diff --git a/mews/app.py b/mews/app.py
index 4b829dc..4e94615 100644
--- a/mews/app.py
+++ b/mews/app.py
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def _check(raw_url: str, client: str, listing: bool) -> bytes:
 
     if outcome.report is None:
         return pages.message(
-            "We couldn't check that page",
+            "That page couldn't be checked",
             [outcome.message or "Something went wrong. Try again."],
             [("/check", "Try again"), ("/spec/0.1", "The spec")],
         ).encode()
diff --git a/mews/check.py b/mews/check.py
index 17c7d45..acd5474 100644
--- a/mews/check.py
+++ b/mews/check.py
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ def check_page(
         return (
             None,
             response,
-            f"We couldn't read that page (it returned {response.status}). "
-            "Check the address and try again.",
+            f"That page returned {response.status}. Check the address and try again.",
         )
     report = validate_bytes(
         response.body, url=response.url, response=response, fetcher=fetcher
@@ -93,7 +92,7 @@ def submit(
         )
         return Outcome(
             message="This site was taken out of the directory. Write to the "
-            "address on the about page if that looks wrong."
+            "address on the home page if that looks wrong."
         )
 
     limited = db.rate_limited(connection, client=client, domain=domain, listing=listing)
@@ -206,7 +205,7 @@ def recheck(
     try:
         response = fetcher.get(row["url"], headers=conditional or None)
     except (UrlError, FetchError):
-        return _transient(connection, row, "We couldn't reach your site.")
+        return _transient(connection, row, "Your site didn't answer.")
 
     elapsed = int((time.monotonic() - started) * 1000)
     if response.status == NOT_MODIFIED:
@@ -263,7 +262,7 @@ def _transient(connection: sqlite3.Connection, row: sqlite3.Row, note: str) -> s
         db.remove(
             connection,
             row["id"],
-            f"{note} We tried for {db.TRANSIENT_LIMIT} days.",
+            f"{note} It stayed that way for {db.TRANSIENT_LIMIT} days.",
         )
         return "fail"
     return "unreachable"
diff --git a/mews/fetch.py b/mews/fetch.py
index bf94dc8..27f573c 100644
--- a/mews/fetch.py
+++ b/mews/fetch.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ CSS_CAP = 256 * 1024
 
 MAX_REDIRECTS = 3
 MAX_URL_LENGTH = 2048
-USER_AGENT = "mews.page checker (+https://mews.page/about)"
+USER_AGENT = "mews.page checker (+https://mews.page/)"
 
 _PSL = PublicSuffixList()
 
@@ -247,11 +247,11 @@ def resolve(url: str, *, allow_loopback: bool = False) -> str:
         infos = socket.getaddrinfo(host, port, type=socket.SOCK_STREAM)
     except socket.gaierror as error:
         raise FetchError(
-            "We couldn't find that domain name. Check the address and try again."
+            "That domain name couldn't be found. Check the address and try again."
         ) from error
     addresses = [info[4][0] for info in infos]
     if not addresses:
-        raise FetchError("We couldn't find that domain name.")
+        raise FetchError("That domain name couldn't be found.")
     for address in addresses:
         vet_address(address, allow_loopback=allow_loopback)
     return addresses[0]
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ class Fetcher:
         except httpx.TimeoutException as error:
             raise FetchError("That page took too long to answer.") from error
         except httpx.HTTPError as error:
-            raise FetchError("We couldn't connect to that site.") from error
+            raise FetchError("That site couldn't be reached.") from error
         return Fetched(url, response.status_code, response.headers, body, truncated)
 
     def _read(self, response: httpx.Response, cap: int) -> tuple[bytes, bool]:
diff --git a/mews/lint.py b/mews/lint.py
index 3db2b44..da2280f 100644
--- a/mews/lint.py
+++ b/mews/lint.py
@@ -914,8 +914,8 @@ def validate_url(
             report = Report(url=response.url)
             report.add(
                 "well-formed",
-                f"We couldn't read that page (it returned {response.status}). "
-                "Check the address and try again.",
+                f"That page returned {response.status}. Check the address "
+                "and try again.",
             )
             return report
         return validate_bytes(
diff --git a/tests/test_service.py b/tests/test_service.py
index 0fc662f..f83755f 100644
--- a/tests/test_service.py
+++ b/tests/test_service.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ def test_an_address_that_is_not_a_page_is_refused(service):
 
 def test_an_unreachable_page_is_reported(service, site):
     _, body = post(site.base + "/missing.html", listing=True)
-    assert "it returned 404" in body
+    assert "That page returned 404" in body
 
 
 def test_resubmitting_a_site_updates_the_same_row(