Developing good copy for the web page has been more of an art than a science.

When the web first began, people loaded on as much copy as they could to try to entice people to come to their site to find a company that is secure and comfortable for them to deal with, and one that can develop online relationships while still providing the quick search for products and services.

Unfortunately this bold attempt, especially by companies often providing their own copy that is not well written or well researched, has tended to persist. Because website enhancement and design often means re-jigging the website by an IT or web designer company that does not have great copy skills, capability or competency, the original copy is still used and re-used, sometimes in an abridged form. New websites and re-enhanced ones often lack the effectiveness that web-based new copy could bring to the site.

A great framework for developing copy is A.I.D.A.

This has been a framework used by salesforce and advertising consultants and agencies over the years. It is probably 100 years old, and it lays down the way in which you develop copy or develop the framework for a sale.

The key elements of A.I.D.A. are:

1. Attention. It is important to get the customer’s attention. This is the key first step because you cannot close the sale or satisfy the consumer unless you get their Attention. This ensures they become interested, committed and involved with you online, face-to-face, or through the development of written copy.

2. Interest. Once you have their Attention, which is usually a 30-second period of time (what a coincidence that most consumers only spend 30 seconds on average on a web page), it is then important that you maintain their Interest.

This is best done through a number of strategies in face-to-face selling, printed copy, and on the web. Such strategies can include:

1. Creating a unique appeal by statements in the opening Home Page copy or introduction copy that leads directly to Interest for the consumer, and a desire to read the Products & Services sector or some other major sector in the website.
2. A link to another website or to a particular branded service that the consumer may consider in pre-purchase and search behaviour.
3. Provocative statements that aim for higher performance, greater efficiencies, better savings, better technology, better innovation, etc.
4. Excellent Flash pictures and visuals that demonstrate a successful company and one with high Interest that creates consumer confidence to proceed further with the website.
5. Testimonials or quotes, even on the Home Page, that create enough Interest to move forward with further web page exploration.

3. Desire. The Desire part of a web page is similar to the Desire part of a sales presentation. In a sales presentation you only have approximately 1.5 minutes to get the customer’s interest if you are selling face-to-face. On a web page, this may be as little as 25-50 seconds. No matter what the situation, the process is the same. You cannot build the Desire to purchase a product or service unless you have gone through the Attention and Interest stages. This is critical.

If you are successful in getting to the Desire stage then, because there is already Attention and Interest, there is no nagging tendency to continue searching other sites until you have fully explored the site you are on. You may have as much as one minute to build this Desire.

You, yourself, may actually be able to reflect on the “Desire” copy stage by examining your own use of websites. For instance, you may have gone into sites and even explored the payment gateway and clicked through the payment gateway without committing, just to see how the process works, or to see the range of products and services available. You may have also clicked on an airline ticket offer and gone all the way to the end without committing, just to see how it works without building Desire. The same with accommodation and other services such as cosmetics, cosmetic surgery and a whole range of products.

Professional buyers are no different in that regard. They also have a desire to complete a professional procurement, and this can happen with engineering, architectural and other products.

The building of Desire may involve sampling the process without submitting a final order if there is a payment gateway, or if there is a phone number or contact page that asks for further action. This does not mean that because the Desire has been aroused and there have been trial purchases online, that they will go to a final action stage. It is just part of the Desire process.

The point is that you must have a way of being able to transmit Attention and Interest from your site to Desire and Action. Let’s go to Action.

4. Action. This is the most important point because it is the basis of commercial and government business. If you raise Attention, Interest and build Desire, you are obviously trying to get the consumer to take Action in some way. If you start a sales process and do not have an Action page, then it ends up not being a sales-based process, but a conversation or viewing-based process in which there is no needed or desired outcome.

To do this in business is to waste time and resources, and is a failure to drive customers to the bottom line to the detriment of the business’ viability.

What you must do in every website is to sit down and say, “What are the 5-6 actions that you would like customers to take?”, and then to try to build this into your website copy, and into the navigation and architecture behind your website.

Such Actions can include the following:

1. A call to Action. To allow them to actually print off print-ready material on the website that can lead to application forms or further action, which may mean going to an office or calling a company etc.
2. Actual Action, which involves purchasing on a payment gateway.
3. Action that can include a search for further information. This can mean ticking boxes on the Contact Page, asking for someone to call the customer, searching or asking for further material, or gaining specifications etc. This is best done in a speedy fashion by having boxes that are ticked, rather than having people to fill in lengthy emails to request information in their own words.
4. Getting customers to receive an email that can be marketing-based and can encourage an actual sale, even though this has not been asked for directly on the website.
5. Getting customers to visit your place of business, and to engage in some way through special offers, promotions or retail clubs etc.
6. Asking customers to purchase a specific product or service on an annualized basis – e.g. joining fitness clubs, sports clubs or team events, registering for car clubs, courses etc.

So review your web copy now for the Attention, Interest, Desire and Action stages.