Your website still talks about your company. That’s why it doesn’t convert.
“Founded in…”, “our mission”, “our values”. Visitors didn’t come to learn about your company. They came with a problem. Here’s how to turn the page around.
Open the homepage of ten small business websites and most of them start the same way. A photo of the team or the building. A headline about the company. Then the history, the mission, the values, the services. Somewhere near the bottom, a contact form.
It feels natural to write it that way. You’re proud of your business and you want to introduce it. The trouble is that the visitor didn’t come to meet your company. They came because they have a problem, and they want to know if you can fix it.
The “we” test
Take your homepage copy and count two things: how many times it says “we”, “our” or your company name, and how many times it says “you” or “your”. If the first number is much bigger than the second, the page is talking about you.
It’s a crude test, but it’s honest. It takes five minutes and the result is usually a surprise.
What the visitor is actually asking
Someone landing on your site is silently asking a few questions, roughly in this order:
- Am I in the right place? Is this for someone like me?
- Do they understand my problem?
- Can they actually solve it? Have they done it before?
- What happens if I get in touch, and what will it cost me?
A company-first page answers none of these until late. A client-first page answers them in order.
How to turn a page around
Lead with their situation
Your headline should describe the visitor’s problem or the result they want, in their words. “Websites that bring in enquiries, not just visits” says more to a frustrated owner than “Award winning digital agency since 2009”.
Show you understand before you explain
Before listing services, describe what the visitor is probably experiencing. When people recognise their own situation on the page, they keep reading.
Make yourself the guide, not the hero
The client is the main character of the story. You’re the one who helps them get where they want to go. That means your credentials still matter, but as proof that you can help, not as the subject of the page.
Turn features into outcomes
“Responsive design” is a feature. “Looks right and works on the phone your customers are holding” is an outcome. Go through your services list and rewrite each line to say what changes for the client.
Put the proof where the doubt is
A review or a case study next to the button does more than a testimonials page nobody opens. Show proof at the moment the visitor is deciding.
Give your story its own page
Your history, values and team are not useless. They matter a lot to people who are already interested. Move them to the About page, where those visitors will look for them, and keep the homepage about the client.
A quick rewrite exercise
Take your current homepage headline and the first paragraph under it. Rewrite them so that the subject of every sentence is the visitor, not your company. Then read both versions to someone who fits your typical client and ask which one makes them want to keep reading.
If you don’t know yet exactly who that typical client is, start with who are you talking to. If you know who it is and the site still isn’t working, here are the four places leads usually leak. And if you’d rather have someone rewrite it with you, book a free call.