Consulting for Local SEO Website Copy Writing

Is There A Formula For Local Small Business Website Copy writing?

Absolutely! Just like there is a formula to writing offline sales and ad copy. While they both have similar goals, (To evoke an emotion that leads to action), effective copy writing for a website not only has to be well written, compelling and persuasive; It has accomplish it has to cater to the QUICK SCAN users of the Internet.

Query + Answer + Simplicity + Emotion + Action = Conversion

Your website copy has to present your message in a very specific way so as to leave no question in the readers mind that they have found the right place for an answer to their query for a solution to their problem or to fill their need.

Obviously your copy/content also has to be search engine friendly.

The Core Formula for Writing and Presenting Effective Website Copy:

What Words Will be Used to Form the Question (Search Query)

Determine How to Instantly Answer the Initial Question Asked

Make the Answer Easy to Read and Simple to Understand

The Answer Must Evoke an Emotional Response Requiring an Action

Create a Logical Path of Action Steps To Commitment or Conversion

(1) What Words?

If you know your market you will have a pretty good idea of what words they will use to find information about the types of products or services you offer.

A pretty good idea is not enough. You have to research all of the KEY WORDS your market's prospects might use to compose a question into a term or phrase about what your business has to offer.

Keyword research involves using the right online tools to determine what keywords are used by potential prospects in your market.

(2) Why Instant Answers?

The Need for Speed Breeds Impatience Which Requires Instant Gratification
When an Internet user submits a search query through one of the search engines, they are looking for answers. They may be on a quest to find answers about something they need or want. What they need or want can be simply be information or information about products or services.

So finding Information, Products and Services are the three things that sum up why Internet users make search engine queries. But they require answers be instantaneous. Why?

Yes We've Been Spoiled - It's In Our Nature
Internet users REQUIRE Immediate Gratification. We've all been spoiled by the Internet! With the advent of hi-speed Internet connections we now have instant access to the knowledge of the entire planet in seconds.

All we have to do is type in a question, click a button (Submit a search engine query) and we are instantly served the top 10 possible answers to choose from, (Out of possibly millions of documents) based on a search engine's search algorithm. That all happens in literally nano-seconds. The strange thing is, we will always want answers FASTER! It's human nature.

3 to 7 Seconds and They're OUTA THERE!
When a search engine returns the results from our query, we click on the description we think will best addresses our question, or problem with an answer or solution. With a simple click we can be transported (Hyper-Linked) to the page where we hope we'll find the information we need. Once the page loads (Preferably immediately) we may take 3 to 7 seconds to quickly SCAN what we first see to evaluate whether or not the page has what we're seeking.

If we don't immediately find what we're looking for, we know we can instantly click back the original search results list and check out another descriptive link and see what it has to offer. Hence the term "Bounce Rate".

More Spoiled Internet Brats are Growing Up
The number of Internet users have grown from a few scientists in the early "90's" to over 200 MILLION impatient Internet users in the U.S. alone. And they are all trying to find what they need online in seconds versus maybe 5 or 10 minutes of thumbing through the old outmoded Yellow Pages. This attitude of impatience will become even more pervasive as this generation that was weaned on the Internet (1995 to present) matures to adulthood. They already are a very impatient and picky bunch.

(3) Make the Answers Easy to Read and Understand

The Easier to Read and Understand your initial answer(s), the more likely your site visitor will become involved with following your path of steps to commitment. In your CSS coding pay attention to letter and word spacing.

(4) Emotional Response Should Require Action

If your initial answer to the question that brings a prospect to your page is properly composed, it will trigger an emotion that should result in an action. The desired action may just be to continue reading i.e. become more involved with your content or clicking on a text link answer that promises more relevant information.

(5) Lead Them Down the Garden Path

Create a Logical Path of Action Steps To Commitment or Conversion. At each action step your answer to its question created by the previous emotional response should require another action step even if the action step is nothing more than continuing to read your content. Only create enough action step answers to get to the final action step; commitment to becoming a "Registered Prospect" or "Conversion" to a buying customer.

Is this All there is to the Formula?
Of Course Not! But if you are a seasoned off line ad copy writer, you can take the information on this page and formulate your own website copy.

Just remember; with THE RIGHT FORMULA their impatience can work for you. Your website visitors will be impatient by requiring you immediately proove to them you deserver more of their attention. But that's okay; as long as you present your business offers in a way that turns that problem of impatience into an opportunity to pull that potential buyer into your virtual mini-presentation (Web page).

If you're not a seasoned writer, you're better off outscouring the work to a professional website copywriter.