Your website should sound like you!

Your Website Should Sound Like You

When I wrote my last Cup of Tea & A Few Thoughts, we chatted about why the "About Me" page is often the hardest page on a website to write. It got me thinking about something else I've noticed over the years. It doesn't matter whether someone runs a therapy business, a martial arts academy, a beauty salon or a clothes shop. Almost everyone says exactly the same thing at some point.

"I've had a go... but it just doesn't sound like me." And do you know what? They're usually right.

Somewhere between opening a blank page and pressing save, they've somehow stopped sounding like themselves and started sounding like... a website. You know the sort of thing.

"We provide bespoke solutions..."
"Delivering excellence..."
"Committed to outstanding customer service..."

Honestly... if your best friend knocked on your door and asked what you did for a living, I'm fairly sure that's not how you'd answer! And I completely understand why it happens. Writing about ourselves is hard enough, but writing for a website somehow makes us think we need to sound more polished, more corporate or somehow... more impressive.

Can I let you into a little secret?

Even after nearly 30 years in marketing, I still catch myself doing exactly the same thing. In fact, while I was writing the Beyond Talk website, I rewrote some of my own pages more times than I'd care to admit. I'd read them back and think...

"Who wrote that?"

It certainly didn't sound like me. So I'd close the laptop, put the kettle on and start again the next day, and almost every time, the second version was better than the first. Much simpler. Much warmer. Much more... me.

That's exactly what I try to help my clients discover too. I don't want every website to sound the same. I want it to sound like the person who's welcoming someone through the door. Whether that's a therapist, an electrician, a dog groomer or someone teaching kickboxing.

Because people don't remember perfectly polished words. They remember people. They remember warmth. They remember honesty. And most of all, they remember how you made them feel. So, if you're sitting there this evening, staring at a sentence you've rewritten six times already, here's my advice...

Stop. Close the laptop. Go and make yourself a cup of tea. Walk round the garden. Sit in the sunshine if you're lucky enough to have some. Give your brain five quiet minutes. I promise the words usually come back when you stop chasing them. And if it doesn’t? Then sleep on it.

One thing I've learnt through both marketing and holistic therapy is that clarity rarely arrives when we're forcing it. It usually appears when we've stepped away long enough to let our mind catch up with our heart.

So, if you catch yourself writing...

"We facilitate bespoke client-focused solutions..."

Delete it immediately. Then imagine your favourite customer asking...

"So... what is it you actually do?"

Your answer to that question is probably a much better place to start.

Right... I'm off to put the kettle on. Until next time...

Bev ☕