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Great headlines

January 8, 2010 By 1 Comment

Ted Nicholas (the guru of copywriting) says you should spend more time on your headline than on the rest of your copy, I’m not sure I totally agree, but it’s definitely the top of my list of things to get right!

If your headline does its job properly it will:

  • Catch the reader’s attention
  • Reassure them they’ve come to the right place to find what they were looking for
  • Connect with them on their level (not yours)

    • If it doesn’t work people will:

  • Be confused
  • Get irritated
  • Suffer from frustration
  • Leave your site

    • If it’s missing completely it’s as bad as not having a headline at all.

    Remember that ‘Welcome’ is not a headline and neither is ‘Home page’. If your web designer is any good they will be able to arrange for the page the user is on to show up in a different colour on the menu so you don’t need to waste prime real estate telling people where they are!

    How do you create a good headline?

  • Ask your target audience what they would be looking for when they search for the type of goods or services you offer.
  • Focus on what your audience wants to know – not what you to tell them.
  • Try and include at least one key word (but err on the side of the human being rather than the search engine).
  • Don’t exceed 17 words in the headline – yes, 17! Don’t let longer sentences frighten you.
  • Focus on either pain – the problem your user is trying to solve – or gain – what’s in it for them.

    • Brainstorm as many headlines as you can without worrying about how readable they are. Then when you’ve run out of ideas review the lot and you’ll almost certainly have one or two – or two that can be amalgamated – that stand out and have energy and engagement.
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    Filed Under: Headlines, Readability Tagged With: , , , , ,

    3 things your website MUST do

    May 8, 2009 By 1 Comment

    You’re probably already guessing at lots of things your website should do – and you’re probably right for most of them, but these are my absolute essentials:

    # One – have a clear purpose
    Most people will say that their website is to make sales – or sometimes as an online brochure, but then a brochure is intended to persuade people to buy, so that’s the same thing. However, you need to be realistic, if you don’t have an ecommerce site, people are probably not able to buy from you online. This means that the purpose actually is for them to ring or email.

    # Two – get their attention right away
    If people arrive on your website and have to search to see if you’ve got what they want, your website isn’t working. Most people won’t bother making the effort; if it’s not obvious they’ll just go somewhere else!

    If you’re paying for your site to be search engine friendly and get traffic, it’s not good news if people take one quick look and leave.

    # Three – don’t put obstacles in their way
    Make life easy so eliminate anything that will make people work harder than necessary to get your message. How quickly can they see that you’ve got what they want? Are your pages clear or confusing?

    Think about your website from the viewer’s perspective – if you know what you want them to do, get their attention and make it easy for them to take action you’ll be way ahead of most of your competitor’s websites!

    Filed Under: Articles, Headlines, Readability, Website copy Tagged With: , , , ,

    The impact of web copy on usability

    March 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    Usability is all about how easy it is for people to find the answer to their query, the information they wanted and their way around your site.

    The first challenge is that people can see whether you’ve got what they thought they wanted quickly. This is usually down to clear headlines, clean navigation and no confusing clutter on the page on which they arrive and simple, straightforward web copy.

    The second challenge is that the site is constructed logically with easy to understand menu choices – so NOT ‘who we are’, but stick to ‘About’; much less creative, but doesn’t require people to think about it! When they get to the ‘About’ page make sure the web copy doesn’t spawn lots of additional pages with details of ‘what we do’, ‘how we work’, ‘mission statement’, etc.

    The third challenge is that your web copy only provides the information that people are looking for. Just because you know all the technical detail about your product or service, don’t assume everyone else wants to know it too (hopefully, that’s what they’ll be paying you for – your knowledge and the ability to make life easier for them). Don’t be tempted to write web copy on too many subjects, stick to the point.

    The fourth challenge is to keep them focused on the key message – so no fancy whizzy things that take their eyes away from the web copy and resist the urge to litter the page with pretty coloured boxes and options that provide far too many choices for them to decide amongst.

    This is just the start of it – but it’s a good start! Sign up to the news service (to the right of here) and you’ll receive lots more useful information in small bite-sized chunks!

    Filed Under: Headlines, Marketing, Readability, Testimonials, Website copy Tagged With: , ,
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