How to write website content that helps customers choose you

Most small-business websites are not held back by their design. They are held back by what the pages say, or fail to say. A visitor arrives with a practical question, such as whether you cover their area, what something costs or how to book, and leaves if the answer is hard to find.

Writing for your own business is difficult because you know it too well. You skip the things you have explained a thousand times and reach for the words you use with colleagues. This guide sets out a straightforward way to write the content, and what to check before it goes live.

Start with who the page is for

Before writing a line, decide who will read each page and what they are trying to do. A first-time customer comparing options needs different information from a regular customer who wants your opening hours.

Write down, in a sentence or two:

• who the reader is, such as a homeowner with a leaking tap, a parent looking for a dog groomer or a business needing a bookkeeper;
• what they want to know before they get in touch;
• what you want them to do next.

If you cannot say what a page is for, it is probably not needed, or it is trying to do too much. A page with one clear purpose is easier to write and easier to use.

Answer the questions customers really ask

The best source of content is the questions people already put to you. Collect them from:

• phone calls, emails and messages from the last few months;
• questions asked in person, at the door or at the counter;
• reviews and comments on social media;
• the doubts that cost you a job, such as “I wasn’t sure whether you did that”.

Group the questions by topic and give each topic a clear place on the site. If three customers ask whether you cover a particular area, that belongs on the page that covers your service area, not in a footnote.

Say the useful thing plainly. Where you publish prices, give them. Where you cannot, say what affects the price and how a quote works. Tell people what happens after they get in touch. Vague pages feel evasive, and visitors tend to assume the worst.

Use plain headings

Headings help people scan, and search engines and screen readers use them to understand a page. Each page needs one main heading that says what the page is about, followed by subheadings that describe the section beneath them.

• Prefer a heading that says something over one that is clever. “Annual boiler servicing” tells the reader more than “Keeping you warm”.
• Keep headings short, in the words a customer would use, and in a logical order.

A good test is to read only the headings. They should tell a coherent story. The guide to website accessibility basics explains why this also matters for people using assistive technology.

Put the most useful information first

Visitors often read the start of a page and decide whether to continue. Open with what the business does, who it is for and what the reader can do next, rather than a company history or a general statement about quality.

• Lead each page and section with its main point, then add detail.
• Use short sentences and paragraphs, because long ones are hard to read on a phone.
• Use lists for things people compare or tick off, such as what is included.

Length should follow need. A page that fully answers a question in 300 words is better than one that reaches 1,000 by repeating itself, but do not cut useful detail just to be short.

Avoid jargon and empty claims

Industry vocabulary that feels normal to you may mean nothing to a customer. Replace it with ordinary words, or explain it the first time it appears.

Be equally wary of claims that anyone could make. “Passionate, professional and friendly” says nothing that a competitor could not also say. A concrete detail is more convincing: how long you have been trading, what a typical job involves, what you do differently and what you do not do.

Writing about the customer helps too. “You will get a written quote before any work starts” says more than “We pride ourselves on quality service”.

Write calls to action that say what happens

A call to action is the button or sentence that invites the next step. Each page should make the main step obvious.

• Use specific wording, such as “Request a quote”, “Book an appointment” or “Call to check availability”, rather than “Submit” or “Click here”.
• Choose one main action for each page, and keep any secondary options visually quieter.
• Place the action where the decision is made, such as the end of a service description, and say what happens next.

The call to action should match how the business really works. Do not offer instant booking if bookings are confirmed by phone, and do not promise a response time you cannot meet.

Use photographs with a purpose

Photographs make a small business feel real, but only when they show something. Choose images that help a customer understand the place, the people, the products or the work.

• Prefer your own photographs of real work, premises and people over generic stock images that could belong to anyone.
• Write short alternative text that describes what the image shows in context, and leave it empty for purely decorative images.
• Check that you have permission to publish anyone who appears in a photograph.

The guide to preparing for business photography covers how to plan a short shoot so the images are useful.

Write about search naturally

Write for people first. Mention the services you offer and the places you really serve where a customer would expect to read them, and do not repeat them unnaturally. Lists of town names, repeated phrases and hidden text make a page worse for readers and do not help it in search. Google’s guidance on helpful content asks whether a page was written to help people rather than to attract search traffic. Give each important page its own subject and title, so pages do not compete with each other.

Keep everything accurate

A website is a public statement about the business, so every claim on it should be true and something you can stand behind.

• Check prices, opening hours, service areas, phone numbers and email addresses before publishing and whenever they change.
• Do not invent testimonials, ratings, awards, memberships or qualifications. Include them only when they are real and you have permission to use them. The Competition and Markets Authority’s short guide for businesses says businesses must not write reviews that are not genuine or commission others to write them.
• Be careful with guarantees and promises about results. Say what you actually do.
• Make sure the website matches your Google Business Profile and other listings, so customers do not see conflicting details.

Read the whole site every few months. Old dates and out-of-date prices are an easy way to look careless.

A simple writing process

1. List the pages and write one sentence on who each is for.
2. Collect the real questions customers ask and the facts you need.
3. Draft each page with the main point first, in your customers’ words.
4. Read it aloud and cut anything that sounds like a brochure.
5. Ask someone outside the business what they would do next, then check it on a phone.

How this fits a Page & Place project

Page & Place’s web design service includes discovery and practical content guidance. You provide the accurate business facts and any existing material, and Page & Place helps organise it, identifies gaps and drafts concise website copy within the agreed scope. Extensive copywriting or research is quoted separately, as is substantial copywriting after launch.

Once a website is live, Website Care includes one consolidated request each month and up to 30 minutes of routine content work, covering menu, image, opening-hour and small text changes. The allowance does not roll over, and new pages and larger changes are quoted before work begins. The web design page explains the scope, and you can send a description of your business if you would like to talk through what your pages need to say.