Write page copy that matches how people search

Visitors arrive with a question already formed. Page copy works when it answers that question in the words they used, in the first screen, without making them scroll to find it.

Name the thing, not the category

“We provide solutions for your business needs” tells a reader nothing and matches no search. “Bookkeeping for small restaurants in Ipoh” tells a reader whether they are in the right place in four words, and it matches the phrase they typed.

The test: cover the logo. Can a stranger tell what you sell and where you are from the first line? If not, the first line is decoration.

Put the numbers you have on the page

Price range, area served, opening hours, how long a job takes, what is not included. Every one of those removes a message you would otherwise answer by hand.

If a number is not settled, publish the range and the assumption behind it. A range with an assumption is more useful than silence, and it is more honest than a single number that will not hold.

Write the page for the phone

Most people read this on a phone, in a queue, with one hand. That means short paragraphs, subheadings that carry meaning on their own, and the important fact in the first two lines rather than after three paragraphs of introduction.

Answer the awkward question

Every business has one question that customers ask and copy avoids: what happens if it does not work, what the cancellation policy is, what the extra charge covers. Putting it on the page in plain words removes the suspicion. Avoiding it makes the reader assume the worst, and then they leave without telling you why.