Are Your Service Descriptions Speaking Your Customer’s Language?
Most hardworking business owners put a lot of pride into their craft, but describing what you do online is a whole different job.
Customers do not talk about painting, landscaping, or roofing with the same words you use every day.
If your website is full of industry jargon or long checklists, regular folks looking for help quickly get lost or confused.
People searching online just want to know three things: what you do, if you are trustworthy, and how to get a quote as quickly as possible.
Instead of talking like a professional to another professional, try describing your services the way customers might explain their needs.
If you are a handyman, you might say you do drywall repair, door installation, and electrical troubleshooting, but your customers might type in hole in wall fix, door not closing right, or light switch not working.
Making this shift helps you show up in online searches more often and makes customers feel like you understand their problems.
What Happens When Customers Do Not Understand Your Services?
If a customer cannot tell what you fix, build, paint, or repair in the first few seconds, they will just click away to someone else.
People scanning your website want clear answers, not a list of trade skills or a long story about how long you have been in business.
Confused customers rarely pick up the phone or fill out a form.
They just keep searching until they find someone who describes their problem in plain language and offers a simple way to get help.
This means the time and money you put into a fancy website or Google ads can go to waste if your service descriptions are unclear or too complicated.
How To Write Service Descriptions That Bring In More Work
Here are a few plain steps you can take to fix confusing descriptions and get more leads fast:
- Keep things simple and short – use one or two sentences per service.
- List services the way your customers would ask for them, not how you learned to write them.
- Show clear examples with before and after photos whenever possible.
- Add up-to-date photos of finished projects with brief captions describing the work.
- Make it easy to see your phone number or a clear call to get a quote on every page.
- Include real reviews from recent customers (not just first names with the word happy customer).
Think about what homeowners in your town are searching for late at night, not what you would type as a tradesperson.
If you run a landscaping business, instead of listing hardscape installation, describe it as build stone patios and install backyard firepits.
For painters, replace interior and exterior prep and finish work with paint living rooms, bedrooms, or exterior siding and decks.
Making your descriptions easy for any busy homeowner to understand gets you in front of more serious leads.
Why Less Is Often More On Service Business Websites
A lot of service business owners worry their website will look too simple if they do not list every skill or use all the technical terms.
Truth is, simple descriptions are usually the reason someone picks up the phone.
A single good photo of a clean, finished roof replacement with the words replaced leaking roof can say more than a full paragraph about synthetic underlayment or lifetime warranty shingles.
Every extra sentence you add could be making it harder to get new work.
Cutting out extra fluff and focusing on the jobs customers actually want helps your website bring in more calls, not just more traffic.
At Good Stuart, we have seen time after time that clear, simple pages outperform cluttered, fancy websites filled with industry speak.
Making It Easier For Customers To Reach You
Many service professionals accidentally hide their phone number, email, or contact form behind too many pages or confusing menus.
If a customer has to hunt for how to call you or click through three pages just to request a quote, they often give up.
Put your contact number and quote form right on the home page and on every service listing you have.
You want people to be able to pick up the phone or fill in their info the second they feel ready, not after five minutes of clicking around.
This is one of the reasons we built our onboarding process to be simple for business owners and fast for customers trying to reach you, and you can read about the process at this page if you want to see exactly how it works.
Real Words That Win More Jobs: Examples From Local Service Businesses
It helps to look at how real service companies use clear language to get steady calls from the right customers.
Pete from Pete’s Quality Painting in Charlotte changed Paint and drywall restoration to fix wall damage and repaint rooms.
He found that more homeowners emailed about hole repair and kids’ rooms because they recognized their needs in his descriptions.
Same for Sarah at Lakeview Lawn Care, who switched landscape management to mowing lawns, pull weeds, trim hedges on her website.
Now she hears from people who were searching those exact phrases.
The difference is simple: everyday words connect with everyday customers.
Sites with lists like full interior/exterior reconditioning or comprehensive site drainage do not show up in searches or impress homeowners who just want their basement dry or their living room cleaner.
Think about the neighbor’s kid mowing lawns or a handyman fixing stuck doors—those are the jobs that get found online and lead to more work.
The Cost of Complicated Descriptions: Paying For Traffic, Not Results
If you pay for Google ads or lead services like Angi or HomeAdvisor, confusing wording can quickly waste your money.
Even if your ad is seen by thousands, you will not get calls if your landing page lists more skills than solutions.
People scroll, skim, and scan—they are not reading a resume, they are looking for a fix.
This means a simple phone-friendly website with clear services is worth more than any fancy site that confuses visitors.
Good Stuart focuses on actual leads, not page views or fancy graphics, because getting booked jobs grows your business the fastest.
If you think about what you pay for different lead services, many of them charge for each click or view no matter if you land the work.
With free websites and pay-per-lead models, all your investment goes toward jobs you actually get, not wasted ad spend.
Trust Wins: Showing Real Work and Honest Reviews
When a potential customer lands on your website, trust is built with real proof, not just words.
Post photos from recent jobs, especially before and after shots, with captions that describe each fix.
Instead of Review from Mr. A., post actual client feedback with permission, such as Replaced my fence fast and cleaned up everything—highly recommend.
People want to see that you take pride in your work and that real folks in their town trust you.
If you have a Google Business Profile, link reviews and show project galleries to help customers feel confident reaching out.
Ask loyal customers if you can post their handwritten notes or texts about the job, since these feel more real than generic testimonials.
Making Google Your Friend: How Search Really Works For Service Businesses
Most people looking for a painter, landscaper, or handyman start on Google and type in simple problems to search.
Sites that use those real phrases, like deck needs repair or water is leaking from roof, get seen more often than businesses with technical words everywhere.
Google wants to connect searchers with the most helpful results, so using plain language actually helps you rank better.
You do not need hundreds of pages—just a single, clear landing page that answers all the basic questions.
Fill out your Google Business Profile all the way, add service areas, and upload lots of job photos so you show up in Maps and local searches.
This approach brings in steady leads from people who are ready to hire, and it costs zero extra dollars compared to ads or complicated websites.
At Good Stuart, every new client starts with a single-page website built to match what Google wants and what real people search.
You can preview how we set this up for you without risk by checking out our onboarding info and seeing the difference for yourself at our quick guide.
Changing Your Website: A Speedy Makeover Checklist
- Look at your current web page on your own phone—can you tell what you offer in three seconds?
- Delete any words you would not say face-to-face with a customer at their door.
- Add three or four photos of your best work with very short labels.
- Move your phone number or request a quote button up top and keep it there, no matter what page someone visits.
- Re-write your service list using terms neighbors or friends would use.
- Link to your Google reviews or copy the highest-rated feedback right onto your page.
- Share before and afters instead of long lists of certifications.
These quick changes help you start getting more calls right away, often before your next ad run is even finished.
Every job won from a simpler, clearer description is direct proof that this approach pays off more than any advertising trick.
Focusing Only On What Matters: Keeps It Simple, Gets More Business
Put yourself in your own customers’ shoes for a moment.
If you were searching online for a plumber or house painter, would you spend time reading technical details or would you call the person who promises a quick fix in plain English?
The less energy your customer spends trying to understand your website, the more likely they are to call you first.
Straightforward service listings, lots of real photos, and an easy way to reach you leaves a lasting impression and fills up your schedule faster.
Next Steps For Getting More Calls Without Wasting Your Time
If you want real growth in your service business, focus on what delivers results.
Instead of pouring hours or money into a website that looks flashy but confuses people, get your main services, photos, and contact details straight to the point.
Test your new descriptions by asking friends or family to read them—see if they understand what you fix, install, or improve in ten seconds.
If they do not, tweak the wording until even a neighbor with no trade experience could spot exactly what you do.
When in doubt, keep cutting out extra words until what is left matches what a customer might say on a call.
If your phone rings more and you get better leads, you know your language is finally working for your business.
At Good Stuart, our onboarding process makes it easy to set up all of this for free and only pay if you get leads that turn into real jobs, so you never waste money on things that do not put work on your schedule.
If you want to see how easy we keep it, you can see exactly what setup looks like at our onboarding page.
Simple Service Descriptions Are Worth More Than Fancy Websites
Many small companies fall into the trap of trying to compete with well-known brands or larger franchises online.
Big box companies often have huge sites with too many sections, but their size alone does not guarantee more work in the local neighborhoods you serve.
Local businesses that write straight to the customer and show real, local results can win the work more often, especially if they make it easy for people to reach out.
Instead of feeling like you need loads of pages or an expensive agency package, remember—clarity builds trust, trust leads to calls, and calls get you booked jobs.
Your time and money should go into systems that bring you real leads, not into maintaining a website just to look busy or professional.
Build Trust By Answering The Questions Customers Care About
The fastest way to win more projects is by showing customers you solve their exact problem and can be counted on to do a quality job.
Add a line about your experience only if it builds confidence, like Over 100 fences repaired in the last 12 months or Painted more than 300 local homes—never just general statements.
Every word, photo, or review on your website should help a homeowner decide in seconds that you are the right choice.
If information does not answer what you do, where you work, or how to get a quote today, leave it off the page.
The Easiest Way To Stand Out Is With Honest, Clear Communication
Most people are not looking for the cheapest or most technical service—they want a local pro who makes things simple, picks up the phone, and delivers on promises.
Show actual work you have done nearby, use the words your past customers have used, and never hide how to reach you.
If you are not sure how your page reads, ask someone outside your field to check for you and see if they would trust you enough to call right now.
This is where Good Stuart stands apart—we help you cut out all the fluff, keep your pages simple, and only pay for real customers reaching out, not just visitors or clicks.
How To Get Started—Making Every Word Count
Your next job could be just a few sentences away—a clear line about what you fix, a real photo, and a visible contact number can shift your website from silent to busy almost overnight.
If you are ready to see real changes without headaches, you can learn more about setting this up the easy way at our onboarding guide, which explains how to get started without an upfront cost.
Your business deserves results, not distractions, and every hour saved on confusing websites is another you can spend serving customers and growing your reputation in your community.
Clear Service Descriptions Bring You More Of The Work You Want
Every service pro hopes to hear the phone ring and find more good jobs waiting.
Simplify your message, cut out industry terms, use real photos, post honest reviews, and put your contact info front and center to make that happen.
Put these steps into action and watch as new, better leads begin to fill your calendar—turning visitors into jobs without spending more time or money than you need.