The Importance of Headlines

“Scientist Makes Health Discovery”

What exactly do you think about when reading this headline? Does it spark interest, or does it sound boring? Recent studies have stated that 80% of readers will stop reading your copy if your headline cannot command their attention and make them continue reading. The headline above would most likely make many readers stop reading. The title is very vague in the way it describes the information. A “health discovery”, in actuality, could be something as trivial as a new snoring remedy (Fascinating, huh?). The title also falls short at relating to the reader, which means that it is not personal enough. A better title would be:

“Warning: You Eat Them Everyday and They Could Kill You!”

Do you notice the difference between these two headlines? Most likely this headline will MAKE readers want to keep reading. A couple of crucial things to point out are: The first word is an action word. The word 'Warning' will attract attention because it is immediately apparent that it has to do with the reader. Instead of stating “Health Discovery”, the headline now states EXACTLY what the discovery has to deal with – your life. Would you not take a few minutes of your time to read an article that will in turn save your life? Lets hope you would!

Keep these tips on your mind when you are brainstorming headlines for your emails and sales letters. A good sales letter will give the reader a sense of urgency, and this all starts with the headline. It is crucial to success that the reader gets the feeling that they NEED the information contained on the page. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind while making your headline. First, make sure you always put the most important information first. Just like the example above, knowing that some scientist made some random discovery is not IMPORTANT to readers. Knowing that this health discovery could help them live longer IS important to them.

The headline should always use a larger font. This sounds like a no-brainer but you will be surprised at how many websites there are where the headline is indistinguishable from the copy itself. Being that the headline will be the first thing read on the page, you want it to stand out and be attractive. Also, when making your headline, using phrases that are a bit 'off' or 'out of the ordinary' is not necessarily a bad thing. Unusual things can be great at capturing attention (It was worked for the circus all these years, hasn't it?)

Headlines should be the most important instrument to marketers and journalist alike. The best of headlines will make your copy shine, and deliver a lot more feedback as a result of more people reading it. A boring headline will scare away readers resulting in you making the mistake of tweaking your copy, when it could only be your headline that is not up to par. So make sure when making your headline you at the very least, always relate it to the person who is reading it. Knowing that the article will directly effect the reader will go a LONG ways towards getting people to read your copy.