Page rewrites

What a page rewrite is

A page rewrite takes one existing page that is not doing its job and writes it again, starting from what the page is for and who reads it rather than from the current text. The subject stays. The facts that are still true stay. The structure, the headings, the opening and usually half the words are replaced.

It is not an edit. Copyediting improves the sentences you have; a rewrite decides which sentences should exist. It is not a refresh either. An outdated page refresh corrects dates, prices and names on a page whose shape is fine. A rewrite is for a page whose shape is the problem.

When you need one

You need a rewrite when you can point at the page. It gets visits and no inquiries. It was written by someone who has left, in a voice nobody at the company would use. It was written for the business as it was five years ago. Or it has grown by accretion, one paragraph added per year, until nobody can say what it is about.

If you cannot point at the page and only know that the site is not working, start with a content audit, which ranks every page and tells you which to rewrite first. If the page reads well and the facts are right but the button is wrong, call-to-action improvement is the smaller job. If the page was never written and you are starting from nothing, that is new copy, priced as a service page or whichever page type it is.

What gets looked at

Before any writing, I answer four questions about the page, in writing, and share the answers with you.

What is it for? The one thing a reader should know or do when they leave. Most failing pages have three purposes and serve none. The rewrite picks one.

Who arrives, and from where? A page reached from a search behaves differently from one reached from the menu. Your analytics show which, and the opening is written for the larger group.

What is true? Every claim on the current page is checked against you. Prices, timings, staff, guarantees, the list of what is included. Anything that cannot be confirmed is cut.

What is missing? The questions a buyer asks about this subject that the page does not answer. These come from your sales calls, your inbox and, where the page is a service or product, the questions that arrive after someone buys.

Only then is the page written, and the first draft comes with the old page beside it so the changes are visible.

What you get

The rewritten page. A document with the new headings, body text, button labels, title tag and meta description. For a typical service or about page, 400 to 900 words, and shorter than the original in most cases.

The diagnosis. One page answering the four questions above, so you and anyone who edits the page later know why it is shaped the way it is.

The change note. A short list of what was cut and why, what was kept, and what was added. If a paragraph you were fond of has gone, the reason is here.

A walkthrough call. Thirty minutes, on video, to go through the draft. One round of changes follows it.

A worked example

An illustration. A family-run flooring shop has an "About Us" page of 1,400 words. It opens with the founding in 1987, moves through three premises and two generations, lists every brand stocked, and ends with a paragraph on community sponsorship. The page gets a steady trickle of visits, mostly from people who have just read a product page, and almost all of them leave the site from it.

The diagnosis says the page is for a buyer deciding whether to trust the shop with a large order, and that the buyer wants three things: who they will deal with, whether the shop will still exist when the floor needs repair, and what happens if something goes wrong. The rewrite opens with the two people who run the shop today and what each does. The 1987 founding becomes one sentence, used as evidence of staying power. The brand list moves to the product pages where it belongs. A new section explains the installation guarantee and the name of the person who handles complaints. The page ends with the showroom hours and a link to book a measurement. It is 450 words. The sponsorship paragraph survives as one line, because buyers in a small town notice it.

How it runs

1. A half-hour call. Which page, what it should be doing, and what makes you think it is not. No charge.
2. A fixed price in writing. The page, the price and the dates, agreed before anything starts.
3. The diagnosis. Two to three working days. You confirm the purpose and correct any fact before writing begins.
4. The draft. Delivered with the old page alongside it and the change note.
5. The walkthrough and final page. Thirty minutes on video, one round of changes, then the final document.

One to two weeks per page is typical. Several pages are done in sequence, with the diagnosis for all of them first.

What it costs

A page rewrite is quoted as a fixed price in CAD after the half-hour call. The price depends on the length and subject of the current page, how much of what it says has to be verified with you, and whether the rewrite needs research into what buyers ask or can be written from what you already know. Several pages rewritten together are priced per page with the diagnosis shared. The number is agreed in writing before the work starts, and the pricing page explains how quotes are built.

What happens next

One rewrite usually shows what is wrong with the pages around it. A content audit puts the rest of the site in order of need, and voice alignment brings the untouched pages closer to the rewritten one so the site does not read as two authors. If the same page has to be rewritten every year because the facts keep changing, a scheduled outdated page refresh is cheaper than a rewrite.