Web · 5 min read · October 2026
What to write on your website
The design is ready. The pages are built. And the website has been "almost finished" for six weeks, because it is waiting for the words. It is the most common reason small business websites launch late.
Your designer can shape, edit and polish content, but the facts and the voice have to come from you: what you do, how you do it, what it costs, why people choose you. You do not need to be a writer. You need to answer questions honestly. Here are the questions, page by page.
01
Home page
One sentence on what you do, for whom, and where — as if explaining to someone at a wedding. Three to five main services in a few words each. Three reasons customers choose you, based on what they actually say. Proof: years in business, number of customers served, well-known clients you are allowed to name, or a short review. The one action you want visitors to take.
Prompt: "We help ___ in ___ to ___, without ___."
02
Services, one page each
For each service: what it is, in plain words. Who it is for, and who it is not for. What the process looks like, step by step. How long it takes. What it costs, or what the price depends on. The questions customers ask most about it, with your answers. A photo or example of the result.
03
About
Who runs the business, and a real photo. How and why you started. Qualifications, registrations or memberships that matter in your field. How you work differently from others, in specifics rather than adjectives — "we send a written quote within 24 hours" rather than "we value transparency".
04
Work, gallery or case studies
Photos of real work, with a line or two on each: what the customer needed, what you did, the result. Only include client names, logos or photos you have permission to use. Before-and-afters are powerful where they are honest and permitted.
Quality beats quantity here. Ten well-chosen projects with a sentence of context each do more than a hundred unlabelled photos. Choose work that represents what you want more of, not just everything you have done.
05
Contact
Phone, WhatsApp, email, address, opening hours, and directions in landmarks people know. Service areas if you travel to customers. What happens after someone gets in touch, and how quickly you reply.
Write it the way you say it
The best website copy usually sounds like the business owner explaining things to a customer across the counter. Formal phrases like "we are committed to delivering excellence" say nothing; plain answers to real questions build trust.
If you would not say it to a customer's face, do not put it on your website.
A practical trick: record yourself answering the questions above on your phone, as if a customer had asked. Send the voice notes to your designer. Spoken answers are often clearer and more natural than anything written from a blank page.
Where to find the words you already have
- Your WhatsApp chats. The answers you type every day to the same questions are ready-made website content.
- Your Google reviews. The words customers use to describe you are the words new customers search for.
- Quotations and proposals. They describe your services and process in detail already.
- Brochures and visiting cards. A starting point, though often too short or too formal.
Content checklist to send your designer
□ One-line description of the business □ List of services, with a paragraph on each □ Prices or price ranges (or what they depend on) □ Your story — a few lines and a real photo □ 10–20 photos of real work, with permission to use them □ 3–5 reviews or testimonials you can use, with names □ Contact details, hours, service areas □ The 10 questions customers ask most, with answers
Send it all in one shared folder. Missing pieces are what delay launches, so it helps to agree a content deadline at the start of the project, the same way the designer agrees a design deadline.
Quick answers
Does a web designer write the content?
Some do, some charge extra, and some expect you to supply it. Either way, the facts — services, prices, process, story — must come from you. A designer can edit, structure and polish what you provide.
How much text should a website page have?
Enough to answer the questions a customer has at that point. A home page summarises; a service page can be several hundred words if that is what it takes to explain the service, price and process clearly.
Can I use AI to write my website content?
It can help with a first draft or with tidying up your own notes. Check every fact, remove generic phrases that could describe any business, and make sure it sounds like you. Customers can tell when a site says nothing specific.
Related reading
Your words, shaped into a website.
With every website I build, I send this content checklist up front and edit what you send into clear, plain pages. Voice notes are welcome. Tell me about your business and we'll start.