My First Ever Blog - Why Is It So Hard to Write Your Own Website?

If you asked me six months ago which website would be the easiest I'd ever build, I'd have confidently said my own.

After all, I build websites for other businesses all the time.

I know how to structure a page, I know how to make a website easy to navigate, and I spend a lot of time helping people explain what they do.

So surely writing about my own business would be easy...

Well, I'm now on what I think is the fourth redesign of my own website, and I've realised I couldn't have been more wrong.

It wasn't the design.

The colours were easy. The layout was easy. Even choosing the photos wasn't too difficult (although putting my face out there is extremely uncomfortable!).

The thing that kept stopping me was much simpler than that.

I found myself reading the same paragraph over and over again, asking myself one question.

"Does this actually say what I'm trying to say?"

Not...

"Does it sound professional?"

Or...

"Does it sound clever?"

Just...

"If someone who has never met me landed on this page, would they understand what I'm trying to tell them?"

That turned out to be much harder than I expected.

You're too close to your own business.

When I build a website for someone else, I come in with fresh eyes. I ask questions and listen to what they're passionate about. I try to spot the things they don't even realise make them different.

Then I help organise all of that into something that makes sense for the people visiting their website.

When it's your own business, there are no fresh eyes.

You already know everything.

You know why you started.

You know how much you care.

You know all the little details that have led you to where you are today. The challenge is working out which parts someone else actually needs to hear.

Your website isn't your life story.

This was probably the biggest lesson for me.

I wanted to explain all my services, in complete detail! Every thought, Every reason behind every decision.

But people visiting your website aren't trying to learn everything about you.

They're usually trying to answer a few simple questions.

• What do you do?

• Can you help me?

• Do I feel like I could work with you?

• How do I get in touch?

Once I started focusing on those questions instead of trying to say everything, the whole website began to feel calmer.

Sometimes you just need another perspective.

Building my own website has given me a whole new appreciation for how my clients feel.

Writing about yourself is surprisingly difficult.

Sometimes all it takes is someone asking a few simple questions to help you find the words you've been searching for all along.

Fourth time lucky?

I think this redesign is finally the one that feels like me, Not because it's perfect - I'm sure I'll tweak things again in the future! But because when I read it now, it sounds like the conversations I have with people over a cup of tea.

And I think that's exactly how it should feel :)

If you're staring at a blank page wondering how on earth you're supposed to explain your business, you're definitely not the only one. It might just mean you're a little too close to it.

Put the kettle on, step away for half an hour, and come back with fresh eyes. You might be surprised how much easier it feels.