Web design, copywriting, usability and math are just a few of the fields that require a great deal of knowledge in order to master landing page optimization and testing. These two complex activities take a great deal of work, but at the center of it all is trying to influence people’s behavior, and human nature is the one thing that does not change.

A framework for describing the stages of the interest and behavior of consumers was established in 1898 by Elias St. Elmo. In turn, he actually crafted the modern concept of the “sales funnel”. All consumers were thought to go through four different stages, known as the AIDA model:

Awareness – the first stage where a person realizes that a number of prospective actions is available to them

Interest- the second stage where a particular course of action is shown preference through an actively, self-selecting process

Desire- the third stage where enthusiasm intensifies as the course of action is investigated

Action- the fourth and final stage where the person is moved to act and obtains the benefits of the course of action

Making certain there is continuity and ease of flow through each of the steps is the key to properly applying the model to all landing pages. All of the steps have to be completed and they must be done so in order. Though this is the case, it does not mean that equal emphasis should be placed on each in your landing page. It also does not suggest that visitors will spend an equal amount of time in each step either. In order to help them progress through the process, there should be an obvious, easily understood path, as well as the proper support in moving them forward toward your conversion goal.

Andrew Chak follows the AIDA model closely in his book Submit Now: Designing Persuasive Web Sites (New Riders press, 2002) and specifically applies it to website visitors. He also recommends that the landing page and website should be designed with four major types of users in mind that correspond to the mindset of each AIDA stage:

Browsers: Those who have an unmet need, but may not exactly know what they want

Evaluators: Those looking for supporting information that is detailed and know enough to compare the options available

Transactors: Those that have made a decision to buy and quickly need to go through the workings of the actual transaction

Customers: Those where their transaction is complete and, until their next transaction, need to sustain their satisfaction level

It is important to recognize that AIDA is applied to different time frames as well as task scales. Say a consumer is researching a new cell phone or PDA; it might take days or weeks to make a decision. Your site may only be one of many over the course of that process. When that consumer has ultimately reached a decision, your site may have been completely forgotten about, depending on the unique quality of your company, its selling proposition, when the site was visited and the superseding research that was conducted. 

The other end of the spectrum is short duration micro-tasks that are small in scale. A desired conversion (also known as a consumer’s task) is sometimes to simply click through to another page on your particular site. The same four steps must still be taken during the visit for the conversion to happen.

In due course, there are two questions that you have to answer for a visitor to complete the AIDA stages: 1. Does your site have what I want?  2. Why should I get it from your business? A single visit or interaction may not complete the process, but the ultimate goal may still be reached at some point. It may take weeks or months, but you still must provide the clearest path to that goal. If typically your conversion action has a long time lag, try to provide tools to record your visitors progress that will restart them in the most recent and relevant state. Each time they visit your site, they can access their progress with each visit.

The shortest stages are Awareness and Interest. The majority of the question “Does your site have what I want?” is answered during the stage of Desire. Without interest and attention, however, Desire is not reached. Likewise, even though the majority of “Why should I get it from your business?” is answered during the Action stage, it will not be reached without first passing through Awareness, Interest and Desire in that specific order.

Truly considering AIDA and how it will relate to your specific proposition of selling will provide a solid structure in creating effective pages, along with creative landing page optimization. Chances are high that you will successfully convert visitors into customers when you assist known behaviors of the consumer.