Website copywriting tips

These website copywriting tips are for business owners who write their own pages, or who want to judge the copy someone else writes for them. The core idea is simple: good website copy talks about the customer's problem and your concrete solution, in plain words, and ends every section with a clear next step. Most weak copy fails because it talks about the company, uses vague praise words and hides the action.

You know your business better than any copywriter. What you may lack is a method to turn that knowledge into text that people read and act on. Here is the method I use.

Start with the customer's questions, not your story

Before writing a word, list the questions customers ask on the phone and in person. For a roofer: "Can you come this week?", "How much for a repair versus a new roof?", "Do you clean up?", "Is there a warranty?". For a clinic: "Do I need a referral?", "Is it covered by my insurance?", "Can I book online?".

Those questions are your outline. Each page should answer the ones relevant to it, in roughly the order customers ask them. The article on how to structure a homepage that sells shows how this order maps onto sections.

Write headlines that say what you do

The headline carries most of the weight. Compare:

Before	After
Excellence in every detail	Bathroom renovations in Ottawa, done in three weeks
Your trusted partner	Bookkeeping for restaurants and cafés across Manitoba
Welcome to Smith Dental	Family dentist in Kelowna, evening appointments available
Solutions for your home	Furnace repair in Regina, same-day visits in winter

The "after" versions name the service, the place and a concrete benefit. They are less poetic and far more effective.

Turn features into benefits

A feature is what you have; a benefit is what the customer gets. Customers buy benefits.

• "Licensed and insured" becomes "If something goes wrong, you are covered, not stuck with the bill."
• "15 years of experience" becomes "Fifteen years of fixing the problems other contractors left behind."
• "Online booking" becomes "Book at 11 p.m. in your pyjamas, no phone tag."

Keep the feature, add the "which means..." after it.

Replace praise words with proof

Words like quality, professional, reliable and best are claimed by everyone, so they carry no weight. Swap each one for something checkable:

• Instead of "fast service": "Replies within two hours on weekdays" (if true for your business).
• Instead of "experienced": the number of years or completed jobs.
• Instead of "trusted": real Google reviews, with the rating and count.
• Instead of "affordable": an actual price or range.

Only use numbers you can stand behind. In Canada, the Competition Act prohibits misleading claims in advertising, and that includes your website.

Write the way you speak

Read your copy out loud. If you would not say it to a customer standing in front of you, rewrite it. Practical rules:

1. Short sentences. One idea each.
2. Short paragraphs. Two to four sentences, especially for phone readers.
3. "You" more than "we". Talk to the reader about their situation.
4. Concrete words. "Leaking tap" rather than "plumbing issues".
5. No jargon unless your customers use it themselves.
6. Canadian spelling and terms for a Canadian audience: colour, centre, cheque, postal code.

Make every section end with an action

Each block of text should lead somewhere: a button, a link to the next page, a phone number. Label buttons with what happens: "Get my quote", "Book a cleaning", "See prices". Avoid "Submit" and "Learn more" where something more specific fits.

Offer a softer alternative for people not ready yet: "Not sure? Send a photo and I'll tell you what it needs." That captures cautious visitors who would otherwise leave.

Handle objections openly

Every customer has worries they will not always say out loud: price surprises, delays, mess, being upsold, not being understood. Name the worry and answer it: "The price in the quote is the price you pay, unless you ask for changes." "Furniture is covered and the site is cleaned up every day." A short FAQ near the bottom of each service page is the natural place for this.

Write for search without writing for robots

Use the words customers type into Google, especially in headlines and the first paragraph: the service, the city, common variants. Then write naturally. Repeating the same phrase over and over makes the text awkward and does not help. My article on how to write content that ranks and sells goes deeper on the SEO side.

Write for the moment, not just the business

The same service is bought in different moods. Someone with a burst pipe at night wants speed and a phone number, not three paragraphs about your values. Someone planning a kitchen for next spring wants to browse examples, read about the process and compare. Think about which moment each page serves and write for that person. Emergency pages get short sentences and a big call button; planning pages get more detail, photos and a softer first step like a free estimate.

The season matters too in Canada. A furnace page reads differently in November than in July, and a deck builder's homepage should not still be talking about spring in October. Small seasonal edits to headlines and offers keep the copy feeling current without rewriting the whole site.

A quick editing checklist

Before you publish a page, check:

• Does the headline say what, where and why you?
• Is there a price, range or explanation of pricing?
• Is every praise word replaced with proof?
• Does every section end with an action?
• Are the main objections answered?
• Can a visitor scanning only headings and bold text understand the offer?
• Did you read it aloud?

When to get help

Writing your own copy works when you have time and enjoy it. It is harder when you are too close to your business to see it as a newcomer would, or when the site has many pages. In my projects, copy is part of the work: you share facts, examples and the questions customers ask, I write the pages, and you approve every text before launch. Three rounds of revisions are included. See copywriting for how it works, or start with a free 30-minute consultation if you want feedback on text you have already written.