SEO Copywriting:
Trust and Web Copywriting

By James Atkinson, LLB

Trust is crucial goal in SEO and web copywriting. As searchers associate you with quality content that they see again and again, they will start to trust you. Trust is a key component that creates sales.

Once trust is established, sales will follow. When prospects trust you, you will have credibility, they will believe what you say, and you’ll be viewed as an authority. Trust is the key that unlocks many the other copywriting benefits you want to achieve.

As soon as prospects trust you, they will be willing to do what you ask them to do, because they recognize it is in their own best interests. Trust is the recognition that you want what they want – that you share the same goals and you’re on their side.

And being on their side implies that you act as an advocate for your prospects. The advocate always acts in the prospect’s best interests. Advocacy means not letting your customer buy lower-quality products. The advocate’s position starts with giving – treating prospects as though they are already customers and helping them with resources and knowledge.

In the social networks, you can become an advocate freely offering your knowledge and help.

Buying from you then becomes the natural and right thing to do from the standpoint of the prospect’s self-interest.

Cultural Differences in Building Relations

The global nature of internet commerce means that you need to be aware of the overarching environment of your target audience – see in particular: “Groups Influence Buying” in Consumer Psychology.

My research shows that there are different responses to building relations in collectivist and familial cultures: such as Asian, Eastern European, South America and Africa prospects where prospects exhibit a more familial or communal orientation. These prospects appear to give more weight to collectivistic rather than individualistic experiences.

In the more individualistic cultures: such as in North America, Western Europe, and Australia a stronger informational approach may be more desirable than a more inclusive relational approach.

This difference may be explained in the way communication and information is processed – though this series of articles is not the place to explore this topic properly.

Thus, in designing your persuasion and relationship building strategies you need to be aware of these cultural differences. For example, if you are marketing to Canadians or North Americans you should adjust your persuasion strategy to use consistency and commitment as a motivator.

Let's now look at relationship building through web copywriting.

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