Website Copy: How to Write Each Page

Short answer: write each page to answer one question for one reader, in the first 50 words, at a reading level a 12-year-old can follow. Nielsen Norman Group's research found users read about 20% of the words on a page, and Unbounce's 2024 benchmark found pages at a grade 5 to 7 reading level converted at 11.1% against 5.3% for professional-level text. Short sentences, concrete nouns, one action per page.

Sources are Nielsen Norman Group, Unbounce, Google Search Central and one published Singapore copywriting rate card, checked 18 October 2026.

How do readers use web copy?

Two findings set every rule below.

• Jakob Nielsen's How Users Read on the Web (1997) found 79% of test users scanned a new page and 16% read word by word. Concise text improved measured usability by 58%, scannable layout by 47%, objective language by 27%, and all three together by 124%.
• His How Little Do Users Read? (2008), from 45,237 page views, found users read at most 28% of the words on an average visit, and more likely 20%.

The consequences:

• The first sentence under each heading carries the point. Everything after it is support.
• Headings must make sense on their own, because headings are what a scanner reads.
• Promotional adjectives slow readers down, because they have to filter them out. State the fact and the number.

Google's helpful content guidance asks the same of copy for a different reason: it looks for original information, clear authorship and content written for people rather than rankings. Its AI optimisation guide (May 2026) says the same rules apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. How AI systems parse a page is covered in how AI search reads your website.

Homepage copy

The homepage answers three questions in the first screen: what you do, for whom, and what to do next.

• Headline, 6 to 12 words. The service and the customer. "Corporate secretarial services for Singapore private limited companies." Not a slogan.
• Subhead, one sentence. The outcome and a number. "Annual filings handled from S$600 a year."
• One button. WhatsApp or the main service page. Not three.
• Proof block. Review count and rating, years operating, licences, three named clients with permission.
• Services, 3 to 6 cards. Name, one sentence, starting price, link.
• Closing contact block. Address, hours, reply time, the same button.

Total 250 to 400 words. The homepage is a router; the service page does the convincing.

Service page copy

One page per service, one query per page. This is the page that ranks and converts.

1. Heading. The service plus the place. "Aircon chemical wash in Singapore."
2. Opening paragraph, 40 to 60 words. Who it is for, what is included, the price or starting price, how to book.
3. What is included. Bullets, 5 to 8 items, each a noun phrase.
4. Price. A table if there are tiers. A starting price with what it covers if not.
5. Process. Numbered, 3 to 5 steps, with the time each takes.
6. Proof. Reviews for this service, photos of this work, named projects.
7. Questions. 4 to 6, each answered in 1 to 3 sentences. These also feed AI answers.
8. Contact. Button, reply time, form with 4 or 5 fields.

Total 600 to 1,000 words. Write the opening paragraph last; it is a summary of the page.

About page copy

The about page is read by people deciding whether to trust you. It is the second most visited page on most service sites.

• Names, roles and photographs of the people who do the work.
• Founding year, registration number, licences with the issuing body.
• Where you work from and who you serve, in one paragraph.
• No mission statement. State what you do and for how long.

Total 200 to 400 words.

Contact and form copy

• Heading: "Contact" or "Get a quote". Not "Let's talk".
• Reply time stated in hours, beside the button.
• Form labels as nouns: Name, Phone, Service, Message. Placeholder text is not a label.
• Consent line under the form, one sentence, linked to the privacy policy.
• Confirmation message that states what happens next and when.
• Error messages that name the field and the fix: "Phone number needs 8 digits."

Total under 150 words, including the form.

Word counts and reading level

Unbounce's 2024 Conversion Benchmark Report found difficult words were the text feature most strongly linked to lower conversion, and that the link had strengthened 62% since 2020. The practical rules:

• Sentences of 25 words or fewer. One idea each.
• Common words over trade terms, unless the reader uses the trade term to search.
• Numbers as digits. "14 days", not "two weeks".
• Second person. "You" and "your", not "clients" and "their".

Two fields readers rarely see but Google uses. The title element, per Google's title link documentation, should be descriptive and concise, with no stated character limit; it is truncated to fit the device. The meta description, per the snippet documentation, should be unique per page and may be replaced by page text if Google finds a better match for the query.

What do copywriters charge in Singapore?

One published rate card, checked 18 October 2026. freelanceseo.sg publishes S$1,500 to S$5,500 for a homepage, S$700 to S$2,500 per service page and S$5,000 to S$25,000 for a full rewrite of 5 to 15 pages, with homepages taking 2 to 4 weeks. These are one firm's figures, not a market rate. For a 5-page site written from the template below by the business owner, the cost is time: about one working day per page.

Page-by-page template

Copy this into a document, one block per page, and fill the brackets.

• Homepage. [Service] for [customer] in [place]. [Outcome with a number]. [Button]. [Proof: reviews, years, licences]. [3 to 6 service cards with starting prices]. [Contact block].
• Service page. [Service] in [place]. [Who, what is included, price, how to book, 40 to 60 words]. [Included: 5 to 8 bullets]. [Price table]. [Process: 3 to 5 steps]. [Proof]. [4 to 6 questions]. [Contact].
• About. [People with names and roles]. [Founded, UEN, licences]. [Where and who you serve]. [Button].
• Contact. [Reply time]. [Button]. [Form: Name, Phone, Service, Message, consent]. [Address, hours, map link].

A finished draft, read aloud, should take under 3 minutes per page. If it takes longer, cut.

What cense does

cense delivers the first draft of a site 14 days after one call, with up to 20 rounds of edits, so page copy written to this template can be revised in place before launch. See website design Singapore.