Almost every business owner writes their own website copy at some point, whether for budget reasons or because nobody knows the service as well as they do. The problem is rarely grammar. It is that the copy speaks from the wrong side of the counter.
Below are the tests and rules that turn amateur copy into copy that holds up, fastest. None of them require literary talent.
The "we" test: count how often you talk about yourself
Open your homepage and count how many sentences start with "we", "we are", "our company", "at [name]". Then count how many start with "you" or with the customer problem.
On rushed websites the ratio tends to run eight to one in favor of "we". The visitor did not come to meet your company. They arrived with a problem, and they leave as soon as they notice the page is about something else.
The fix is mechanical. Take every sentence that opens by talking about you and turn it inside out. "We specialize in accounting for clinics" becomes "Your clinic has tax obligations a general accountant does not know about". Same information. Different starting point.
This does not mean never talking about yourself. It means the homepage talks about the client and the About page talks about you, each in its own place.
The problem, agitate, solve formula
It is the most reliable structure for a sales section, and it works because it follows the order in which people think.
Problem: name the situation using the words your client uses, not your industry vocabulary. Do not write "inefficient digital asset governance". Write "nobody in the company knows where the domain password is".
Agitate: show the concrete consequence, without invented drama. "When the domain expires, company email dies along with the website." One sentence is enough. Two paragraphs of fear read as manipulation, and readers notice.
Solve: say what you do, how long it takes, and what the person receives. This is where detail belongs, not adjectives.
A common mistake is leading with the solution. Leading with the solution answers a question the reader has not asked yet.
Sentence length and scannability
Nobody reads websites. People sweep the page with their eyes, stop at whatever looks relevant, and only then actually read. Copy has to be written to survive that sweep.
The practical rules that make the biggest difference: one idea per paragraph, and paragraphs of two to four lines on a phone. Alternate short and medium sentences. If you read a sentence and had to go back to the start to understand it, it is too long, and the fix is almost always a full stop where a comma is.
Write subheads that stand alone. If someone reads only the h2 tags on your page, they should get the whole argument. A subhead like "Our differentials" fails that test. "Delivered in 15 days, with the deadline written into the contract" passes.
Lists help, but only when the items really are items. Turning three running sentences into three bullets organizes nothing, it just breaks the reasoning. And if a bullet runs four lines, it is a paragraph in disguise.
The words that weaken your copy
Some expressions signal generic writing all by themselves. Not because they are ugly, but because they could sit on any website in any industry. They take up space without delivering information.
- solutions, almost always replaces the real name of the thing you sell;
- innovative, a claim about yourself that nobody can verify;
- market leader, if it is true, a number proves it; if there is no number, it is decoration;
- industry benchmark, the same thing, with less nerve;
- X years in the market as an opening line, tenure is context, not a benefit, and it belongs later;
- excellence, quality, commitment, words every competitor uses too;
- personalized service, meaningless unless you explain what you actually do differently.
Before and after:
Before: "We are an innovative company offering complete technology solutions with a focus on excellence and personalized service."
After: "We build custom websites and systems. You talk directly to the person writing the code, and you get the code and the accounts at the end of the project."
Before: "With over 10 years in the market, we are a benchmark in accounting for the healthcare segment."
After: "We handle accounting for clinics and private practices: payroll, taxes and filings delivered on time, with one accountant responsible for your account."
Before: "Our digital marketing solutions drive results."
After: "We set up and manage your Google campaigns, with a monthly report showing what each lead actually cost."
Notice the pattern: every rewrite traded adjectives for concrete nouns and action verbs. That is the whole operation.
Writing an About page that is not an autobiography
The About page is the second most visited page on most small websites, because it is where people check whether you actually exist. It should not tell your story from childhood. It should answer: who does the work, by what standard, and why you can be trusted.
A structure that works: one paragraph on what the company does today and for whom; one on how the work gets done, including a process detail nobody copies by accident; who the people are, with real names and roles; and what you do not do, which is the most convincing part of the page, because turning work down signals judgment.
Founding date, office moves and internal awards can appear, but after that, and in one line. Photos of real people beat stock imagery, and About pages often load slowly precisely because of those photos, which is worth checking against the image optimization article.
Headings that say something
A good page title does two things at once: it informs whoever arrived, and it is findable on Google. Both push the same way, because search rewards specificity too.
Swap categories for verifiable promises. "Services" becomes "What we do and what it costs". "Our work" becomes "Projects delivered in the last 12 months". "Blog" can stay "Blog", because there the name is already the function.
Keep in mind that the page title in the browser tab and the visible heading at the top of the content are different things and both matter. How each affects search is covered in the technical SEO checklist. If the business is local, the city name belongs in the title, the subject of the article on local SEO.
The read-it-out-loud pass
Always finish by reading the copy out loud, start to finish. It is the cheapest test there is and it catches three problems at once.
Where you stumble, the sentence is badly built. Where you run out of breath, it is too long. And where you feel embarrassed reading it out ("we are passionate about turning dreams into reality"), the copy is false, and it will read as false to your visitors too.
A second quick check: cover the logo and read the page. If it could belong to any competitor in your city, it is not yours yet. Go back and add what only you can say: the process, the timeline, what is included, the name of the person who answers, the work anyone can see in the portfolio.
If after rewriting you want an outside look at your copy and site structure, talk to ALB Seven. Going through the site page by page usually pays off more than changing the layout.