Seo and Persuasive Web Sites

Is your Web site persuasive? What would you say right now is the one reason it persuades visitors to stay, be immersed, interact or make a purchase decision?

Is it your brand name, cool graphics, slick copy, privacy statement, differentiation, testimonials, site accessibility, free trial offers and giveaways, customized navigation, customizable content, low prices or great selection of products and services? It could be any of them at any one time, but overall which do you think is the one you couldn't do without?

Copy and graphics working together solve your most important need - the persuasive communication of your unique value offer to the customer.

SEO Improves Persuasiveness

Search engine optimization can be a key factor in communicating and persusading visitors. When searchers click through to your site, they arrive with a set of expectations depending on what they did to get to your site. Your ad or search engine listing must have suggested something and that is their starting point. SEO can generate a lot of traffic to your site and it can improve its persuasiveness. SEO creatively and strategically uses the keywords that introduced your company to them.

The visitor has some forward momentum or an emotional "impulse" that has encouraged them to take action and come to your site. Does your site complete that forward motion? If it does then you must have a persuasive site.

Can you do Without Persuasive Copy?

Copy is the core element of persuasion even though graphics can play a strategic role in getting through the copy fast if they need to fast track it. Graphics can certainly help deliver the right mood, but your company's value is too complex to be able to communicate via graphic images. Elegant copy can have its place, but speed and directness are very important to most Web site visitors.

Whether it's elegant copy or straight to the point statements, visitors need to know that your site is worth continuing to visit. They need to see keywords and your UVP right away, and see that your content is relevant to their search. The word search is very central to Web visits. Whether they came from a print or television ad or a search engine or an online banner ad, people come to your site because they're looking for something.

Search then, is central to Web site usage and the first thing visitors look for on your site is keywords. This validates your site, and if they find the keywords quickly, they'll continue using your site.

Keyword Rich Copy

Images can certainly create the right mood but they can't convey the depth, extent or quality of your service and product offer. Copy on the other hand can communicate what you want them to know.

Keyword rich copy communicates quickly and in a very clear way what your site is about. If your keywords are weaved into the copy elegantly and with a little flair, you can magnify persuasion.

The presence of keywords is the simplest, most direct way of reassuring a new visitor that they are in the right place. That keeps them in their comfort zone. If they're unsure if its for them or whether there's anything of value to be seen, they'll click away soon.

Persuasive Web sites Part 2

Copywriting Tips:

use an editorial style
avoid using "marketese"
get your point or value
proposition across quickly
    get the visitor's imagination into play
ask what if questions
speak to their needs and wishes
use testimonials if possible
use clear, uncomplicated language
copy should be scannable
use inverted pyramid - key,
      summarized information first
ensure you have a simple linear
      click path for each type of visitor

With normal conversion rates hovering around one percent, persuasion can have a tremendous impact on generating new sales and on keeping current customers loyal. There are many factors that influence persuasiveness, however, using keywords and speaking clearly to the point are the two that will resonate best in the visitor's mind.

The visitor's buying decision cycle has actually begun before arriving at your site. However, each visitor arrives via different keywords and each visitor is at a different stage of the buying cycle.

Whatever stage your prospect is at, your site's goal is to fill in the gaps and complete the decision cycle.

Ethical SEO

Do you need professional search engine optimization services? Black hat SEO tricks and techniques are risky and generally have to be constantly maintained.

Bay Street SEO is an ethical SEO company.

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