How to Get Your Website Messaging Right (Without Sounding Like Everyone Else)
Ever been scrolling your feed, stumbled on an account with a product or service you’re in the market for, visited their website and thought… “Nah, not for me”? It doesn’t take long to tell whether a business has what you’re looking for. Your website messaging is often the difference between sounding generic and forgettable or making someone close all their other tabs and instantly fill out your enquiry form.
Because good website messaging doesn’t just explain what you do. It helps people instantly understand:
who you help
why your work matters
what makes you different
what your values, views and perspectives are
why they should trust you
Here’s how to get your website messaging right and keep it real while you’re at it.
What is website messaging, and why does it matter?
Before I tell you how to create website messaging that makes your ideal customers stop what they’re doing mid-scroll, let’s cover the basics. Like, what is messaging, anyway?
Messaging strategy is the language and value you share in your content. It’s what tells your audience that you get them and how your business can benefit them. It’s how you neatly tie everything you do together into something that’s recognisable and referable. I call this Hook Strategy, and it’s the foundation of the copywriting work I do for coaches, consultants and creative small businesses.
Maybe more than any other aspect of your marketing, your messaging is the thing that helps your business build connections with people. When it’s done well, your website messaging can be what takes you from seeming like one of those “Meh” businesses to a “Holy shit. I need this” type of deal.
Good brand messaging — the kind that leaves your audience gagging to work with you — is real. It’s authentic and true to who you are and what your business represents.
Need proof? A whopping 82% of Gen Z said they’re more likely to buy from a business that shares relatable content. Plus, 77% of millennials, 75% of Gen X, and 72% of Boomers said the same thing. That’s just about everyone, now, isn’t it?
Moral of the story: Authentic website messaging isn’t just relatable, it fucking sells.
How to get your website messaging right
If I’ve got you having a Nervy B that your website messaging isn’t cutting it, don’t worry. Here’s where I tell you exactly how to craft messaging that builds trust, attracts the right people and actually sounds like you.
Get real AF about your business
You can’t create impactful and authentic website messaging if you aren’t clear on precisely what your business is all about. That’s right. You’ve got to get VERY real about who you are, what you do, and what you want to accomplish.
That means getting fully acquainted with:
who you are
what you do
what makes your approach different
and what you actually want your business to become
I know “business vision” sounds like something a man named Gareth would say in a quarterly board meeting, but stick with me here.
Your business vision is simply the bigger picture behind what you do. It’s understanding:
your core beliefs
your values
your ethics
who you want to help
and where you want to take your business long-term
Because if you aren’t clear on why your work matters, and how it differs from other options out there (that may well be more affordable) your audience definitely won’t be.
Strong website messaging starts with knowing thyself. Which is actually kind of hard. And why many people hire messaging strategists like me! (Check out my web copywriting services here for the full messaging extravaganza).
Stop explaining what you do. Start showing whAT IT DOES.
Odds are, you aren’t the only business in your industry trying to sell what you’re selling. You’re probably one business in a massive crowd all clamouring for your audience’s attention.
This is where a lot of website messaging falls flat.
Businesses spend so much time explaining what they do that they forget to communicate what their work actually does for people. (I wrote another blog about this little thing called The Expertise Trap. It’s a good’un.)
That’s the difference between generic copy and strategic messaging.
It’s also the thinking behind my Hook Strategy approach. Instead of stuffing your website with vague “professional but approachable” copy, Hook Strategy is about finding the sharpest, clearest and most emotionally resonant way to position your work so people instantly get it. Not dumbing it down. But finding the clearest way to speak to your perfect people in language that sells the depth of your work without underselling your expertise.
Because the businesses people remember are the ones communicating their value most clearly (or, OK, posting on IG and TikTok multiple times a day, but truly, I know you don’t have time for that).
Your messaging should create recognition. It should make your ideal client feel seen. It should help people instantly understand why your approach is different from the other fifty tabs they’ve got open.
In other words: your website messaging shouldn’t just help people find your business. It should make people feel like they’ve found the right person.
FIGURE OUT YOUR UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION (UVP)
Your website messaging plays a big role in setting you apart from the competition, and your unique value proposition (UVP) is the secret sauce.
Your UVP is a quick statement on what makes your business different from countless competitors. The key word here is value. An impactful UVP (I call it a Hook) doesn’t just say how your products or services are unique but how you provide value to those you want to sell to. You wouldn’t spend heaps of money on something without knowing what it will do for you now, would you?
Not sure what makes your business unique?
Quick pep talk: Not to sound too life coach-y, but there’s only one you. No one else does what you do quite like you do. So, what is it about you that will attract (or repel! The Marmite Test is fine here) your ideal clients?
I like to use my Triple S framework in this part. I take a deep dive into your Story (the forks in the road that brought you here) your Style (the ways you do things that are so intuitive you can’t even see it) and then pull it together into a full Hook Strategy, AKA: website messaging that feels totally ownable, 100% you and, therefore, truly uncopyable.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at different ways your products or services add value for customers. Ways you provide value to your customers might include:
showing them a version of themselves they desperately want to be
saving them money
boosting their confidence
making complicated things feel simpler
helping them stand out
creating a better experience
helping them finally feel understood
Once you understand the real value behind your work, your website messaging becomes a hell of a lot more compelling.
Armed with a killer Hook that emphasises why your business is different from all the other fish in the sea, you can create website messaging that helps you stand out.
Get to know your audience
I’ve mentioned your ideal customers and your target audience a bunch of times now. That’s because they should always be on your mind. Sounds kinda stalker-y, but it’s true. They’re the focal point for all of your messaging. And your website messaging shouldn’t just target them. It should resonate with them.
Creating buyer personas (or profiles or avatars) is an excellent tactic to get to know your customers and their needs, wants, and pain points. But you’ve gotta go beyond just simple demographics (Mum of 3 living in the home counties isn’t going to cut it here). You need to get inside their heads and know more about them than you do about your best friend after too many vinos and not enough lunch. Understand what motivates and matters to them.
Start by jotting down some notes on your ideal customers’…
Demographic info: Age, gender, location, marital status, etc.
Values: What’s most important to them at the end of the day?
Challenges: What are their problems or struggles? What’s getting in the way of them getting what they want?
Objections: What might turn them off from buying from you?
Information sources: What podcasts, blogs, magazines, or TV shows do they follow?
Industry myths: What may they have absorbed about the niche you’re in that you know isn’t true?
Completely blank about how to answer those questions? Pay attention to your audience and start researching them. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Follow them on social media, sign up for their email lists, and pay attention to what they say. Here’s a crazy idea: Reach out and ask them. There are loads of ways you can easily get good intel on your ideal customers.
When you’ve built up a solid persona and have a good idea of who your target audience is, you can tweak your brand messaging to reflect the aspects of your business they’ll be wild about.
Establish your tone of voice
I’m probably biased because I’m a copywriter, but tone of voice is absolutely essential when it comes to website messaging.
If your messaging sounds like Karen from Accounts one day and an Innocent Smoothies intern the next, people are going to struggle to trust you.
The sweet spot for your tone of voice should capture the essence of both your brand and your audience. Your way with words, their vernacular (by which I mean, they’re probably not up at night googling “somatic nervous system regulation coach” but they might be asking ChatGPT why they keep shouting at their partner and can’t sleep until 4am.)
When someone lands on your website, you’ve got a limited window to make an impression and create connection. If your messaging doesn’t sound right, it’s going to fall flat fast.
Trying to connect with your audience without a defined tone of voice is basically like trying to hold a conversation without speaking the same language. Pretty bonkers.
So how do you establish your tone of voice? Start by describing your brand’s personality as if it were a person. It sounds a bit batshit but it works.
Are they serious and analytical? Witty and forthright? Cheeky and light-hearted? Your tone of voice should reflect those qualities.
Now, consider what your brand is not. Flip those qualities to give yourself some guidelines and create consistency with your tone. For example, you might be serious and analytical, but you’re not pretentious or boring. Witty and forthright, but never rude or condescending. Funny and light-hearted, but you know your shit. That contrast is often where the magic happens.
With a defined brand voice, you can communicate your website's messaging authentically, turning heads and leaving your audience wanting more.
Give the people what they want
Got a good idea of what your website messaging should be, but struggling to turn it into copy that actually connects?
Yay, that’s EXACTLY my thing. Hook Strategy exists to plug the gap between what you think you need to say, and what you’re people actually want to hear from you. So you can stand out and sell in a saturated industry without diluting a drop of your brilliance.