Write like you’re talking to one friend
If you wouldn’t say it out loud to a friend, don’t put it on your landing page.
Somewhere between your brain and your homepage, “we help freelancers get paid” turns into “we empower independent professionals to optimize cash flow.” Nobody talks like that. Nobody wants to read it either.
Paul Graham’s essay “Write Like You Talk” opens with what he calls a simple trick for getting more people to read your writing: write in spoken language. Manage only that, he says, and “you’ll be ahead of 95% of writers.” His test is a single question: is this the way I’d say it if I were talking to a friend? If not, write what you would say instead.
Make it one friend, not a crowd. Picture a real customer, the one who emailed you last week, and write to them. “You” beats “users.” Short sentences beat stacked clauses. Then read the page out loud. Your mouth will catch what your eyes skip.
The example
- Instead of
- “We empower independent professionals to optimize their cash flow lifecycle.”
- Try
- “Send an invoice in 30 seconds. We’ll nudge your client until you get paid.”
Before you flush
Read your homepage out loud to an imaginary customer and rewrite every sentence you’d never actually say to their face.