Don’t ignore the most important pages on your firm’s website. Here’s how to make sure your service pages make the right impression.
When it comes to working on your firm’s website, it’s easy to put more effort into your home page and case studies. But in an effort to put your best foot forward on those higher profile pages, you may be neglecting your service pages — and that’s a problem when it comes to attracting your ideal clients.
Service pages are a critical piece of your website that allow those looking for solutions to dive in further and evaluate whether or not your firm can solve their pressing issues. They’re core to your firm’s story, charged with educating potential clients about your POV, how you deliver your services, and the distinct way you problem solve. It’s also the best place to specifically outline the impact of your work.
The structure for a service page is simple:
- Introduce the problem the service is designed to solve
- Explain how you solve it in your own unique way
- Share the value that service provides
- Demonstrate proof of your firm’s ability to deliver that value
Like making your grandmother’s apple pie, it sounds easy. But once you start the process, you realize it’s more complex to get right than you expected. Here’s how to avoid the most common mistakes of crafting effective service pages and hit the sweet spot.
WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU START WRITING
The most common mistake we see firms make is putting too much stock into the details of your delivery process, believing it’s the details that lead to your value and what sets your firm apart. But believing that can lead you down the wrong path — one that doesn’t speak to your ideal client’s pain points, emphasizing you understand their issues.
Anytime we begin writing service pages, we always spend time interviewing the various service experts within a firm. An initial question set example looks something like this:
- Who is the ideal client for the service?In other words, what kind of company or person is the service designed for? Go beyond the easy answer, such as defining a market (e.g., healthcare companies). Instead, look to be as narrow as you can. Such as the CEO of a non-profit healthcare system with operating revenue in excess of $500 that has 3 niche challenges that we’re not only aware of but bring expertise on.
- What is unique or different about your service vs. the competitors’ offering? These differences could be process related, team expertise related, time to completion related, etc. It’s easy for someone to provide a generic answer such as “We’re more experienced,” so you will have to ask follow-up questions. How are we more experienced? On what types of client issues? Can we tangibly show how we’re more experienced?
- What is the cost of NOT using the service? This is a little more of the fear factor. What can go wrong for a client who doesn’t implement it? What do they risk if they forgo your firm?
- What is the real value of the service to the client? This one is always the hardest for anyone to think about because you really need to get them below the surface. These values can be both tangible such as 10% cost saving or intangible such as it leads to more consistent performance which could be in the form of more reliable on-time delivery for a manufacturing facility.
- How is the service delivered/accessed? This is a simple process question. Do we have a methodology for delivering the service dependably to the client time in and time out? Can we create a little FOMO by hinting at the value of our proprietary approach without boring visitors to sleep with a process explanation?
- What available data validates the approach of the service?Your clients need to be able to picture themselves in the story. By sharing qualitative and quantitative data on your approach, they can do just that. Hard numbers, testimonials, and micro results are all fair game, if they directly tie back to the service.
FOLLOW THIS SERVICE PAGE FRAMEWORK
Beyond having the basics of your firm’s story, we recommend using this outline to build out your page. Because you may have mere seconds to capture a potential client’s attention and keep them reading, each word and placement counts. To make the most of the recommended 300 to 500 words on the page, follow this approach.
1. Hook
This is your headline or lead-in that serves to attract your reader while speaking to your firm’s POV on the service at hand. It’s akin to your positioning statement that immediately lets clients know they’re in the right place.
2. Problem Statement
The problem statement spells out why the service exists in the first place. It’s key to articulate this first because if you don’t get your problem statement right, it’s harder to sell your solution. Here’s an example of an effective problem statement for an argument we helped a client shape: The pandemic has made risk part of manufacturers’ supply chain decisions again. How should manufacturers respond? More specifically, how should COOs and Chief Supply Chain Officers balance risk and efficiency in their supply chains moving forward?
3. High-level Solution Summary
Clients don’t buy processes, they buy results. That said, you need to paint a picture of how you get there. Like Goldilocks, you want to hit on the right amount of detail to describe how you approach solving the problem — not too little, and not too much.
4. Benefits of the Solution
In evaluating your firm against other contenders, your clients need to know the value your service provides. What are the benefits of hiring your firm to help them solve this problem, especially over others who may have a similar offering? What about your POV indicates they will be better off having engaged you to guide them through whatever thorny issue they are up against?
5. Proof
We live in a review-before-buying culture. Just as you parse through each five and one star review of a product or service online for validation, so will your potential clients. Data substantiates the value of your service, and social proof gives credence to your method. If you have relevant case studies that speak to the value of the specific service, include them after laying out the benefits of partnering with your firm. Likewise, testimonials that tout the merits of the service at-hand should be featured as well.
6. Call to Action
Lastly, leave a clear, concise call to action and contact form at the bottom of the page, encouraging clients to connect. Make it easy for them to send their contact information and any additional information that would be helpful for you to know to initiate a conversation.
SERVICE PAGE DESIGN AND CONTENT TIPS
You’ve asked the right questions and followed the framework. Implement these top tips, and impactful service pages are within reach. First tip? Break up the content into digestible chunks.
Use a variety of type treatments and visual elements to catch the reader’s eye, including:
- Bullet points for key benefits
- Headshots or logos for client testimonials
- Infographics to illustrate processes
This makes the page more visually engaging and makes it easier to quickly grasp key information.
You’re not limited to text. Think about whether your audience would respond to video (hint: everyone responds to video these days). A polished, professionally produced video that complements the narrative of each service could convey the information in a stickier way.
We generally discourage linking to your thought leadership content unless it’s a highly valuable asset; the goal is to keep your potential client moving forward in their buying journey. Usually, thought leadership is a step back at this point.
The most important element of any service page is including the value you provide, the problems you solve, and why a client should consider hiring your firm. Visually breaking out those elements makes that process easy and compelling.
FOR YOUR INSPIRATION: SUCCESSFUL SERVICE PAGE EXAMPLES
Need a little inspiration? Check out some of these outstanding consulting firm service pages to get ideas on how you can convey your firm’s offerings.
TBM Consulting organizes information in an easy-to-digest format, keeping the copy clear and compelling. Scroll down and you’ll see animated data that not only catches your attention, but shows the quantitative value of the service.
HT Engineering speaks to their audience by providing just enough detail about their process (they are engineers, after all.) Including pictures of your team isn’t always necessary, but for them, it is a nice way to introduce themselves to their clients.
Jump Associates veers a little off the framework we laid out above. But the elements are there, the format is compelling, and the imagery adds a touch of inspiration to what potential clients could experience.
Rattleback (of course we’ll offer ourselves up!) Our problem statement hits on a pain point many in leadership at firms know to be true: growing a firm is neither easy nor looks the same from organization to organization. We lay out our approach to marketing for consulting firms and why it’s an essential piece of the puzzle. We then paint a picture of what success looks like, inviting readers to learn more through a relevant case study, and bolster their confidence by adding a testimonial from a satisfied client. See? We walk the walk!
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
We get it; your firm’s service pages are high stakes. It’s daunting to craft something critical to your firm’s growth goals. If you’re unsure how to move forward, we recommend three steps:
- Identify your most visited website service pages
- Conduct a mini-audit of each one to see how they hold up against these recommended best practices
- Prioritize your top three to five service pages and get to work!
And if you need help along the way, we’ll be ready to jump in.
Note: This article was originally published right here by Jason Sutton in July 2014. It was updated with additional guidance and new examples in January 2024.
