Some of the best language for your website might already be sitting in your inbox.
Think about the emails clients send after a project wraps up, the thank-you notes, and the messages where they explain what they appreciated about working with you. Somewhere in those conversations, there's probably a detail you've overlooked or a sentence that captures something important about your business.
Your clients have been describing their experience of working with you for years, and their words can be surprisingly useful when you're trying to figure out how to describe your own business.
In this episode of Name Brand, we're talking about why so many businesses end up using the same language, what client feedback can reveal about your reputation, and how to use those insights when writing your website copy.
Why does everyone's website sound the same?
Spend enough time working in an industry and you start absorbing its vocabulary. You read competitors' websites, follow people doing similar work, and encounter the same phrases in social media captions, portfolios, publications, and marketing advice.
Eventually, certain words begin to feel like the natural way to describe what you do. Words such as “elevated,” “intentional,” “curated,” and “seamless” become so familiar that you might reach for them without thinking much about what they communicate.
I saw this when I studied 35 luxury wedding planner websites. Sixteen used the word “luxury,” twelve used “seamless,” and eleven used some version of “dream.”
I've spent enough time in the wedding industry to know that clients rarely describe their experiences this way. When someone talks about a wedding planner they loved, they're much more likely to remember what happened when the weather changed, how a difficult family situation was handled, or the moment they realized someone had already taken care of a problem.
Those stories offer a much clearer picture of the experience people are actually paying for, and they made me curious about how much useful language business owners might already have sitting in their inboxes.
What your clients remember about working with you
When you've been running a business for years, some of your greatest strengths can become so routine that you barely notice them anymore. You know how you work, what you care about, and what you do well, so it's easy to assume everyone else sees those things the same way.
Client feedback gives you another perspective because it shows you which parts of the experience people noticed enough to remember and mention later.
For example, you might describe yourself as detail-oriented because you've always been good at managing complicated projects. But when you start reading through past client emails, you notice that several people mention something more specific: how quickly you make decisions, how confidently you guide them through their options, or how relieved they feel when you take the lead.
When similar observations appear across messages from clients who don't know each other, there's a pattern worth investigating. It can help you understand what people associate with your business and which parts of your client experience deserve more attention in your marketing.
Sometimes that insight leads to better website copy. Other times, it changes which testimonials you feature, how you describe your process, or what you choose to emphasize in your positioning.
What we're talking about in this episode
In this episode, I walk through how to use the feedback you've already received to understand your brand more clearly. We'll look at:
Why industry language becomes repetitive and how familiar phrases make their way into so many websites.
Where to find useful client feedback, including old emails, testimonials, referral introductions, and informal messages.
How to read beyond general compliments and identify the specific experiences people remember.
What repeated observations can tell you about the reputation your business is building.
How to apply those insights to your website copy, brand messaging, testimonials, and marketing.
I also share a simple exercise you can do in about an hour using messages you already have. The goal is to collect enough real feedback to start noticing the themes that come up repeatedly.
Listen to Episode 5 of Name Brand
If you've been struggling to write about your business or feel like your website sounds a little too much like everyone else's, this episode will give you somewhere useful to start.
Set aside some time to read through your old client messages and pay attention to the stories people tell. Look for the moments they remember, the details they mention, and the ideas that keep appearing across different conversations.
You may find a sentence that belongs on your website, or you may come away with a clearer understanding of what makes your business memorable to the people who've experienced it. Either way, you'll have something meaningful to work with the next time you sit down to write.
