"Assuming the [prospect] has opened your [website], the next step is to get their attention. The opening headline is the first thing that your [prospect] will look at. If it doesn't catch their attention you can kiss your [website] goodbye. People have a very short attention span and usually [make a leave/stay decision within a few seconds]. If the headline doesn't call out to them and pique their interest, they will just [leave]."
Excerpted from 12-Step Foolproof Sales Letter Template by David Frey
A great part of the success of sites like Upworthy is due to their headline strategy. Your opening headline is very important. you could argue it is the single most important element of your site since your prospects make a stay/leave decision within a few seconds.
There are a number of headline generation formulas (see QuickSprout's Formula for a Perfect Headline, CopyBlogger's 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work, and HubSpot's Blog Topic Generator).
These formulas are targeted more for article headlines. However, we are concerned about your website headline. A good place to start for developing your website headline is your value proposition. Who do you help? How do you help them? Why are you unique?
Go do some market research and figure out your unique solution to a problem. Once you have a good grasp on that, read this excellent article on home page headlines from the ConversionXL blog. Tips from the article:
- Formula #1: Say what it is (the "next big sound")
- Formula #2: Say what [they] get ("Everything you need to make it legal.")
- Formula #3: Say what [they're] able to do (with it) ("Find a place to stay.")
- Better than headlines: make it a unique value proposition, something that only you are offering.
Once you have a handle on your value proposition, you can take the process a step further by testing the market with different landing pages. Create an "A" variation of your headline and page and a "B" version and then direct traffic to both using AdWords or a tool like Optimizely. Capture analytics on the conversion process and whichever performs the best is the winner.
Get Attention
Step 1
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