Your website doesn't need more words

It's now very easy to make a website longer. Ask an AI tool for a services page and you'll get eight hundred words in seconds, with headings, bullet points and a closing paragraph about your commitment to excellence.

We see more and more small business sites built this way. They look complete. They also tend to lose the people they were written for.

How people actually read a service page

Most visitors arrive with one question. Do you do this? How much is it? Can I book this week? Are you near me?

They scan for the answer. If they find it in a few seconds, they keep going. If they find a wall of general text about quality and customer focus, they go back and try the next result.

On a phone this is even sharper. Three paragraphs of introduction on a desktop is a long scroll on a small screen before anything useful appears.

What padded copy looks like

It's usually easy to spot. Sentences that could belong to any business in any town. Several ways of saying you care about your clients. Lists of benefits with no prices, times or names attached. A closing section that repeats the opening.

None of it is wrong exactly. It just doesn't answer anything, and it pushes the useful parts further down the page.

What a page that works has instead

A clear line at the top saying what you do and who it's for.

The facts people look for: prices or a starting price, where you are, when you're open, how long things take.

Something specific about you. Who'll be seeing them, what happens at the first appointment, a real example of work.

One obvious next step, such as a booking button or a short enquiry form, that's visible without hunting for it.

Often that fits in a few short paragraphs. That's fine. Short pages are also easier for screen readers, easier for people reading in a second language, and easier to keep up to date.

Where AI does help

We use AI in our own work and we're not against it here. It's good at turning your rough notes into a clear first draft, at shortening something that's run long, and at checking whether a page answers the questions your customers ask.

The useful instruction is "make this shorter and plainer" rather than "write a page about our services". The facts have to come from you, because only you know them.

A quick test for your own site

Open your main service page on your phone. Without scrolling, can you see what you do, roughly what it costs and how to get in touch? If not, the fix is usually to take words away.

If you'd like a second pair of eyes on it, send us the page and we'll suggest what to cut.