How about that for a shameless, attention getting title? The truth is, regardless of how many visitors your
search engine optimization and marketing companys efforts drive to your site, it wont matter unless you can grab their attention within three to seven seconds. Miss that brief opportunity to engage your visitors and theyve clicked the back button, returning to their search engine of choice to see what your competitors have to offer.
This is where the AIDA sales model can transform your search engine optimized pages from simple traffic drivers to the presentation of a systematic process that drives increased conversions as well. Originally created for print advertising in the mid 1920s, the AIDA models relevancy carries through to the present day and is commonly used across traditional media venues and the internet.
Breaking down its acronym, the first aspect of the AIDA model is Attention. For visitors landing on your site, making it immediately clear that they have found what theyre looking (keyword relevance) for will grab their attention keep them at your site to look for more information. The attention phase, which has grabbed the visitor, then segues to the next phase by playing to consumer motivations such as fear, the promise of gain, and hidden knowledge (like the title of this article).
The next step in the process is attracting the visitors Interest. This is where the problem that the visitor is trying to solve is discussed in great detail. Emotional pull of testimonies and stories can have dramatic effects in this phase. If you are selling, for example, a skin care product the emotional baggage and pain of having acne as it relates to the visitor can both put focus on the problem and that there is an understanding of the pain it is causing.
Having detailed the problem with some emotional pull, the next phase in the process is Desire, where you present the solution to the problem your visitor is trying to fix. One of the biggest benefits of
search engine optimization is that the traffic arriving at your site is already seeking a solution, relieving you of having to create desire for your product. Your objective then is to build on that desire, describing the benefits and positioning your product/service as the solution to the visitors problem. The happy ending provided by your product/service to the testimonials and/or stories presented earlier can provide the finishing touch in building the desire to purchase by adding logical proof to the emotional aspect of the process.
The purchase is encouraged in the last phase of the model, known as the call to Action. Here is where you make you offer with guarantees and a sense of urgency, asking for the sale (or other form of conversion) then and there. The presentation of a strong offer, combined with the preceding steps of Attention, Interest, and Desire should generate conversions at a much higher rate than before you combined search engine optimization with AIDA.
