Triple Threat Website Copy: Why your site needs voice, customer language, AND user experience
Photo by Wan San Yip on Unsplash
Rather listen than read? Head to Episode 7 of my podcast where I break down the three elements of triple threat website copy and why you need all of them. Just search “Turn Your Mess Into Your Message” on your podcast app.
There's a reason some websites just work. They resonate with your needs, leave an impression with their brand, and somehow, also guide you exactly where you need to go with you barely even realizing it.
Other websites might look nice, but leave you confused about what to do next. Or they're perfectly structured and logical but feel like a robot wrote them.
The difference comes down to what I call triple threat website copy—and it's the combination of three essential elements that most people don't realize they need to balance.
Let me break down what those three elements are, why you need all of them, and what happens when one is missing.
The 3 parts of great website copy
Great website copy has three big parts: your customer's words, your voice, and user experience (UX).
Your client's voice is how your people describe and talk about their struggles, goals, desires, dreams, frustrations—all that good stuff. It's the language they actually use, not the industry jargon you might default to.
(I talk about interviewing clients to capture this language in Episode 6 of Turn Your Mess Into Your Message if you want to dive deeper into that process.)
Your voice is your personality, story, your stance, your tone, language choices. It's what makes your website sound like you instead of like everyone else in your industry.
UX is that logic-backed structure, clear website goals, design-friendly formatting, and an awareness of where the user is coming from, what they've tried so far, and what their goal is once they land on your site.
You need all three parts of the equation. Miss one, and your website won't do its job—no matter how pretty it looks or how good the words on it sound.
How user experience actually works
User experience really centers around one question: What action do you want people to take on your website?
Those actions should be clear and prioritized. And to figure out how to guide people to take those actions, I map out what's called a user journey. This is basically figuring out how your people go from stranger (or Instagram follower, or referral) to client.
What needs to happen to get from A to B to C?
The User Story Map
Before I write a single word of actual copy (but after I've talked to the client and their customers), I create something called a user story map, where I lay out the story of a potential client as a website visitor.
I figure out:
What they thought and felt before discovering you
Where they're coming from when they land on your website (Google? Instagram? A referral?)
What stage of awareness they're in (Do they know they have a problem? Do they know they need your type of solution? Do they already know about you specifically?)
Most website visitors we want to speak to are solution aware. They know they need a service provider in your category. Those are typically the people we want to prioritize, but it depends on your specific business and how people find you.
From there, I figure out what questions we need to answer and what info we need to present as they move through the site—and in what order.
That allows me to determine what pages we need to guide them through to get them ready to take action (whether that's contacting you, booking a call, filling out a form, or whatever your business goal is).
By the end of this process, I create a flowchart that shows the user story we want to create with the copy. I condense all the data and ideas and insights into this simple visual.
That's how you create an intentional website where each page, each section has a purpose. It isn't just slapped up there because you saw someone else had a section like that, or because you wanted to make sure you covered every little possible thing.
The Page Plan
After mapping out that user story, I put together what I call a page plan. It’s essentially an outline of the copy I'm going to write on each page, section by section. Just straightforward bullet points.
I share that with you along with:
The flowchart of the user story
A brand messaging recap (super important for alignment)
A suggested navigation menu (hugely important for user experience)
It's an amazing checkpoint. We make sure we're literally on the same page with goals, key messaging points, the info we're going to cover—everything.
And then, only after we feel good about that plan, do I start actually writing and infusing voice and personality into that framework in a way that takes the ideal person from A to B to C.
By the end, every page should sound like you, but also speak to your clients and serve a specific strategic purpose.
That's triple threat website copy.
What different pages actually do
Let me walk you through some common pages and what their actual purpose is, because I think this really helps clarify what strategic UX looks like in practice.
Home Page: The Drum Roll and The Director
Everyone has a home page, but what's the point of it? What's it supposed to do?
It can vary business by business, but essentially your home page needs to make it immediately clear what you do and what makes you different or right for your people.
It's the introduction, the drum roll to you.
But it also needs to guide your users to the right next step. It sets the tone and reassures them they're in the right place. Because if someone lands on a home page and thinks, "this is weird, this doesn't seem like it's for me," or "I'm confused," or "this is chaotic"—they're probably going to leave.
If it's confusing or they don't know where to go next, they'll bounce.
So it's got to be a solid introduction and tone setter (the drum roll) and a guide to what to do next (the director). Those are the two main roles: the drum roll and the director.
We typically aren't going for a hard sell here because people just entered your website world. But we are starting to nudge them down that journey, planting seeds for your message that will show them you're the person for them.
As they move down the page, we're telling them where to go while embedding little nuggets to support your message, your ethos, your stance—and weaving your voice through it all.
About Page: The Vibe Check
About pages can take so many forms. They're typically where your personality and your story really shine, usually in more detail.
But here's what people forget: we still really want to resonate with your ideal clients on this page, because it's there to show them why you're right for them.
If people are heading to your about page, they're looking for a deeper vibe check, deeper insight into you—but that insight is so they can figure out if you're a good choice for them.
It should also have a goal, just like every other page. What do you want people to know by the end of it? Where do you want them to go afterwards? Are you embedding a book-a-consult call right in it? Or sending them somewhere else to continue down that user journey?
There's no one right way to write an about page. It's one of those pages where you can have fun and get kind of creative, as long as you're still keeping it strategic and aligned with that goal.
It's often where your story really comes out. Sometimes I write about pages that are very focused on expanding a founder's story and beliefs. Other times, they're light on that and more focused on telling a client's story in depth, really putting the reader at the center.
Either way, about pages should be a blend of being about you, about your brand, and about your reader.
Some people say it's not about you at all, it's all about your reader. Others say it should only be about you. I say that it's got to be about both.
Services Page: Get Them Ready to Take Action
Most service providers will have some version of a service page. We want those to be clear and actionable, showcasing your unique approach while making the benefits of working with you super clear.
Give more context here than you did on your homepage or about page. Obviously include more details on your services here. People land on your services page wanting to learn about your services. Don't make them hunt for it.
You're helping them decide if that service is right for them. They may confirm that 100% when they jump on a call with you, but on the service page, we really want them to get as ready as possible before that call happens.
The goal is either getting them to book directly from the page, or getting them super ready to chat with you—giving them as much info as they need before taking that next step.
The structure and number of service pages you have depends on your business, your user story, and your website goals.
Some businesses have one service page. If there are a few different variations of their services, they might give an overview of those variations on one page (assuming it makes strategic sense to highlight them).
Others benefit from having a dedicated page for each service. That works well if those services are quite distinct in the problem they solve, the solution they provide, or the audience they're for.
For example, I offer brand messaging and voice strategy alongside website copy. There's overlap, but it makes strategic sense for me to have dedicated service pages. That's also good for SEO because it gives you more keywords to target.
The main things to consider: How different is the solution you're providing with each service? How different is the audience? That can help you figure out if you need multiple service pages.
No matter what structure is right for you, we want to make sure it's super easy to navigate and easy for people to find the info they're looking for. They shouldn't have to spend a lot of time scrolling through multiple service pages getting confused about where they should focus.
We address this in the navigation menu and by putting the most important, prioritized info higher up on service pages—so even if people click around to multiple pages, they know relatively quickly which one to linger on.
Why you need voice, customer language, AND UX (all 3!)
Let me be really clear about what happens when you're missing one of these elements.
Writing a website in your voice—beautiful, on-brand, fun—without taking UX into consideration is like putting up an event poster with no details on time and location.
It's cute. It's fun. It might look pretty, especially if you have a nice design. But it doesn't support your goals and it's less likely to keep people focused. They lose focus because they don't know what the point is or what to do next.
It's also less convincing because the flow of information isn't intentional. Even if you've got lots of info on your site, if you haven't logically thought through how and where you're presenting it, it's not as convincing because it's just scattered. People don't know where to look.
You aren't guiding them through a story, a journey that supports your goal and the visitor's goal—because they're trying to get something done too.
When you lose UX, you often get a website that's all about you but ignores your clients. It ignores their experience. And user experience is literally what it sounds like—it's a very kind, empathetic way of creating a website that works for the user and for you. For both.
Without it, your site is overwhelming and less likely to get the action you want.
On the flip side, if you lose your brand voice, you have this perfectly structured, UX-optimized website that maybe even uses some customer language... but the copy is less authentic. It's more generic. It doesn't give your audience insight into your vibe and values. It's less likely to stand out and less likely to connect with the right people or give them a taste of what working with you is like.
You might still get inquiries. People know what to do. But there's less of a connection there, less memorability.
And honestly, why would you put all that intention into your website strategy without also bringing your vibe, your values, your voice into it as well?
And if you're missing your customers' actual language? You might have a beautifully voiced, strategically structured website—but if you're not speaking to your clients' real struggles and goals in the words they actually use, you're missing that crucial connection. You end up with copy that sounds like you talking at people instead of to them. You lose that "oh my god, this is exactly what I'm going through" moment that makes someone feel truly seen and understood.
When you use jargon they don't relate to, or miss the specific pain points they're actually experiencing, or highlight benefits they don't care about as much as you think they do—your website might be pretty and well-organized, but it won't resonate on that deeper level that turns visitors into "yes, I need to work with this person" clients.
You've gotta have all three.
The bottom line
Website strategy and brand voice together give you what you need to say, how you need to say it, and where and when you need to say it.
When you have all three elements—your customers' language, your voice, and strategic UX—it's the most effective way to deliver your message and differentiate yourself.
That's how you create copy that converts but also represents who you are. And that's the best way to have a site that brings in more of the ideal people you actually want to work with.
Want to hear me walk through the user journey process in more detail? Check out Episode 7 of my podcast where I break down in even more detail what makes triple threat website copy work and how to create an intentional user experience. Just search “Turn Your Mess Into Your Message” on your podcast app.
OR…
If you want help balancing your voice, your customers' language, and a strategic user experience, book a discovery call with me. Let's chat about your website goals and how we can make them happen.