As a freelance copywriter, I get asked many questions about the nuts and bolts of my process. I often refer clients to this article because, while most of what I share here is straightforward, it can still be helpful to know what to look for as you’re working on your SEO copy.
If you want to create effective SEO copy, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, you’ll learn how to find your trigger, the key to creating powerful, persuasive SEO copy. Your trigger is the keyword you use to begin the sentence, the line, the paragraph, etc. When you have a good trigger, your whole SEO piece comes together.
There are a lot of factors to consider when writing a good SEO copy, from keywords and anchor text to content density, but what about something more intangible, like the “trigger” that makes your readers click over to your site?
Are you ready to discover the five simple steps to finding your trigger? You’re about to find out!
1. What exactly is a “trigger”?
A trigger is something that makes people respond. It could be an event, a feeling, an image, a thought, or a short video. It’s anything that creates a reaction in a person’s mind. For example, if you’re writing a product description page for a new pair of shoes, you’d want to include a picture of the shoes to get people emotionally invested in purchasing.
When you’re creating content for your blog, videos, web pages, emails, and social media posts, you might want to include a trigger to get people excited about your message. People are naturally drawn to certain things, which is true for content.
Some people like videos showing funny cats or dogs, while others like pictures of nature. Whatever you want to share with people, it’s important to think about triggers that will inspire them to read your content.
2. Why is it that some content on the Web is successful, and others are not?
When we create content for the Web, we need to think about what we’re going for. There are two main reasons why a piece of content might be successful on the Web:
First, it’s something people really want. People don’t want to read boring stuff. They want to read about what interests them or what they want to know.
Second, it’s something people really need. It provides a value that’s helpful to them but wouldn’t get anywhere else. So, what is it that people really want, and what is it that they need?
3. How does a trigger help your SEO copywriting?
SEO copywriting, or copywriting aimed at search engines, is not all that different from regular copywriting except that the focus is on the keywords that the searchers enter into search engines.
An SEO copywriter must consider what words and phrases people search for on Google. These are the exact words and phrases that people are typing into a search box to find what you offer.
If you’re looking for “the best laptop keyboard” and someone enters the phrase “laptop keyboard” into the search box on Google, then your keyword will show up in the results. This is called a search term.
There are two basic ways to use triggers to increase the conversion rate:
The first is to trigger a positive emotion in your reader. Readers who experience a strong emotional response to your copy are more likely to convert. Think of it as a marketing version of Pavlov’s dog.
The second way to use triggers is to create an immediate desire for a specific action. By triggering your reader’s urge to act, you give them no time to think about whether or not they should do what you’re asking them to do. This is useful in the B2C world, where you want to get customers to act immediately.
4. What are the most important components of a trigger?
In SEO copywriting, triggers are basically the keywords that a searcher types into Google when looking for a particular topic. They are, effectively, the “words” that they type in. And because these words are so closely related to a specific topic, they signal to the search engine that they’re interested in that topic.
Think of your keywords creating triggers in terms of how they describe the content on your website and how they relate to the products or services you sell.
A trigger is essentially any piece of text or image on your page that gets the reader’s attention and encourages them to click through. These triggers should be placed strategically throughout your site to ensure the visitor understands what’s going on. These triggers include headings, subheadings, paragraphs, pictures, and links.
Five important trigger components are required to achieve a high click-through rate. All of these components must be present for the trigger to work. They are:
i. A great headline.
The headline is the first thing a person sees when they come across your copy. It’s often the only reason they read your content. And it significantly impacts on your content’s ability to rank on the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Like a great lead, a good headline is short, catchy, and valuable.
In addition to the headline, there are two more components of the writing trigger for SEO copywriting. The second is the subheading. It’s similar to the headline. It tells us what we’re about to read. In terms of SEO copywriting, this is the part that’s going to persuade the reader to click.
ii. An attention-grabbing image.
People respond better to images than text because images grab our attention. But if you’re writing for search engine optimization purposes, you want to make sure the images you select are high-quality. There are free tools that can help you determine whether an image is optimized for search engines, and if it isn’t, you can hire a graphic designer to help.
iii. A strong link.
If your link is strong, your visitor will follow. People want to share content that is relevant to them. They don’t want to share something that’s just there to drive traffic. So your content has to be good. But equally important, it has to tell a story. The story is your hook. The hook is your lead sentence.
It should give the reader a reason to read your content. The rest of your content should support that hook. The hook needs to be interesting enough to pull the reader in and compelling enough to keep them reading. It needs to get the attention of the user.
iv. A description of the product or service
This trigger aims to provide visitors with the key facts and features of your product or service that are relevant to their decision-making process. These points are typically accompanied by a bulleted list that includes the following:
Why it’s important to your visitors.
Who it is for.
What it does.
How to use it.
Where to buy it.
A video showing how to use it.
The advantages of using this product over other products.
v. A strong call to action.
In order to create a successful call to action, SEO copywriters must understand how triggers function in the human brain and what makes people take action. The human brain is designed to be a reactive machine. We all have a natural fear of risk that leads us to seek out solutions to our problems. You’ll increase conversions when you are aware of these triggers and incorporate them into your writing.
5. How can you develop a trigger that will work for your own website?
The trigger gives the reader an immediate indication of what they’ll find on your website. It’s the part of the copy that tells readers what they should expect to find on your site, but the trigger doesn’t have to be a list of products or services. It can be as simple as a sentence or two, such as “To learn more, visit our website.”
Triggering is one of the most powerful ways to increase webpage conversion rate, but the truth is that it’s also one of the most challenging things to do in SEO copywriting.
A trigger can be a sentence that immediately grabs your reader’s attention or the first part of a longer, more engaging piece of content.
Conclusion
In conclusion, To find your trigger, you must dig deep into yourself, the person you are writing for, and the product/ service you are promoting. In addition, you’ll need to understand how your readers think and act. A good rule of thumb is to start by asking yourself “What do I care about?” This will be easy if you’re working with a product you love and understand.
You might be thinking, “I love my job! I’m so excited about what we’re doing at the company I work for.” If not, try asking yourself, “What is the reason that I buy?” Or, “How do I use a product or service?” If you can answer those questions, you’ll be able to create content that will appeal to your audience. And you will know your trigger.
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