A few months ago, I wrote an article about sales funnels. In that article, I talked about the AIDA formula. AIDA is a list of the four steps that you need to take to turn a new lead into a buyer.

As a reminder, those steps were

A - Attention
I - Interest
D - Details
A - Action

But AIDA isn’t used just for sales funnels. In fact, it’s the standard way to create any type of marketing material.

Whether it’s a flyer, a brochure, an ad, or a web page, the process is the same: marketers use the AIDA formula.

Today I’m going to talk about how to use AIDA to create one specific type of marketing copy: your website.

A – Attention

When someone first lands on your website, the first thing you need to do is get their attention. And you’ve only got a couple of seconds to do that, or they may click the back button.

So the very first thing they should see is the Attention step. This is a short, to the point, easily understandable phrase that gets their attention and makes them want to read further.

It should be something that “hits home” with them, something that immediately tells them they’ve landed on the right webpage to solve their needs.

Here are a few examples.

A mountain biker is looking for a new, quality bike. She lands on a page that says:

For the serious mountain biker

This would likely catch her attention, as it describes her perfectly.

Example two:

A small business owner wants to hire an accountant to do all his accounting paperwork. He lands on a page that says:

Never worry about bookkeeping again

That’s a phrase that will likely to get his attention.

Compare those two examples to the following, which don’t use an Attention step.

The mountain biker lands on a page that says:

Bicycle sales and repair

Not only is that pretty bland and uninteresting, it doesn’t mention anything about mountain bikes, so it’s not likely to catch the attention of the company’s main target market: mountain bikers.

Next, the small business owner lands on a page that says:

Accounting services

Again, this is boring, and not likely to strike any kind of chord with the reader.

I – interest

The very next thing to write after your Attention step is something that builds interest. Something short that convinces the reader they’ve really landed on the right page to meet their needs. Here are some examples.

For the mountain bike shop:

Top performing bikes by the world’s best brands: Cannondale, Ibis, Trek Bikes, Santa Cruz, Yeti

Those are a list of high-end mountain bike brands that any serious mountain biker will probably recognize. It will make the target reader (serious mountain bikers) even more certain that this is the type of website they want to continue reading.

For the accountant:

Complete accounting packages for your small business

If the accountant’s target market is small businesses, and the reader is, in fact, a small business owner, a sentence like this will make him even more confident that this is a website worth reading.

D – Details

Here is where you start to go into some of the nitty gritty of your products/services. You’ve gotten the reader’s attention, built some interest, and now, if they are still reading, they want to know some details about who you are and what you do. Here are some examples.

For the mountain bike shop:

At Birmingham bikes, we believe that better bikes make for better rides. That’s why we strive to bring you the best bikes that the world has to offer, from brands that have proven themselves time and time again.
All our bikes offer:
Superior suspensionEffortless shiftingLong-term durabilityReliable braking systems
…etc.

For the accountant:

Running a small business means you have to wear many hats. But “bookkeeper” doesn’t have to be one of them!
We offer complete, affordable accounting packages to suit all your needs. From reconciliation to monthly statements to income tax—we do it all for you so you can spend your time on your business, not on paperwork.

…etc.

(In reality, you would give more details than these examples show. Perhaps you would mention benefits, features, hours, prices, etc.)

A - Action

The final step is Action, more often referred to as Call to Action. This refers to an invitation to take some action. It is rooted in the very simple sales/marketing rule that says:

People won’t take a specific action unless you ask them to.

Often that action is buying, but it could be making an appointment, visiting a showroom, etc. Here are some examples.

For the mountain bike shop: Book a test trail ride

For the accountant: View our plans

The big picture

Now let’s look at what our two example websites look like.

The Mountain Bike Shop

The Accountant

Summary

In this article, I have given you a general overview of how marketers use AIDA when creating web pages. Of course, there’s a lot more to creating a great web page than just knowing the basics of AIDA, but do try to revisit your own site, and see if you have followed this formula. If not, think about how you can tweak your site to make it better, using AIDA.

Cheers,
Tim
Helping you engineer the business of you

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Information in this article is for general information and is not intended as professional advice.

How to write a great webpage (that people will stop and read)