Make sure your visitors know they've come to the right place

It's not enough to tell your visitors where they are. You also need to reassure them they're in the right place.

Don't make them search for the information they need. It's not a treasure hunt.

The copy and content on your site should contain the keywords your target audience uses to search for information relevant to your services or products.

That's because the people you are targeting online are more likely to be searching for information and solutions to their problem -- like how to mend their TV or where to get a cheap flight to Mexico -- than specific products.

Identify your target market.

And to do this properly, you need to know how your target audience searches for information relating to your products and services.

You need to conduct research to find out exactly who your target audience is and where they hang out online.

And you need to find out how they search. Do they use localised searches, like "online copywriter in Vancouver," or more general searches, like "copywriting services online"?

Use online research tools.

You can conduct this research in a number of places, including:

Look for questions people ask and the words they use to ask them, and through this research you can build up a picture of your target audience, the problems they face, the solutions they're looking for and how they are searching for these solutions.

Use the right keywords to get the attention of your visitors.

The results of this detective work -- the most common keywords and phrases -- should be placed in prominent positions, like headlines, subheads and lists, so visitors who use them instantly feel they're in the right place.

At the same time, these headlines -- and other copy and content -- should make sense, engage your visitors and compel them to take action.