What Are the 7 Cs of a Website? Website Texts: How to Write Clearly, Understandably, and Appealingly

We experience it in almost every project: A website looks strong, technically clean, maybe even fast – and yet inquiries are missing. When we then delve into the content together, the same moment often arises: You read the homepage and realize that after three paragraphs, you have seen many words but still don't have a clear answer to three simple questions: What is it? Who is it for? What should I do next?

This is not a “you problem.” This is web reality. Users don't come to enjoy your texts – they have a need. And they decide extremely early whether to stay. In the first seconds, they scan, not read. Pixelart describes this initial phase very aptly: In 2-3 seconds, only a fraction is perceived to form an impression. Pixelart Agency

We repeatedly see typical hurdles:

Firstly: Text deserts. What seems “quite okay” on a desktop quickly becomes a wall on mobile. Three sentences can already look like a block on a phone.

Secondly: Unclear terms. “Holistic solutions”, “innovative approaches”, “customer-oriented” – sounds professional but says nothing concrete. And as soon as people have to think, they lose momentum.

Thirdly: Wrong order. Many websites first tell the whole story of the organization – and only come to the benefits later. Online, the opposite often works better: first orientation and benefits, then depth.

At Pola, our view is deliberately holistic: Text is not “filler material” for design. Text is an interface. It directs attention, reduces uncertainty, and turns a beautiful layout into a functional page.

When we talk about web texts in projects, it’s rarely just about “better phrasing”. It’s about impact: less friction, more trust, better orientation – and often, pragmatically, more inquiries or sales.

Some numbers take the topic out of the gut feeling. Jakob Nielsen showed early on how selectively people read online: On average, only about 20% of the text on a page is actually read. usability.ch (Nielsen studies) That doesn’t mean “text doesn’t matter” – it means: Everything that is read must hit the mark.

We find the view from the conversion angle exciting: Portent published an analysis correlating readability (measured via the Flesch score) with conversion rates – differences of up to 11-13% were observed. Portent Of course, this is not the only factor. But it’s a strong signal: Comprehensibility is not a “nice-to-have” but part of the performance.

And then there is trust – that subtle yet powerful lever. A British survey showed: 59% would not buy from a company if the website had obvious spelling or grammar mistakes. Real Business (Global Lingo)

Our fresh perspective from Pola: Good texts are also fair. They exclude fewer people. Using clear language lowers the entry barrier for people who don’t read professional texts daily, non-native speakers, or users with cognitive impairments. “Access for everyone” often doesn’t start with code – but with sentences.

And another rarely mentioned aspect: Clarity is also a form of digital minimalism. Not because text causes large data volumes, but because unnecessary words cost time. And time is the scarcest resource on the web.

The 7 Cs originate from communication theory and are still taught in business communication today: Clear, Concise, Concrete, Correct, Coherent, Complete, Courteous. Management Study Guide

What we like about it: It’s not a trend or a “copywriter's hack”. It’s a simple, robust framework that guides you in writing (and even more in revising).

For it to work on websites, we translate the Cs slightly into web practice:

Clear means: Your most important sentence is immediately understandable.

Concise means: You cut everything that doesn’t help.

Concrete means: You make statements verifiable and vivid.

Correct means: Language is clean – and thus appears credible.

Coherent means: Your text guides instead of jumps.

Complete means: You answer the questions people really have.

Courteous means: You write respectfully, inclusively, and on an equal footing.

Our first method, which we use in almost every project, we call the One-Sentence Test: Before we refine paragraphs, we try to say the offer of the page in one sentence – without vague words. If that doesn’t work, it's rarely the text that’s the problem. It’s more likely a lack of clarity in the offer or in the priority.

And here comes an SEO perspective that many overlook: Since Google’s focus on “helpful content,” it’s more important whether people feel like they have achieved their goal after reading. Google Search Central The 7 Cs are essentially a practical response to this: They move you away from “filling text space” to “solving questions.”

If you like, don’t read the 7 Cs as rules, but as a red thread: You can once check each page along these seven questions – and almost always get a clear to-do list.

When Clear and Concise ensure your text reaches, Concrete and Correct ensure it remains credible.

Concrete means: Replace fog with substance. “Sustainable” is a good example. The word is important – but alone it says little. It becomes more concrete when you explain what makes it so: “We host in data centers with green electricity,” “We ship plastic-free,” “We publish our impact report.” Not as self-promotion, but as orientation for people who want to verify whether you mean what you say.

Correct sounds like spelling – and yes, that’s part of it. But it’s more: correct terms, consistent spelling, accurate numbers, no contradictory statements. Especially on the web, this is a quiet trust question. A survey showed that 59% would not buy due to obvious mistakes. Real Business (Global Lingo)

We often see two sources of errors in practice:

Firstly: Texts are inserted “somehow” late. Then typos and inconsistent spellings sneak in because there’s no more time for a clean edit.

Secondly: Numbers are not maintained. “For over 10 years” stays, although it’s already 14. This may seem petty – but it’s these details that tip the trust.

To start quickly, take two tools as a safety net: For spelling and grammar, Duden Mentor is a solid base. For style and sentence lengths, WORTLIGA Textanalyse works well because you can quickly see where your text becomes unnecessarily complicated.

Our tip: Read your most important page aloud once. If you stumble when reading aloud, your audience is likely to stumble when reading too. This isn’t a perfect test – but a surprisingly honest one.

Many texts aren’t “bad” – they’re just not guided. That’s the core of Coherent: Your content has an internal logic oriented to actual user journeys.

We often see pages that want to be simultaneously a homepage, mission statement, product catalog, and press area. That’s understandable because everything is important. But for users, it feels like a room full of voices.

Our approach is deliberately UX-centric: We don’t write “better”, we write along decisions. A person lands on your page and tries to clarify three things quickly: Does this suit me? Do I trust it? What's the next step?

It becomes coherent when you arrange content so that each answer prepares the next question. An example that has proven itself in many projects:

You start with a clear main statement and benefit (Clear), provide a brief context for credibility (Correct/Concrete), and then lead to the following pages that provide depth (Complete).

An important building block often underestimated is internal linking. Not as an SEO trick, but as a signpost. If you notice in the text that a topic should actually be its own section, that’s often a sign: Here, you need a subpage – and a link that guides readers there.

This is also an SEO advantage, without having to write “for SEO”: A clear structure helps search engines understand contexts – and prevents people from getting lost.

If you want a quick practice exercise: Imagine guiding someone like in a museum. You wouldn’t lead them to the storage room before they understand what the exhibition is about. An incoherent website feels just like that – and can often be improved just as easily: through order, transitions, and clear “next” moments.

Complete is the C that surprises most websites. Because “complete” sounds like “more text”. In practice, it often means the opposite: less on one page, but the right things in the right place.

We distinguish between “complete for the moment” and “complete for the topic”. On a landing page, someone needs quick clarity: a price range or next step, scope of services, timeline, trust. In a blog article, depth is needed. On an FAQ page, step sequences are required.

A good trick we like to use is the Question Matrix. You don’t first write paragraphs but collect the most important user questions per page in this order:

1) What is this specifically?

2) Who is it intended for?

3) What does it cost, or what is the effort?

4) What happens next?

You don’t need more to start. And you don’t have to answer everything in plain text. A short FAQ section or a clean “Here's how it works” section can prevent text deserts.

The complete is also interesting from an SEO perspective: Google increasingly evaluates whether content really helps achieve a goal. ConPublica This fits a recurring thought in 2026: In a world full of AI-generated standard texts, those who fill real gaps win. This also includes answering the questions others leave out.

An example from daily life: If you have a “Get an App Developed” page, “We develop apps” is not enough. Complete means: Which platforms? What steps? What do you need from me? What does support look like after launch? This clarity reduces follow-up questions – and saves time in operation. In Plain-Language-Case-Studies, clear information showed a noticeable reduction in inquiries. TCBOK

Complete, therefore, means: not saying everything – but answering everything that makes decisions easier.

If you want to not only read the 7 Cs but really use them, you need a process that suits your daily routine. Many teams don’t fail due to lack of knowledge but because content emerges “between doors”.

Here is our quick, practical sequence – especially good for small teams or solo responsables:

Step 1: Nail down clarity (Clear). Write the page’s one-sentence core. If you can’t find it, don’t change anything in the main text.

Step 2: Trim without fear (Concise). First, remove anything that just sounds like “website”: clichés, preambles, double statements.

Step 3: Add concreteness (Concrete). Replace at least three vague words with examples, numbers, or clear terms.

Step 4: Correction as a quality ritual (Correct). Go through LanguageTool or Duden Mentor, then read aloud.

Step 5: Check user path (Coherent). Imagine someone comes in via Google in the middle of the page. Do they still understand where they are and how to continue?

Step 6: Close questions (Complete). Look into the Search Console or your inbox: Which queries repeatedly occur? These belong on the page.

Step 7: Polish tone and access (Courteous). Check: Are you speaking on a level? Are technical terms explained? Are there places that press or embarrass?

Responsibility is important. Our tip: Assign one person as “text owner” per core page. Not as a gatekeeper, but as someone who ensures the last 20% quality.

And if you work with multiple pages, a small content system pays off: Recurring text blocks (e.g., process, values, FAQ) are maintained centrally, so you don’t have 10 variations of the same statement on the website.

This may seem unspectacular. But precisely this calmness in the system is often the difference between a website that seems coherent – and one that feels random.