To write website content that gets leads, write for the person reading, not for your company. Answer three questions in the first few lines of every page (what you do, who you do it for, and why they should care), use the plain words your customers use, give each page one job and one clear next step, and put proof (reviews, results, project photos) right next to the ask.
That might sting a little if you’ve spent months picking colors. After more than 300 website projects since 2011, the biggest difference I see between sites that produce leads and sites that don’t isn’t the color scheme, the animations, or even the layout. It’s the words on the page, and whether they answer the one question every visitor is asking: “Can this company solve my problem?”
If you’re getting ready for a website redesign, or you’re just tired of a site that looks fine and does nothing, start here. You don’t have to be a great writer. You have to follow a handful of rules.
One more idea: let a client tell their own story. Interview a longtime customer about the problem they had and how it turned out, then publish it (with their approval). It shows clients you value them, it often teaches you something about how people actually use what you sell, and it’s far more convincing than anything you could write about yourself.
The Words Matter More Than the Design
Think about how you pick a company yourself. You search for a problem, click a result, and land on a page. In a few seconds you decide whether to stay or hit the back button, and the font barely registers. Neither does the stock photo of people shaking hands in a conference room. What decides it is whether the first few sentences make you feel like you’re in the right place. Good content says, “We get it. Here’s what we can do about it. Here’s the next step.” Bad content opens with the mission statement, talks about “value-added partnerships” and “innovative solutions,” and buries the contact form three clicks deep. We’ve all seen these sites. Some of us have built them (not recently, I swear).Start With What Your Customer Needs, Not What You Want to Say
Most business owners get this backwards. Your homepage and your service pages are for the person reading them and the problem they’re trying to solve. Your history, your awards, and the year you were founded can wait for the about page. Here’s a test. Pull up your homepage and read the first paragraph. Does it talk about you or about them? If it starts with “Founded in 2004, XYZ Corp is a leading provider of…,” you’ve already lost a lot of people. Lead with the problem or the outcome instead: “Your HVAC system quit at 2 a.m. and you need someone who will actually show up.” That sentence talks to a person. It tells them they found the right place. Every page should answer three questions without scrolling:- What do you do?
- Who do you do it for?
- Why should I care?
Write Like You Talk
Something strange happens when business owners sit down to write website copy. They forget how to sound like themselves and start writing like a press release: “Our organization is committed to delivering best-in-class solutions that drive meaningful outcomes for stakeholders.” Nobody talks like that, and nobody wants to read it. If you wouldn’t say it to a customer across a table, don’t put it on your website. The best website content reads like a conversation with a knowledgeable friend. It uses “you” and “your” more than “we” and “our,” and it explains things clearly without talking down to anyone. (That’s harder than it sounds.) If you’re stuck, record yourself explaining your business to someone who knows nothing about it. Transcribe it and clean it up. That’s your first draft, and it will be far more readable than anything you’d write at your desk.Give Every Page One Job and One Next Step
A pattern I see constantly: the homepage lists your services, the services page lists them again, the about page lists them a third time, and none of them tell the visitor what to do next. Give each page one primary job:- Homepage: orient the visitor and send them to the right place.
- Service pages: explain one service, who it’s for, and what the result looks like.
- About page: build trust by showing the people behind the company.
- Contact page: make it absurdly easy to get in touch.
Write Headlines That Actually Say Something
Most people don’t read websites. They scan headlines, subheadings, and maybe the first sentence of a paragraph before deciding whether to keep going. Your headlines have to carry the page. “Our Services” tells the reader nothing. “Custom WordPress Websites That Generate Leads” tells them exactly what’s on the page and why it matters. A few formulas that work for service businesses:- [Outcome] for [Audience]: “Reliable IT Support for Indianapolis Law Firms”
- How We Help [Audience] [Get a Result]: “How We Help Manufacturers Get Found Online”
- [Pain Point]? Here’s [Solution]: “Tired of a Website Nobody Updates? We Handle It.”
Put Proof Where People Decide
Testimonials, case studies, project photos, and specific results turn “they say they’re good” into “other people say they’re good.” They belong on more than your testimonials page. Put a relevant review on each service page and a case study link near the call to action. Think about it like hearing about a new restaurant at a party. The owner telling you the food is great is nice. A friend telling you about the dish they can’t stop thinking about is the one that gets you to make a reservation. Your clients are that friend. The more specific the proof, the harder it works. “Great job!” is pleasant. A result is persuasive. Horner Industrial’s quoted business from inbound website leads has passed $1 million a year, in more than one year. Even a short, honest review helps when it’s specific. Robert Daly of RAD Fabrication wrote about his new site: “We have had nothing but positive comments on the layout and content.”Horner Industrial’s homepage leads with specific services, like vibration analysis, instead of a slogan.
Your Sent Folder Is Full of Things to Write About
Check your sent folder. Years ago I caught myself spending four hours in one day writing proposals, client emails, and replies to prospects, while telling myself I had no time to write for our own website. Most of those emails answered a question somebody actually asked. Clean them up, remove personal details, and many of them are ready-made content. Other good sources:- The questions you hear every week. Make a list of the 20 questions prospects ask most: “How much does it cost?” “How long does it take?” “What’s the difference between X and Y?” Those are the questions people type into Google and ask AI tools.
- Sales calls: anything you explain on a call more than twice deserves a page.
- Client stories, as described above.
How Website Content Helps SEO
Most of SEO happens while you write. Google says its systems are built to reward helpful, reliable, people-first content, and it encourages bylines and clear authorship so readers know who wrote a page. If your pages answer the questions your customers ask, in plain language, with your own experience behind them, you’ve done the most important part. The technical side still matters (speed, mobile layout, clean heading structure), and so does how your content is organized. When we write content as part of our SEO and AI search work, we build it in hub-and-spoke clusters: one strong page on a core topic, surrounded by focused articles that answer the specific questions around it, all linked together. That structure helps Google and AI tools understand what you’re an authority on. There’s more on that in SEO and AEO: what businesses should focus on.What Goes on the Pages That Matter Most
If you only have time for a few pages, start with these.Homepage
Answer “What is this company, who do they serve, and what should I do next?” in the first screen. Lead with a clear headline and one call to action, then a short overview of your services, some proof, and links to your most important inner pages.Service Pages
Each service gets its own page, not a paragraph on a shared one. That matters for search and for visitors. Explain what the service is, who it’s for, what the outcome looks like, and how to get started. Use proof that’s specific to that service if you have it.About Page
It’s often one of the most visited pages on a business site, so don’t waste it on corporate language. Why did you start the business? Who’s on the team? People hire people.Contact Page
Name, email, phone, message, and maybe a dropdown for the type of request. That’s it. Every extra field costs you leads. I wrote a whole post on how to stop making awful lead forms.A Content Plan You Can Actually Keep Up With
You don’t need a 40-page strategy document. You need five things:- Know who you’re writing for. What problems do they have, and what words do they use for them?
- Pick a goal. For most businesses, it’s leads, not traffic. More traffic isn’t automatically better (here’s why more website traffic isn’t always better).
- Keep a running list of ideas from your inbox, sales calls, and client stories, so you never start from a blank page.
- Set a schedule you can keep. One useful post a month beats four rushed ones that stop after six weeks.
- Check what’s working: Search Console shows which searches bring people in; Google Analytics shows which pages turn into leads. Update the pages that are close.
Before You Hit Publish
- Keep paragraphs short, two or three sentences. Long paragraphs turn into walls of text on a phone.
- Use subheadings. They help scanners find what they need and help search engines understand the page.
- Read it out loud. If you stumble over a sentence, rewrite it. If you run out of breath, it’s too long.
- Put the important stuff first. People who want detail will scroll. People who don’t won’t.
- Have an outsider read it. If someone who doesn’t work for you can explain what you do and who it’s for after reading your homepage, you nailed it.
