Writing doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but with the right frameworks, creating content that drives action becomes a whole lot easier.
Most high-converting content isn’t accidental.
It’s built on proven structures that give copy clarity, emotional pull, and persuasive momentum; all without sacrificing creativity.
In this guide, we unpack the copywriting formulas that consistently deliver results.
We’ll explain classic frameworks and share the techniques we use in-house at Digitaloft to help you find practical ways to ensure your landing pages, informational content, and even product descriptions do more heavy lifting.
Do copywriting frameworks actually make your content better?
In a word: Yes.
In a number of words: Yes, but only if you know how to use them effectively.
Copywriting formulas give your content structure, clarity, and purpose, helping you move readers from passive interest to action. By tapping into proven principles of buyer psychology, these frameworks engage both the conscious and subconscious drivers behind decision-making.
Think of them like the scaffolding behind a building: essential for creating something strong, reliable, and fit for purpose. Without a framework, content can feel unfocused, confusing, or forgettable. With the right structure, your message becomes clearer, more persuasive, and more effective.
That said, formulas are just the foundation. To create truly high-performing content that supports organic visibility, you also need to cater to Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines by building on them with original insights (information gain), genuine value, and sharp, audience-first writing from start to finish.
8 of the most effective copywriting frameworks every marketer should master.
Understanding key frameworks is essential for writing content that captures attention, builds interest, and drives action.
Here, we break down eight tried-and-tested copywriting models every growth-focused content marketer should know, plus five additional frameworks we use at Digitaloft to create high-impact content.
1. AIDA – Attention → Interest → Desire → Action
AIDA is one of the most enduring copywriting frameworks, and with good reason. It’s designed to guide readers through a clear psychological journey, from first glance to final action:
- Grab attention: Lead with a strong hook. Present a problem, opportunity, or key benefit that immediately resonates.
- Pique interest: Once you have their attention, maintain momentum by offering valuable insights or demonstrating relevance to their frustrations and desires.
- Create desire: Tap into emotional triggers. Help readers envision how your product, service, or idea could improve their lives. Use sensational, jargon-free language to give it emotional resonance without compromising accessibility.
- Encourage action: Finish with a clear, compelling call to action (CTA) that tells the reader exactly what to do next, whether that’s requesting a demo, downloading more information, or making a purchase.
2. PAS – Problem → Agitate → Solution
PAS is all about finding the pain point, poking it, then offering the fix.
This framework is great for landing pages, email marketing copy, and product pages. It works like this:
- Present a problem: Identify your reader’s problem and show that you understand their challenges. You can even introduce a problem your users don’t know they have!
- Agitate the prospect: Now it’s time to pour salt in the wound. Make them realise that their problem is worth solving and highlight the consequences of not solving it.
- Offer the solution: This is where you introduce your product and explain how it can solve their specific problem. Focus on the benefits, not just the features, and emphasise how this problem can be a thing of the past with your product.
3. FAB – Features → Advantages → Benefits
The FAB formula lets you show and tell. Ideal for product pages and adverts, this framework lets your products shine by showcasing their features, advantages, and benefits.
- Features: This is the easy part: describe the tangible features of your product and what makes it unique.
- Advantages: Explain how your product’s properties can directly impact the user, improving their life.
- Benefits: Highlight the benefits of your product for the user. Answer the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question.
4. The Four Cs of Copywriting
Great copy doesn’t just talk a good game; it drives action and delivers real business value. As writers, we engineer these outcomes by making sure our content is clear, concise, compelling, and credible. No fluff, no jargon.
If your content misses any of these fundamentals, you risk losing reader attention, trust, and ultimately, conversions.
Here’s how the Four Cs apply across guides, landing pages, product descriptions, and beyond:
- Clear: Avoid jargon, overcomplication, and ambiguity, instead using straightforward, conversational language that anyone can understand. The average reading age in the UK is just 9–11 years old, so clarity always wins.
- Concise: Eliminate redundancies, write in the active voice, and avoid repetitiveness to create concise content. You need to respect the fact that your readers are likely time-poor and distracted.
- Compelling: Your copy should have an underlying persuasive message that is relevant to the audience and addresses a pain point. If they don’t have a reason to care and continue reading, why should they take action?
- Credible: Build trust by grounding your claims in facts, social proof, and transparency. Credibility strengthens your brand, boosts conversions, and enhances your site’s E-E-A-T signals, making it more valuable to both users and search engines. Plus, reputable third-party citations increase the likelihood of your content being featured in AI Overviews and LLM search results, expanding the reach of your messaging beyond traditional search.
Here’s an example of compelling, clear, and concise copy that demonstrates credibility:
“Find the right CRM for your business in minutes. Compare features, pricing, and reviews – all in one place. Trusted by over 50,000 businesses and rated 4.8/5 on Capterra.”
5. BAB – Before → After → Bridge
Ever heard the saying, “People buy outcomes, not solutions”?
BAB is a storytelling technique designed to create emotional momentum by showing readers exactly what’s possible when they choose you. It’s especially effective for case studies, landing pages, and conversion-focused social posts.
- Before: Set the scene by describing the reader’s current challenge. Make it real, relatable, and impossible to ignore.
- After: Paint a vivid picture of the better future they could have — the results they want, without the struggles they’re facing now.
- Bridge: Position your product or service as the essential link between where they are today and where they want to be.
Used well, BAB doesn’t just tell a story; it shows readers that a better outcome is within reach and makes taking action feel like the obvious next step.
Here’s an example of BAB in action, red is before, blue is after, and green is the all-important bridge:
6. The “So what?” Test
This one isn’t a formula; it’s a mindset. Every line of copy should answer the reader’s internal “So what?”. Read each sentence as if you are a customer, asking, ‘Why should I care?’.
If you can’t justify a sentence, it’s dead weight. This test makes your messaging lean and focused, keeps your readers engaged, and drives them to take action.
It links to the FAB model by pushing writers to champion the tangible benefits of products or services over their features.
Here’s an example:
Original copy:
“Our smartphone lets you play music directly from your device.”
Rewritten copy:
“Take your music anywhere, anytime – enjoy crystal-clear sound, powerful bass, and up to 30 hours of uninterrupted playtime, all from your pocket.”
7. The SLAP formula
The SLAP formula stops your readers in their tracks, makes them look, motivates them to act, and convinces them to purchase. This snappy, to-the-point style is ideal for shorter pages or social copy, taking your readers on a fast-tracked ride through the buyer journey.
In this example, The Range has used capitalisation and emojis to grab our attention, high-quality imagery to pique our interest, and product benefits to spark our imagination.
8. The Four Ps: Picture → Promise → Prove → Push
This formula starts at the end and works backwards. Sell the dream, prove your claim with stats or testimonials, and give them a final push with a CTA that feels too good to ignore.
- Picture: Start with a compelling, attention-grabbing statement or benefit describing the dream.
- Promise: Tell your prospect that this dream is achievable.
- Prove: Show that your product is key to unlocking this vision. You could even blend in the FAB structure to back up your claims.
- Push: Finish with a clear and persuasive call to action that tells the reader to take the next step.
How to write SEO content that converts: Digitaloft’s 5 formulas.
Mastering core copywriting formulas is a great starting point, but to create web content that ranks, engages, and drives real growth, you need to go further.
And there’s data to back this up, too. Organic has the highest conversion rate of any channel at 16%, outperforming even platforms like Amazon, which see conversion rates between 10% and 15%. This makes one thing clear: investing in SEO-driven, conversion-focused content isn’t just about visibility; it’s one of the most effective ways to turn traffic into tangible results.
At Digitaloft, we’ve developed five strategic frameworks designed specifically for this. These models help brands outperform their competition and maximise organic opportunities.
Here’s how each one works and how you can apply them.
1. CARI – Competitors → Assessment → Research → Improvement
Effective copywriting alone won’t guarantee success. Without a solid SEO foundation, even the best writing risks being invisible. CARI ensures your content is both discoverable and conversion-focused.
- Competitors: Identify who is currently ranking for your target keywords. Study their content’s format, structure, and messaging.
- Assessment: Evaluate what your competitors are doing well, and where there are gaps or weaknesses you can improve upon.
- Research: Use SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to expand your understanding of keyword opportunities, search intent, and content performance.
- Improvement: Build content that matches and outperforms what’s currently available. Fill content gaps, strengthen your structure, refine your messaging, and add original insights that create information gain.
2. The Full-Funnel Method
Full-funnel copywriting is about aligning content to the customer journey – from the first touchpoint to the final.
- Top of Funnel (TOFU): Readers are discovering a problem or opportunity. Content should educate, build trust, and introduce your brand.
- Middle of Funnel (MOFU): Readers are considering options. Content should nurture interest, demonstrate authority, and differentiate your offering.
- Bottom of Funnel (BOFU): Readers are ready to make a decision. Content should drive action through proof points, clear benefits, and strong CTAs.
Misaligned content leads to lost opportunities. A reader at the BOFU stage doesn’t need an introductory blog post, they need reassurance that they’re making the right decision. Full-funnel thinking ensures your content meets people where they are and moves them toward conversion.
3. RIDBUR – Refresh → Intent → Deepen → Boost → Update → Restructure
RIDBUR is your go-to content optimisation framework! Use it to enhance your copy and transform underperforming content into a traffic magnet.
Here’s how:
- Refresh outdated information: Check your copy for old statistics, outdated references, and out-of-stock products to keep content accurate and valuable.
- Intent alignment: Search intent shifts, so analyse top-ranking competitors to make sure your content still matches what users are looking for today.
- Deepen content: Add depth through FAQs, expert insights, and multimedia elements to improve engagement. Always ask yourself, “How can I offer my audience more value here?”.
- Boost clickability: Improve CTR by refining titles and meta descriptions based on what drives real clicks. Implement A/B testing where possible so that you’re making data-backed optimisations.
- Update internal links: Strengthen internal linking to keep users (and search engines) moving through your site.
- Restructure your pages: Improve scannability and UX by refining layouts, improving heading hierarchies, and removing redundancy.
RIDBUR doesn’t just maintain performance, it actively drives growth by helping content evolve alongside your audience and the search landscape. If your site is a victim of content decay, use this framework to give it a new lease of life.
4. PASBO – Problem → Agitation → Solution → Benefits → Optimisation
PASBO builds on the classic PAS model to create copy that is persuasive, benefit-led, and search-optimised.
- Problem: Clearly articulate the reader’s challenge or need.
- Agitation: Highlight the consequences of inaction, creating urgency and emotional engagement.
- Solution: Introduce your product or service as the answer, showcasing how it’s better than alternatives.
- Benefits: Move beyond features – show readers the real-world outcomes and improvements they can expect by using your product or service.
- Optimisation: Ensure content is technically sound for SEO, aligning keywords, metadata, and structure for maximum discoverability.
PASBO connects emotional resonance with SEO best practices, resulting in content that ranks, converts, and supports long-term organic growth.
5. The Question Ladder
The question ladder is a simple but powerful model for structuring SEO content around user queries.
Start with a primary search question (your H1), then structure the content to answer the most likely follow-up questions in a logical sequence. You can pull these from anywhere: customer service feedback, Google People Also Ask features, Perplexity.ai prompts, market research, common sense…wherever works for you.
By taking this approach, you:
- Improve relevance and keyword coverage
- Increase time on page
- Enhance your chances of capturing featured snippets
- Create a better reading experience by anticipating user needs
What to use when: The best applications for copywriting frameworks.
| Framework: | Best used for: |
|---|---|
| AIDA (Attention → Interest → Desire → Action) | Landing pages, sales pages, paid ads, email marketing sequences. Anywhere you need to guide readers step-by-step toward a clear action. |
| PAS (Problem → Agitate → Solution) | Product pages, email marketing, high-converting blog intros, and service landing pages. Great for emotional resonance when selling solutions. |
| FAB (Features → Advantages → Benefits) | Product descriptions, category pages, service pages, and email marketing. Especially effective for B2B, SaaS, and eCommerce, where explaining value clearly is key. |
| The Four Cs (Clear → Concise → Compelling → Credible) | All copywriting! Particularly important for blog content, website service pages, white papers, and long-form resources. |
| BAB (Before → After → Bridge) | Case studies, testimonial-led landing pages, social media posts, and paid ads. Great when storytelling or showcasing transformation. |
| The “So What?” Test | Editing blog posts, landing pages, and website content. Best applied during the editing phase to strengthen any kind of content. |
| SLAP (Stop → Look → Act → Purchase) | Paid social ads, organic social media posts, email subject lines, and product page highlights. Designed for short-form, fast-action copy. |
| The Four Ps (Picture → Promise → Prove → Push) | Homepage hero sections, sales pages, and lead generation landing pages. Best when you want to paint an aspirational vision and then drive action. |
| CARI (Competitors → Assessment → Research → Improvement) | SEO blog content, pillar pages, and ultimate guides. Essential for crafting high-intent content capable of competing organically on the SERPs. |
| The Full-Funnel Method | Content strategy planning, blog content, lead nurture sequences, and multi-step landing page funnels. Helps create content that matches user intent at every stage. |
| RIDBUR (Refresh, Intent, Deepen, Boost, Update, Restructure) | Existing underperforming blog content, evergreen pages, and SEO content audits. Perfect for content optimisation and combating content decay. |
| PASBO (Problem → Agitation → Solution → Benefits → Optimisation) | SEO-driven landing pages, product pages, and service pages. Brilliant when you need conversion-focused SEO content that doesn’t just rank, but sells. |
| The Question Ladder | SEO blog content, FAQs, pillar pages, and resource hubs. Powerful for rich snippet targeting, AI search visibility, improving UX, and building topical authority. |
Copywriting tips from our content experts.
Creating conversion-focused content is about more than following formulas. It’s about understanding what moves your audience, and shaping your words to meet them there.
We asked our content team to share their most practical, battle-tested advice for writing SEO content that ranks, engages, and converts.
Here’s what they had to say:
Be human – write people-first content first, optimise second.
Before you worry about keywords or structure, make sure you’re solving real problems for real people…not search engines. Focus on clarity, empathy, and value — when you nail that, strong rankings naturally follow.
“If your content feels like it’s been written for an algorithm instead of a human being, your readers (and Google) will see right through it. Always start by understanding your audience’s needs and goals, and build your content to serve them first. Search engines reward content that’s truly useful, not content that’s obviously over-optimised.”
– Rob Needham, Content Marketer at Digitaloft
Write skimmable, scannable content.
Clear, scannable structures keep readers moving through your content. Use a logical flow, sharp subheadings, and proven formulas to guide them naturally towards your CTA.
“The truth is, people don’t actually read anymore. You probably haven’t actually read every word of this guide, have you? We’re busy, distracted, and in need of instant gratification, so we skim texts to find the information we need, then move on. If content isn’t effortless to digest, readers simply lose patience. Think of headings as road signs guiding the reader through your content. Keep sections tight, use bullets and lists to break up text, and make it easy for them to reach the action you want them to take.”
– Elana Anthony, Content Marketer
If you wouldn’t say it, don’t write it.
Your writing should sound natural, not robotic. If you wouldn’t say a phrase out loud in a conversation, it probably doesn’t belong on the page either.
“Good copy reads the way real people talk. If you wouldn’t naturally say something to a friend, colleague, or customer, it’ll feel forced and awkward on the page too. A simple test: read your content out loud. If it feels stiff, overcomplicated, or unnatural, rewrite it. Conversational copy is clearer, more relatable, and far more persuasive. Plus, using natural language is one way to optimise text for LLMs, meaning you’re more likely to rank in AI search results and Google’s AI Overviews.”
– James Brockbank, Managing Director
Create content that ranks, engages, and converts with Digitaloft
Want copy that doesn’t just sound good, but drives real growth?
At Digitaloft, we combine data-driven SEO strategies with conversion-focused copywriting to create blog content that boosts visibility, product pages that convert, and landing pages that move users to act.
If you’re ready to elevate your content marketing strategy with words that work, we’d love to help. Get in touch to chat with our team today.