.
The One Edit That Improves Almost Every Website
Shorter paragraphs. Most business website copy is written in long, dense blocks that visitors skim over or do not read at all.
If a paragraph is more than four lines long on screen, break it in two. Aim for two to three sentences per paragraph on most pages. Short paragraphs are easier to scan, easier to read on mobile, and - because they create more white space - make your page feel less intimidating.
This single change requires no new content and takes an hour to apply across most small business websites. It routinely improves readability and time-on-page. Do it before anything else.
