Rewriting your website text during a redesign

When you rewrite your website text during a redesign, do not start from a blank page. Start by finding which pages already bring people in and which sentences customers respond to, and keep their substance. Then cut the filler, replace jargon with the words customers use, and put the answer to each page's main question at the top. A rewrite done this way makes the site clearer without throwing away what Google and your customers already understand about you.

Why "start fresh" is risky

A redesign feels like a clean slate, and many owners want new words to match the new look. The trouble is that your current text has been doing quiet work for years. A service page that has existed since 2014 may be the page Google shows when someone searches for that service in your town. Its headings, the way it names the service, the towns it mentions, all of that is part of why it gets found. Replace it with three stylish sentences and that page has much less to show for itself.

Nobody can promise where a page will appear in search results before or after a redesign. What you can do is avoid removing the things that help Google understand the page: the service named plainly, a clear heading, enough useful detail, and the same address.

Step 1: find the pages worth protecting

Before you change a word, find out which pages matter most. Three ways, from easiest to most precise:

Ask the phone. When new customers call, ask how they found you and which page they looked at. A few weeks of asking gives you a good picture.
Search for yourself. On your phone, search for your main services plus your town, the way a customer would. Note which of your pages come up.
Check Search Console. If you have Google Search Console set up, the Performance report shows which pages people click on and which searches led them there. How to read the search terms report in Search Console explains where to look.

Mark these pages as "protect". For each one, your rewrite keeps the same address, the same main subject, a heading that still names the service, and at least as much useful detail as before. You can make it clearer and better organized; just do not make it thinner.

Step 2: decide what each page keeps, changes or cuts

Print each page or paste it into a document and go through it with three colors of pen.

Keep (green):

Facts customers need: services, areas, hours, licenses, warranties, prices or ranges.
Sentences customers have repeated back to you. If people say "I liked that you explain the inspection first", that sentence stays.
Specific detail only you could write: the brands you service, the materials you use, the towns you cover.
Reviews, word for word.

Change (yellow):

Jargon and trade terms the customer would not use. "HVAC" can become "heating and air conditioning" at least once on the page.
Long paragraphs that hide the answer in the middle.
Out-of-date facts: old staff, old prices, services you no longer offer.

Cut (red):

Phrases that could appear on any business's site: "we are committed to excellence", "your satisfaction is our priority", "quality service at affordable prices".
Welcome paragraphs. "Welcome to our website" tells the visitor nothing.
Repetition. If three pages each have the same company history, keep it on the About page.

Step 3: put the answer first

People on phones read the first lines and skim the rest. So each page should open with the answer to its own question.

On a service page, the first two sentences should say what the service is, who it is for, and where you offer it. For example: "We repair and replace residential roofs across Lancaster County, from small leaks to full tear-offs. Most repairs are scheduled within the week, and every estimate is free and in writing."

Then the detail, in short sections with plain headings: what is included, how the job goes, what it roughly costs, how long it takes, what to do next. Using headings so visitors can scan your page shows how to choose them.

Step 4: write in the words customers use

The words on the page should match the words customers type and say. A few ways to find them:

Listen to how people describe their problem on the phone. "My basement floods every spring" is a better heading than "Waterproofing Solutions".
Read your reviews. Customers describe what you did in their own language.
Look at the searches suggested by Google as you type your service into the search box.

Use those words in headings and in the first lines of each page. Do not stuff them in; use each naturally once or twice where a person would.

Step 5: keep the voice yours

The best small-business sites sound like the owner talking to a customer. Short sentences. "We" and "you". The honest details: "We don't do commercial jobs", "Saturday appointments fill up two weeks ahead". That kind of plainness builds more trust than polished marketing copy.

If you use an AI tool or a writer to help, read every line out loud before it goes live. Strip out anything you would not say to a customer in person, and check every fact. Website text written by AI: checking it before it goes live has a checklist for this.

How long should the new text be?

As long as it needs to answer the questions, and no longer. A home page might be a few hundred words. A service page that people use to decide on a large job may need much more: process, materials, timing, what affects the price. Do not pad pages to reach a length, and do not shrink a strong page just to make it look tidy.

Your rewriting checklist

List the pages that bring calls or visits, and mark them "protect".
Go through each page with keep, change and cut.
Open every page with the answer to its main question.
Replace jargon with customers' words, at least in headings.
Remove phrases that could be on any business's site.
Keep every page address that exists today, or forward it.
Read everything aloud before launch.

If your current text is mostly sound and only needs tidying, you may not need to rewrite much at all. A rebuild can carry your existing words into a new layout, so you can see your site rebuilt first and decide which pages still need a rewrite once you see them in the new design.