What makes a good website headline?

Each copywriter and writer will tell you how important headlines are. In fact, some of the best copywriters of all time spend half of the entire time it takes to write a piece of persuasive content on the headline. Whether it is an email, a blog post, an ad, or a website page the heading is the first and, perhaps, the only impression you can make on a visitor!

Seems like there is a lot of pressure here but let’s try to make it simple and enjoyable.

People do not read, they skim

People do not read anymore, they scan. Some mind-blowing statistics here. According to the research by Copeblogger, 80% of people will read your headline but only 20% will read the website body. About 40% of people will leave the website straight away, after clicking on it.

The information is so overwhelming and so vast and our attention span is so short that we do not have resources to read anymore. Instead, we skim through pages and articles trying to find something that we are actually interested in.

Headlines need to quickly deliver the main message to your audience

Sadly, we have less and less time these days, and based on the statistics above there is a high chance users will leave your website if they don’t understand the product straight away. Sounds logical, right?

When writing a headline, check if you can answer “yes” to the following questions:

1. Would you use this exact sentence to describe the service to your friend?
2. If your website was just a headline, would anyone take action?

Using the questions above is a great start but we all know that writing great headlines is not all that simple. If it were headlines like "ABC sells high-quality shoes" would be a high success. And yet, headlines like that will probably not make the reader stop and scroll down.

5 tips to write an engaging headline

Tip 1. Keep it short

The headline should be 6 to 12 words, and it's best to keep it 6 or fewer words long.

Tip 2. Think of your target audience

Imagine the headline “Immediate Skin Rash Prevention”. Headlines like this sound amusing, maybe even catchy, and if your target audience is uneducated, get-result-fast-with-no-effort like people, headlines like that will probably work. However, if you are trying to attract real people or businesses, headlines need to be more real as well.

Weight Watchers

The target audience of the Weight Watchers are people aiming to improve their health outlook. The headline speaks directly to this audience, making them take action.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is clearly targeting those for whom SEO is not the main expertise area and responsibility. But these people still do not need SEO to boost their business performance.

Colibri

The headline is great as Colibri makes people understand that even without design skills they will be able to build a beautiful website for their brand. And that's exactly what they need!

Tip 3. Make it clear and simple

People should be able to tell straight away what the product is. Otherwise, it will cause distrust and confusion.
Look at the examples below. Both headlines clearly tell you WHAT you get with the platform.

Nutrium

QuickMail

Tip 4. Benefit-oriented statement

In addition to the clear and simple service description, the benefit needs to be clearly highlighted as well. Sum up what people will get when purchasing your product. In the headlines below, it is clear straight away that people will get "great living" and "perfect freelancers" as a result of using the services.

American Writers & Artists Institute

Fiverr

Satori

Tip 5. Try to be unique

Unique headlines catch people's attention and make them curious about the company. Here are a few great examples that prove it.

Click a tree

Miracle Brand

Summing up

Following the tips above provides a great framework for writing amazing headlines. Writing headlines takes lots of time and concentration, but all the effort will pay back and increase the success of your business! DO YOUR BEST but Remember, there is never a perfect and ideal solution! You can always twist your headline a bit based on the traffic statistics.