Things You Should (Almost) Never Say on Your Home Care Website / Assisted Living Website

Things You Should (Almost) Never Say on Your Home Care / Assisted Living Website. (That I guarantee you’re already saying)…

There are phrases that you should never use on your website (or any marketing piece) because they will make your results dismal. And yes, I can guarantee you are already using these phrases right now.

The phrases that you should never use on your website are phrases that include platitudes.

A platitude is defined as “words or phrases that are dull, obvious, or predictable that lack power to create interest because they are overused, that are still commonly used as though they were unique or distinctive.”

These are words and phrases like:

• highest quality,
• best service,
• in business since 1902
• family owned,
• fast,
• free in-home assessments,
• locally owned and operated,
• #1 in satisfaction,
• we’re better,
• why pay more,
• lowest prices,
• we care,
• conveniently located,
• professional,
• experienced,
• affordable,
• we’re different,
• advanced techniques,
• call today,
• dependable, etc.

It’s not that you shouldn’t actually be these kinds of phrases, but I am saying that they are all platitudes.

Every one of these statements and phrases are commonplace and predictable, they lack power to evoke interest through overuse or repetition, and they were nevertheless stated as though they were original or significant. In modern day advertising (and especially on websites), platitudes rule the roost. Take a look at your website right now—I guarantee it’s loaded with platitudes. If you don’t think your website has platitudes, then put your website through these 3 evaluations and see for yourself: 

PLATITUDE 1 – Well, I Would Hope So!

Take a look at any statement on your website and ask yourself if a customer or prospect could or would automatically respond with the statement, “Well, I would hope so.”

Here’s a perfect example—how about a website for a home care agency that says, “We help you or your aging loved ones. “ Well, I would hope so—you’re a home care agency, right?

What else would you do?

Or, how about this website for a home care agency where the clients give testimonials that say, “We really like our caregivers.” Well, I would hope so! What are they going to say, “Our caregivers are terrible, and they never show up on time!”

You get the point, right?

PLATITUDE #2 – Who Else Can Say That?

Pay close attention to this one because the question is not who else can do what you do, but who else can say what you say.

The answer is usually anyone and everyone.

Here’s a headline from a local home care agency who says that they care for you like “a member of the family.” Who else can say that? How about every single home care agency on the planet—that’s who!

What about this other home care agency who says that they “care.” Really, you care? Who else can say these things? Anybody can!

See, these statements are commonplace and predictable, and they lack power to evoke interest. And you know what, they were stated as though they were original or significant. Take a careful look at your website.

Read any claim that you’ve made and then ask yourself this, “who else can say that?” If any competitor can say it, then your website failed the evaluation.

PLATITUDE #3 – The Cross Out / Write-in Test

For this evaluation, cross out the name of your home care company on your website and then write in the name of your competitor.

Is the website still valid? If so, you’ve just failed the test.

Another way to illustrate this is to do it in reverse. Cross out your competitor’s name on their website and then replace it with your company’s name. Now tell me, is the website still valid? I mean really. I don’t care if you absolutely know that you have higher quality than your competitor because your competitor can still say that they have higher quality than you even if it’s not true.

I can give you a million examples like this on websites, but go ahead and check for yourself. Here’s the deal—if you will eliminate platitudes from your website immediately, you will start to see better results—sometimes exponentially better.

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