Writing Website Copy for Swedish B2B Buyers
By CodexierPublished 4 min read
Much web copy is written as if the reader must be dazzled. Swedish business buyers tend to react the other way: the louder the claim, the less they believe it. They want to understand what you do, how you work and what it costs, preferably without calling you first. This guide shows how to write for that reader, in Swedish and in English.
Why hype backfires in Sweden
Swedish business culture rewards understatement and consensus. Purchases are often discussed by several people, and someone in the room will ask what "market-leading" and "world-class" actually mean. If the page cannot answer, it has lost credibility with the person whose approval you need. Claims that cannot be checked are read as padding at best and as a warning at worst.
Specific beats superlative
| Hype version | Specific version |
|---|---|
| Innovative solutions for your business | We build booking systems for clinics with five to fifty staff |
| Lightning-fast delivery | Most projects go live within four weeks of the signed brief |
| Industry-leading support | Support requests are answered the same working day, by the people who built your system |
| Trusted by leading companies | A named case with the client's permission, or nothing |
Only promise what you can back up. If a delivery time or response time is not true for every customer, state it as typical, not guaranteed.
Specific statements do two jobs. They build trust with the right buyer and they filter out the wrong one, which saves both of you a meeting. Numbers are welcome if they are yours and verifiable: years in business, a documented delivery window, a published price. Invented statistics are not; Swedish consumer and marketing law also treats unsubstantiated claims as misleading.
Explaining price and process openly
B2B buyers often do most of their research before contacting a supplier. The pages they look for are price and process. If you hide both behind "contact us for a quote", many will contact a competitor who did not. You do not need a full price list; you need enough for the buyer to judge whether you are in their range.
- Publish starting prices, ranges or packages, and say what moves the price up.
- Describe the process in steps: first contact, proposal, start, delivery, follow-up.
- State what the customer must provide and when.
- Say what is not included, so there are no surprises later.
- Show prices excluding VAT for business buyers and say so clearly.
We practise this ourselves: our pricing page lists every package openly, because we know it is what our buyers look for first.
Writing in Swedish and English
If you serve both Swedish and international buyers, write each language for its reader instead of translating word for word. Swedish copy should be written in Swedish from the start, with "du" rather than "ni", short sentences and everyday terms instead of English buzzwords. English copy for international buyers may need more context: what Swedish terms like F-skatt or Peppol mean, which time zone you work in and whether you invoice in SEK or EUR. Our guide to bilingual websites covers structure and SEO.
Swedish pitfalls
Anglicisms like "solutions" and "leverage", formal "ni", and long passive sentences that hide who does what.
English pitfalls
Direct translations of Swedish idioms, and assuming the reader knows Swedish institutions and rules.
Checking copy against real questions
- Collect the ten questions customers most often ask by phone and email.
- For each page, check which of them it answers, and where.
- Remove every sentence a competitor could have written unchanged.
- Read the page aloud; if you would not say it to a customer, rewrite it.
- Ask someone outside the company to explain what you do after one minute on the page.
Who writes it matters less than the source material. Our guide on who should write website copy weighs the options. When a rebuild is not needed: if your site is technically sound and the problem is only vague text, rewriting the copy is cheaper than a new website. If you want a second opinion on which it is, book a free call.
Frequently asked questions
Should B2B copy in Swedish use du or ni?
Use du. It has been the norm in Swedish business communication for decades, including from authorities. Ni reads as either old-fashioned or like a plural address to the whole company.
Can we still say we are the best?
You can, but it does little and can be challenged. Swedish marketing law requires that claims can be substantiated. Show why instead: a process, a guarantee, a documented result.
How long should a B2B service page be?
Long enough to answer the buyer's questions and no longer. For a considered purchase that often means several hundred words with headings, a process, price guidance and an FAQ.
Is it risky to publish prices?
The risk is usually smaller than the gain. Competitors can find your prices anyway; buyers who cannot often move on. Publish ranges if every job differs.
Want your copy read by someone outside?
Send us the page that matters most. On a fifteen-minute call we will tell you what a Swedish buyer will miss or doubt.
Book a free 15-minute call