Hide the logos. Could anyone tell your website from your competitors'?
A ten-second test for the top of your website.
Try this tonight. Open your website and your three closest competitors' sites in four tabs. Cover the logos with your thumb. Read each headline and the two lines under it.
Could you tell which one is yours?
Most small business websites fail this test. The four sites say the same things in the same order. A headline that promises to make something simple. Three icons with three reassuring words. A paragraph about a passionate, experienced team. A button that says Get in Touch.
Take the logo off and it could be anyone else's. Brand messaging, copywriting, funnels: they all sound and look the same.
How every site ends up the same
Most sites get made the same way. You find a developer or a template. They've built plenty of sites, so they know which sections a company site is supposed to have. They ask what you do and who you do it for. You answer, they write something that sounds professional, and the site goes live.
It describes you accurately and it lists the services. What it doesn't have is the reason a stranger would pick you over the next result. Nobody asked for that, and the developer wasn't there for the conversations where it comes out.
Why a new look or ChatGPT doesn't fix it
A redesign changes the paint. If the headline still says "We make it simple", the logo test still fails, because the logo was never the problem.
ChatGPT gives you tidier words, but it works from the same thin brief. It doesn't know your customers, your prices or your voice, so it writes what a business like yours usually says. Which is the problem you started with.
The difference is already in your head
You know what makes you different. You say it on the phone. You say it when you explain a quote. Your best customers say it when they recommend you. It has just never been written down where a website, a new starter or an AI tool can read it.
That's what a Brand Brain is for. It holds who buys from you and why, in their own words, what sets you apart from the businesses that look like you, how you sound and what you offer. It's written down once. Then your site gets built from it, not from what a developer thinks a company site should say.
Do the test properly
- Open your site and three competitors' sites in four tabs. Do it on your phone too.
- Cover the logos. Read each headline and the first two sentences.
- Ask which of them could only be that business. Write down why.
- Look for any line, on any of the four sites, that names a real problem a customer brings. Circle it.
- Now write the true reason your best customers pick you. Not the years in business or the accreditations, but the reason they give when they recommend you. If you're not sure, read your last five reviews and copy their words.
If that sentence is better than your current headline, you've found your next job.
What to hand over, what to keep, how to check it
Hand over the rewrite and the change. In a Digital Home, the Copy desk writes the new headline and opening from your Brand Brain, in your customers' words. The Website and back office desk puts it on the page when you ask. Nothing changes on your site until you've read it and said yes.
Keep the true reason. Only you know why people really pick you. The workers write it up, and you make sure it's true. No borrowed claims, and no numbers you can't back.
Check it with the same test. Once the change is live, open the four tabs again and cover the logos. If you can find yours in ten seconds, it passes. Run it again whenever a competitor rebuilds their site. You wouldn't keep your prices the same for three years. Why keep your website the same?
Why it's worth doing first
Anyone can copy your tools by Friday. Nobody can copy your story. The test shows you whether your story is on the page yet.
Rather talk it through?
Book a free Faff Check. It's a 20-minute call about the jobs that eat your week. If AI won't help, I'll say so.
Want to see how a site gets built from a Brand Brain? Look inside the Digital Home.
Frequently asked questions
What if all four sites fail?
That's common. It means you're not behind anyone. You've just found the first thing to fix.
Can I rewrite the headline myself?
Yes. Start from your customers' words, not a blank page, and then run the test again.
Do I need a new website?
Not to run the test. If your site fails it, I'd recommend rebuilding from your Brand Brain, so every page says what you actually do. Changing one headline helps, but it's only as good as the story underneath it.
