The words your customers use (and why they matter)

A client once asked me to help them understand why their landing page wasn't converting. They sold HR software for small businesses.

Their headline read something like: "Streamline Your Human Capital Management Workflows."

I pulled up their search term report. The actual searches that brought people to their site were things like:

• "how to stop losing track of holiday requests"
• "spreadsheet for employee time off not working"
• "easier way to manage staff schedules"

Not a single person had searched for anything resembling "human capital management workflows." They were searching for problems. Real, annoying, specific problems. And the landing page was answering in a completely different language. (I've anonymised the details, but I've seen this exact pattern dozens of times across different industries.)

The vocabulary gap

This happens everywhere. Companies describe what they do in internal language — the words that make sense in meetings, in product specs, in pitch decks.

But customers aren't in those meetings. They're typing into Google at 10pm, trying to describe something that's frustrating them. They use their own words. Messy, specific, sometimes grammatically questionable words.

The gap between how you describe your product and how customers describe their problem is where conversion dies quietly. Using customers' exact language in marketing can significantly improve conversion rates — because it creates instant recognition (CXL, 2023).

What the search bar reveals

Every search is someone trying to explain what they need. Not to you specifically — to the internet. And because they're not performing for anyone, they're honest.

They search for symptoms before they know the solution:

• "Why does my team keep missing deadlines" (not "project management software")
• "Customers complaining about slow responses" (not "help desk ticketing system")

They reveal their doubts:

• "Is Notion actually good or just hyped"
• "Asana vs Monday which one won't annoy my team"

They show what they've already tried:

• "Trello alternative that doesn't get messy"
• "Something simpler than Salesforce"

This is market research that updates every day, at no cost, in your customers' own words. Most companies never look at it. Google describes this data as a way to see what customers actually searched for — but the insight goes far beyond ad targeting (Google).

Where to use what you find

Once you know how customers actually describe their problems, you can use that language everywhere — not just in ads.

Homepage headlines. If people search "stop chasing invoices", don't write "Accounts Receivable Automation Platform." Write something closer to what they actually said.

Product descriptions. Describe the outcome in their words, not the feature in yours.

Email subject lines. "Your team keeps missing deadlines — here's why" will almost certainly outperform "Q4 Productivity Solutions Newsletter" — specificity and problem-focused language consistently drive higher engagement.

FAQ pages. Answer the questions people actually ask, phrased the way they actually ask them.

The recognition effect

When someone lands on your site and sees language that matches what's in their head, something clicks. It feels like you understand. Like you've been there. Like you're not just trying to sell them something.

That recognition is worth more than any clever headline. It's the fastest way to build trust. When copy matches how users think and speak, comprehension and trust both improve (Nielsen Norman Group, 2024).

How to start

Pull your search term report from the last 90 days. Don't look at the keywords your tools have grouped and labelled. Look at the raw queries — the weird ones, the long ones, the ones that don't fit neatly.

That's how your customers think. That's how they talk about their problems.

Now ask yourself: does your website sound like that?