AEO
Answer the Question Before You Sell
Answer engine pages lead with the answer: price range, what is included, how long it takes. The pitch comes after the person has what they searched for. This article shows how to restructure a page that does it the other way round.
What does it mean to answer before you sell?
We call it AEO: answering the question in the first lines, before the pitch. Someone searches “how much does a website cost for a plumber?” They want a number or a range, not a paragraph about your passion for plumbing websites.
Most business pages are built the old way. They open with a welcome, a mission, a list of virtues, and the price turns up in the footer, or never. The person has to work for the answer. Many won’t. They go to a page that gave it to them straight away.
What are the three answers people want first?
For almost any service, the first questions are the same: what does it cost, what do I get for that, and how long will it take? A page that answers all three in its opening lines has done the hard part.
- Price range: the starting price, or the typical range, in dollars. If it varies, say what it varies with.
- What is included: the real list, in plain words.
- How long: a timeframe if you can honestly give one, or what the timing depends on if you can’t.
What does it look like on the page?
Here is the pattern in practice, using our own prices. Question: how much does a tradie website cost? Opening answer: “Tradie websites start from $1,048. That includes quote and booking forms, service areas and a reviews section, local SEO setup, Google Business Profile readiness and a click-to-call layout that works on a phone. You own the site.”
That is three sentences and the visitor has the price, the inclusions and the ownership terms. Only then comes the detail: how the process works, what we need from you, and how to get started. The pitch sits below the answer, where someone who wants more can find it.
What if you can’t give a fixed price or time?
Plenty of trades can’t quote without seeing the job. You can still answer. Give a starting figure or a typical range, say what moves the price (access, size, materials), and say what the quote will include. “From” prices are common and fine, as long as they are honest.
Timing works the same way. If you can’t say “three days”, say what decides it. For a website build, the usual delay is waiting on photos and answers from the client. A tradie or custom build takes longer than a landing page because forms, pages and words must match the job. Telling people that is more trustworthy than a vague promise.
How do you restructure an existing page?
Take your most-visited service page. Find the sentence that holds the price, the inclusions or the timing. Move it to the top, directly under the heading. Cut the welcome paragraph. Turn your subheadings into the questions customers ask: “How much does it cost?”, “What is included?”, “How long does it take?”
As an example, a Logan landscaper’s retaining wall page opens with “We are passionate about transforming outdoor spaces.” The rewrite opens with “Retaining walls in Logan are priced by length and height after a site visit. Your quote lists materials, drainage and removal of spoil.” (Example only.) The passion can come back lower down, once the reader has what they came for.
How does HoneyPot work on this?
Our builds include SEO and answer-engine copy, which means pages written to answer first. Landing pages start from $548 and are built to launch in days, not months. If you want help with the words on an existing site, copywriting is $149 per page and an SEO audit and fix is $299.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO is making a page easy to find. AEO is answering the question in the first lines so the answer can be quoted. Good pages do both.
Should I put my prices on my website?
If you can give a starting price or a range, yes. If not, say what the price depends on and what a quote includes.
Get a clear quote
Tell us what the business does and where. We reply with what is included and what it costs. You own the site.