If you’ve been running your small business for any length of time, you understand the urge to rewrite the words that are on your website. They just feel old and stale, maybe, or aren’t accurate anymore.

Whether you are hiring someone to write copy for your website or are planning to DIY every single word on every single page, here are three questions you should ask yourself as you start.

What do I do?

“So, what do you do for work?”

This is maybe one of the most frequent questions that is asked, right? Why is it then that we stumble over ourselves trying to come up with an answer?

Even though the “what do you do” question is so basic, it can also be the hardest.  Often, when we are the ones that are inside the experience or offer, we have a hard time articulating what it is we make or sell, and what the process of making it is. This is also one of the main missing pieces on websites.

How do you remedy this stumbling for words?

Sit down and write out the main thing you are providing for people. Is it photographs? Or coffee table books? Or a unique experience? Once you have done this, make a bullet point list the tasks that it involves so that you can give yourself (and then your clients) a more comprehensive picture of what it is you do for them.

Who do I offer it to?

This second question goes back to the ideal client/client avatar concept. I can’t emphasize it enough. Know exactly who you are writing your website for. It isn’t just for you to have a place that looks pretty on the internet. Your website needs to call out the clients you are looking for so that they know what you offer is designed for them.

Am I using insider language?

One of the biggest things I ran into as I started my copywriting business is using terms that the people I was writing for didn’t necessarily understand.

I’ve written before about how copywriting is often confused for a copyright instead of writing copy. Bless the English language. Sometimes it’s confusing. But it leads me to one of the most important questions you should ask yourself as you rewrite your website.

Are you using language that only someone in your field will understand? Remember you are writing to your clients or customers, not someone who has been through all the same training and ran into all the same content you have. Define your terms in basic language that is easy and quick to understand! Most of your website visitors will not have time to do a deep dive into defining terms.

Here’s a bonus tip for you: just start. Words can always be edited. Try your best to articulate who your business is and what it provides, without using language that only a few people will understand. But it is always better to have some words on your website rather than no words. Take the leap and put something out there with the assurance that you can always continue to improve.