So far in this copywriting series, I’ve tackled the home page and the about page. Services page, it’s time for your close-up!
Even though this video talks about services, many of the tips we’ll review today can also work well for product pages—though the two aren’t always interchangeable.
Ready to take your services page copy from zero to hero, bland to spicy, snooze-worthy to exciting?
1. Pull Out Your Client Avatars
You can’t start a meaningful website copywriting project without clearly understanding your ideal client.
Your services page is no exception.
So dust off your client avatars and re-acquaint yourself with your ideal customers. Your client avatars are full of juicy information about your audience, but what facets are most important for this page?
- Life stage
- Current and future pain points
- Desired outcome
- Core values and priorities
- Emotions (fears, hopes, anxieties, dreams, etc.)
These three elements set the stage for a shimmering services page sure to catch their eye. Why? Because you can use these features to write specific, benefit-driven copy that makes you stand out.
2. Scope Out The Competition
Knowledge is power, so understanding what your competition is doing can help you make more purposeful and intentional decisions regarding your copy.
Evaluate about 5-10 other services pages from businesses in your niche and ask yourself:
- What is your competition doing really well?
- Where did they fall short?
- What core pain points did they miss?
- How is your offering different, or how can you frame it differently?
Putting in this work upfront allows you to study what’s working and where you have a competitive advantage.
3. Don’t Hide From Pain Points On The Services Page.
Rainbows and sunshine—that’s what your audience wants, right?
Not quite.
Readers want understanding, camaraderie, and authenticity. You don’t achieve those things by sugarcoating your copy. Doing so can make your services and writing feel saccharine and vapid: not the vibe.
Instead, try to creatively address your client’s pain points.
Think through:
- Where your audience is at in life
- The type of experience they may have had within your industry
- What they already know about you/product/industry
- Knowledge gaps about you/product/industry
- What’s most important to them
- Where they want to go
You can write about those various pain points directly or indirectly. Let’s look at an example.
Say the primary goal of your service is to help your clients reach financial freedom.
You could say, “find financial freedom,” but there could be more specific ways to address your client’s needs. Consider the following:
- Direct: How long do you have to work this hard?
- Indirect: A financial plan that makes your life, not your money, #1.
- Happy Medium: Turn work from must-have to optional.
These phrases allude to the same thing = helping clients achieve financial freedom. But instead of parroting the same tune, they communicate the heart of why financial freedom is so important to real people.
4. Turn Generic Into Specific (Without Jargon)
Which fictional headline paints a better picture?
- We create comprehensive financial plans.
- Finally, a financial plan that feels like “you.”
The second one is much more specific and tailored to the person reading it, not the firm selling it. It also addresses the pain point of generic, boilerplate financial plans.
If you take anything away from this video, let it be this:
Be specific, not generic.
A generic trap that many people fall into is using industry jargon.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: jargon isn’t the answer!
Jargon is an easy crutch to fall back on when you’re unsure what to do. But using jargon will push your audience away instead of pulling them closer.
Why?
You’ve read the same “results-driven, “proven process,” and “custom plan” pitch over and over again, but that doesn’t truly capture the benefit of your service; instead, it’s an underpinning feature.
There’s a big difference between features and benefits; benefits tell a better story, relate more directly to your audience, and are more persuasive.
Specificity also opens the door to express your brand’s personality.
5. Create A Separate Page Per Service
SEO? Is that you out there?
Creating distinct pages for each service you offer is an SEO goldmine because it optimizes,
- On-page copy (focused keywords, rankability, storytelling, etc.)
- Back-end copy (meta descriptions, title tags, unique URLs, etc.)
In addition to the SEO clout, separate services pages give you space to lay out the specific benefits of each offer.
When does this approach work best?
- You have multiple niches. Say you serve Gen X and small business owners. While there may be some overlap, those groups have different needs, and it would be good to differentiate how you serve them.
- SEO is a top priority. There’s no better way to naturally infuse keywords into copy than with separate pages.
- You have several distinct services. If you offer different services or packages, deep diving into each lets you more clearly articulate their value and why it helps your clients. On the flip side, a single services page is probably best to avoid clutter if you have one core offering.
- You have a lot to say. Services pages don’t need to be a mile long, but if you offer multiple services, you may veer into “over-writing” territory. Breaking it up will make it more palatable for the reader.
If you decide that multiple services pages is the best route, it’s still wise to have a central services hub that visitors can click on in your site menu. This page can be the navigation to your other services and provide the highlights of each offer. You can also have a drop-down menu so people can go directly to the service they want.
A word of caution: keep separate pages manageable. Most small businesses would do well with 2-4 max! Any more, and your navigation gets cluttered.
6. Have Your Services Page Include Case Studies and Testimonials
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest impact. And one way to make a splash on your services page is to include case studies and testimonials from people who have benefited from your services.
With testimonials, you rack up valuable social proof that show the world you can walk the walk.
In fact, 88% of people trust online testimonials and reviews as much as personal recommendations from family and friends!
7. Give A Service-Based Content Offer
Remember, the goal of your copy is to reach a group of people but sound like you’re only talking to one.
A great way to drive that point home is by offering a piece of free content for that specific audience.
Say you have a service that helps families plan for college. Perhaps you’ll feature an ebook, blog post, webinar, or video that directly speaks to that audience.
8. Write A Click-Worthy CTA
Alrighty, let’s get to it!
That’s what you want your audience to do after reading your page. So what is it that you want them to do? Schedule a call, sign up for a course, subscribe to your newsletter, etc.?
Feature your CTA prominently, and don’t be afraid to get creative. Mix up the language, play on your service’s benefits, use accent colors, etc. But don’t overcomplicate things. When in doubt: the simpler, the better.
9. The Pricing Dilemma
The age-old question: should you publically list your prices?
It depends on your business and industry, but here are some tips:
- List a pricing approach without the numbers. Are you AUM, flat-fee, retainer, combo? Give readers a clue of what they can expect, and then have them reach out to you for specifics.
- Give a “starting at” price. If your prices depend on complexity or other nuanced factors, give a starting point for pricing with a disclaimer.
- Write a “typical client” persona. This is an excellent way to describe the type of person you work with and potentially include numbers so people who don’t fit that mold can self-select out.
- List your prices! The last option is to simply put your prices on your website. Keep in mind that if your prices change, you’ll want to update that information on the site to keep things consistent.
Cheers To A Great Services Page!
Service page copy can be challenging, but by keeping these tips in mind, you’ll create compelling, relatable copy that converts.
What’s your favorite thing about your services page?
Let me know!
Thanks so much for watching.
Until next time.
