Writing your website copy: talk to customers the way you do at the counter
Website copy works when it talks to the customer about their problem, says what they get before listing features, and answers the questions you already hear every day. The best source for writing it is your own message history.
To write your website copy, talk to customers the way you would at the counter: about their problem, in their words, telling them what they get first and how you do it second. Copy that doesn't work almost always has the same flaw. It talks about the business (“a company with years of experience”) instead of the customer (“we fix your car the same day and text you when it's ready”).
You don't have to be a writer. You need a method, and the raw material is already on your phone.
The source nobody uses: your own messages
Open your WhatsApp, texts or inbox and scroll through the last few months of inquiries. Write down the questions that keep coming up and, above all, how people phrase them. If customers ask “do you hem pants?”, your website should say “pants hemming”, not “comprehensive tailoring services”.
That list is gold for three reasons. It tells you which topics the site has to cover. It gives you the exact words people type into Google. And it saves you from answering the same thing over and over, because people reach out with their question already answered.
Those same questions, with answers, make a great FAQ section, which is also what AI search tools quote most easily. I explained why in how to show up in AI search answers.
What the customer gets first, how you do it second
| How it's often written | How it reads better |
|---|---|
| Our staff is highly qualified | The same vet sees your pet from start to finish |
| We use top-quality materials | We use thicker steel that doesn't dent in a hailstorm |
| Online booking system | Book at night from your phone, no phone call needed |
| Wide range of products | If we don't have it, we'll get it for you that week |
| Personalized service | I send you photos as the job moves along |
| Over X years in business | What that experience saves you: mistakes, delays, surprises |
A quick trick: after every feature, ask yourself “so what changes for the customer?” The answer is what goes first.
How to structure a service page
Every service deserves its own page. This order works for most of them:
- The problem, in one sentence: what's going on for the customer when they look for you. “Your dog needs a bath and you don't have time to wait around.”
- What you do and what they get: the service, told through the result.
- How it works: the steps, from first message to done. It takes the fear out, especially for expensive services or ones people rarely buy.
- What they need to bring or prepare: documents, measurements, photos, time. It cuts down the back-and-forth.
- Common questions about that service, with short answers.
- One action at the end: a WhatsApp, text or booking button, with a message written for that service.
Writing for people reading on their phones
Most of your customers will read your site on a phone, sometimes walking or on the bus. That changes how you write.
Short paragraphs. Two or three sentences. On a small screen, a ten-line paragraph looks like a wall.
Headings that make sense on their own. Lots of people only read the headings to decide where to stop. “How long it takes” says more than “Additional information”.
One idea per sentence. If a sentence has three commas and two “which”s, split it.
No empty phrases. “Comprehensive services”, “quality and commitment”, “industry leaders” say nothing a customer can check. Swap them for a concrete example.
One last test: read it out loud. Anywhere you stumble, or it sounds like a brochure, rewrite it the way you'd say it in conversation.
One page per service, in its own words
On the website of Mecohue, a pet shop with a vet clinic and grooming salon near Buenos Aires, each service has its own page: grooming, vaccinations, checkups, and surgery and spaying. So someone looking for a dog bath lands on a page that's only about that, with what they need to know to book, instead of a long list where they have to find their thing. It helps the customer, and it helps Google understand what each page is about. The site is in Spanish, but the idea works in any language.
See the Mecohue projectWhere to start this week
Don't rewrite the whole site at once. Start with the sentence at the top of your homepage, since it's what the most people read; there's a guide in what to put on your homepage. Then your best-selling service page. If you sell products, apply the same idea to descriptions with product pages that sell.
When I build a website, we work on the copy together: you tell me how you talk to your customers, I shape it for the web, and you edit until it sounds like you. I write in English and Spanish, and you can see how I work on my services page.
Frequently asked questions
Should I write the copy myself, or does the web developer?
Ideally it's a team effort. You know how your customers talk and what they ask. Whoever builds the site knows how to organize it so it reads well on a phone and makes sense to Google. If you send me notes, voice memos or the questions you get most, I'll turn them into copy and you edit it.
Formal or casual?
However you talk to customers in person. If you're on a first-name basis at the shop, be that way on the site too. What matters is picking one tone and keeping it across every page.
Does long copy scare people off?
Long, messy copy does. Long copy with clear headings, short paragraphs and specific answers reads fine, because people jump to what they care about. It also gives Google and AI search tools more to work with when figuring out what you do.
Can I copy the text from a similar business?
No. Besides not being right, Google spots duplicate text and doesn't reward it, and customers can tell when copy doesn't sound like you. Look at others for ideas on which topics to cover, then write it in your own words with your own examples.
If you want your website copy to sound like you and answer what your customers actually ask, message me on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or email contacto@facundocampo.com.ar. I answer in English and Spanish. Send me your site's link if you have one and we'll take a look.