[bctt tweet=”When someone lands on your website, how do you capture their attention?”]When websites were originally developed and became popular, the skills of the developer over-shadowed the marketing requirements.
The dotcom boom came and went and the key belief at the time was if a business had a website then the world would be knocking on their door and they would become multi-national virtually overnight. Of course, this didn’t happen for most businesses.
Over the years software has changed, the internet has grown up and common sense marketing principles are once again critical to the success of a website.
These days virtually anybody can create a website. But, buyer beware, as you usually get what you pay for. Cheap websites rarely perform and in most cases, having one built by your neighbour’s son who’s a whiz on computers is not ideal in business.
Without labouring the point and discussing the benefits of keyword research, search engine optimisation and professional copywriting, it’s clear that amateur websites usually under-perform, compared to a professionally researched, written and presented website.
The internet is a different media for marketing however, sound marketing principles will continue to work. The difference with the web is that viewers tend to be more attention deficit and it’s probably because there is so much information a mere click away.
When a prospect lands on your website, you have seconds to capture their attention and lead them deeper into your story or message. How are you going to achieve this?
Of course, the immediate visual impact plays a part. If your landing page is too busy, the readers eye is unable to get a fix on anything. Busy sites like these tend to have high bounce rates.
Here’s the one secret copywriters know, and most websites are missing…
The one tool that professional copywriters use to capture attention is a headline. There are many types of headlines such as
- The offer
- Curiosity
- Missing out
- The latest news
- Emotional
And many more…
Headlines are everywhere. Newspapers sell by attracting us with a headline. And they make reading easy by using mini headlines, we call them sub headlines. I’ve used one in this article so far. Magazines run headlines on the front cover. They tease us and entice us to buy in a similar way to newspapers. Our news on television is first delivered by a series of headlines before we have the introduction and full story.
Headlines have been the main attraction mechanism for years and we’ve all been lured into buying something that we don’t want or need because the headline and message took us on a journey to the sale. But, it all began with the headline.
When you check your emails your decision to open a message or not is driven by two factors; the sender’s name and the subject line. This is a headline. If you know the sender there is a good chance you will open the email unless you consider the subject line looks like spam.
The point is, headlines play a pivotal role in marketing and are the catalyst to whether the reader will stay on the page and read the message, or click away.
Here’s what you can do
- Now you appreciate the power of headlines, pay attention and switch on your radar. Look at magazines and newspapers for word structure, borrow books from the library or use a search engine to find more information. There will be lots of free information. Notice when you are switched on or switched off to a headline as this helps you understand a little more on buying triggers.
- Revisit your website and ask yourself what needs to be said to help your prospect stay with you and read more, look around your website, leading to the next step. This could be buying a product or making an enquiry or direct contact.
- How are you going to entice the reader to stay on the page using sub headlines?
If your website isn’t performing and you want to change your results then you need to test introducing headlines and record the results. Look for other articles on testing to understand more about this subject.
A headline has one role, to entice your prospect to read the next part. This keeps them on the website longer which in turn could lead to a sale. If your website or marketing lacks headlines, then you could be missing out on business.
