Are You Using This Critical Component in Your Therapy Website Copy?

On the one hand, I find it ironic that many therapists and health businesses often fail to use a critical component in their website copy.

What is this component?

Emotion.

Why does it seem ironic?

Therapists and health practitioners deal with the emotions of people with problems every day. Yet, many seem to “forget” that their clients and customers come to their websites with the same myriad of emotions.

On the other hand, this isn’t all that surprising…

After all, therapists and health professionals are not trained to be copywriters. They don’t necessarily understand the important role emotions play in converting website visitors into customers and clients.

Why Does Emotion in Your Copy Matter?

It has long been known by marketers that people “buy” based on their emotions and back up their decisions with reason. This is true even when people think they are not swayed by their emotions when making purchasing decisions.

We are wired to respond to emotional stimuli. In addition, emotional decision-making happens much faster than rational thinking.

When your web visitors see their problems and desires with their accompanying emotions described on your website they will resonate with these words more than most everything else you write on your page.

How To Use Emotions in Your Website Copy

Speak to the Problem or Pain

Identifying the emotions that your prospective clients and customers feel helps show that you “get” them. It conveys empathy and begins to build a bond with them.

The deeper you can convey your understanding of the problem and how your visitors feel at their core, the greater the connection you will build with them.

When they see that you understand their pain and desires, they will be drawn in to read more of your copy. The more they read, the more likely they are to become clients or customers.

Speak to the Benefit or Desired Outcome

While your web visitors are in pain or struggling in some way when they arrive at your website, their ultimate goal is to find relief from their problem. You, therefore, need to show the potential benefits your services, programs or products can have.

Again, the deeper you dig down into the emotions associated with the outcomes that your web visitors desire, the greater impact you will have.

The more you can help build hope and reassurance that their lives can be better, the more likely they will be to respond to your copy.

Use Emotion-Laden Power Words

The more powerful the words you use when describing the emotions of your visitors, the more they will catch their attention and draw them into the copy.

An example of a powerful pain or problem word:

If your audience is a couple where an affair has occurred, instead of saying that the affair “hurt,” say that the client felt “betrayed.” Betray is a powerful word that hits one on a visceral level.

Be careful when using powerful words. They must not be more powerful than your audience experiences them–or more powerful than the benefits they will receive.

Create Pictures in the Minds of Your Website Visitors

Naming the emotions of your potential clients and customers is one way to address emotions in your copy. Another powerful way to convey emotions is to use words to create images in your readers’ minds.

Research shows that we remember visual images more easily and effectively than words, so creating vivid pictures in your prospective clients’ and customers’ minds will make your copy more impactful.

You can create mental imagery through the use of metaphors, analogies, examples, etc.

For example, instead of saying that your depressed client feels sad, you might say that they “feel like a big dark cloud is hanging above them, weighing them down, and zapping their energy.”

A Word of Caution

Writing emotion-driven copy effectively takes some skill, effort, and practice. It takes time to do it well.

Avoid using jargon words or clichés. Watch those exclamation marks–while one or two well-place exclamation marks can help convey emotion, ending a sentence with 2 or more is overkill, and ends up sounding like hyperbole.

Finally, while bulleted lists are helpful for readers who are doing a quick scan of your page, a bulleted list of problems by themselves won’t convey the depth of emotion that your clients or customers feel. You’ll need to write copy that is also conversational and engaging.

The bottom line: Write emotion-laden copy well and you will be rewarded with more and better-qualified clients or customers.

Want to make your website copy resonate more deeply clients and customers?

Here is what you can do:

1. Book a 50-minute website critique  and get Juliet’s feedback on your site. All sessions are audio-recorded.

2. Get help writing your therapy website copy.