Write Website Copy for Customers, Not Yourself
Read your homepage and count how often it says "we" compared with "you". Many local business websites talk mostly about the business: when it was founded, its values, its equipment. Visitors are mostly scanning for one thing: can you solve my problem? Conqueror Capital writes website copy the other way round, and this is the simple exercise we use.
AT A GLANCE
By Conqueror Capital · Published
The short answer: Open each page with the problem you solve, in the words customers use. Then say where you work and who you help, explain what happens when someone calls or books, and only then share your history and values as proof. The words customers use are also the words they type into Google and ask AI assistants.
THE WE-VERSUS-YOU TEST
Print your homepage or open it on your phone. Mark every sentence that is about the business ("we were founded", "our values", "our team is proud") and every sentence that is about the customer ("your roof", "you will get", "if your basement floods"). If the first screen is mostly about the business, a visitor has to work to find out whether you can help them. Many leave before they do.
This is not about removing your story. It is about order.
A SIMPLE REWRITE
- Lead with the problem, in the customer's words. Not "comprehensive HVAC solutions" but "heating not working? We fix furnaces and heat pumps." Use the phrases people say when they call you.
- Say where you work and who you help. Name the towns or areas you serve and the kind of customers you work with, such as homeowners, landlords or restaurants.
- Explain what happens next. What happens when they call or book: who answers, how fast you usually reply, whether there is a visit or a quote first. Uncertainty stops people from calling.
- Then share your story. Your history, team and values now work as proof, after the customer knows they are in the right place.
Our post on what to put on a local business About page covers where your story fits best.
WHY THE CUSTOMER'S WORDS MATTER TO GOOGLE
Google's SEO starter guide asks site owners to think about the words a user might search for. It notes that people who know a lot about a topic might use different words from someone new to it, and gives the example that some people search for "charcuterie" while others search for "cheese board". Anticipating those differences and writing with your readers in mind "could produce positive effects" on how your site performs in search. The same guide also says not to worry about every variation, because Google's language matching can understand how a page relates to many queries.1
Google's guidance on helpful content says its ranking systems are designed to prioritise "helpful, reliable information that's created to benefit people", and asks whether your content shows first-hand expertise, such as experience from actually providing the service.2 Plain words about real jobs you do are exactly that. AI assistants answer questions in everyday language too, so copy written in customers' words is easier for them to match to a question.
WHERE TO FIND THE CUSTOMER'S WORDS
- Phone calls and emails. Write down how people describe the problem in the first sentence.
- Your Google reviews. Customers describe the job and the result in their own words.
- Search Console. The search terms that already bring people to your site. Our Search Console guide shows where to find them.
- Your front desk or technicians. Ask what questions they answer every week.
SMALL, MID-SIZE AND ENTERPRISE
Small businesses: rewrite the homepage first, then your two most popular service pages. That is usually where most visitors land.
Mid-size businesses: agree on one list of service names, in customer words, and use it on the website, your Google profile's services section and your ads, so the same thing is called the same name everywhere.
Multi-location and enterprise brands: keep a short brand voice guide with the customer phrases that work, then let each location page add local detail such as the neighbourhoods served, local team and common local jobs. That keeps pages consistent without making them copies of each other. See how we work with enterprise teams.
FAQ
How do I write website copy for a local business?
Open with the problem you solve in the customer's words, say where you work and who you help, explain what happens when they call or book, then share your story as proof.
Should my homepage talk about our history?
Yes, but after the visitor knows you can help them. History and values work best as proof, below what you do and where.
Do the words on my website affect Google?
Google's SEO starter guide suggests thinking about the words people search for and writing with your readers in mind, while noting that Google can match pages to many wordings on its own.
Where can I find the words my customers use?
In phone calls, emails, your Google reviews, the search terms in Google Search Console, and the questions your staff answer every week.
SOURCES
- Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide: The Basics.
- Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.
Platforms change often. Check the sources for the current version before acting.
KEEP READING
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