Author: Bob McClain, Web Copywriting Expert

How many times have you visited a website and either there is no headline opening the website copy or it says Welcome to XYZ Website? These are two of the biggest mistakes you can make when writing website copy.

You have only a matter of seconds to convince a visitor that you have the information or solution to their problem. “Welcome” tells them nothing. You’re essentially telling them that they have to “figure it out for themselves.” What are the odds they will?

If you have no headline, you’re leaving it to the visitor to figure out what to look at or where to read or what to click. Any good sales person will tell you that you have to control the conversation if you want to successfully make a sale. Website copywriting is no different and it all starts with great headlines.

Abraham Lincoln said that if he had six hours to cut down a tree, he’d spend the first five sharpening his axe. Let’s look at a few axe sharpening tips on how to create great headlines that grab a visitor and pull them into reading your website copy.

Tip #1 – If you’re going to steal, rob a bank, not a grocery store…

The best headline writers are direct mail copywriters and Time magazine headline writers. These are the people I collect, study, and steal ideas from. And before you have a fit about “stealing ideas”, as long as you only copy the “idea” or the “layout” of the headline and not the exact words, you’re fine.

Remember, even Shakespeare never wrote an original play. Every one of his plays were “rewrites” of existing plays or stories. He just wrote them better than anyone else.

So let’s take a quick look at some Time magazine headlines. Time knows that their headlines are what get people to pick up their magazine and flip through it. They know the quality of their coverage will convince most people who pick up the magazine to buy. But first, they have to get their attention:

HOW THE RIGHT WENT WRONG.

What would Ronnie do? And why the Republican candidates need to reclaim the Reagan legacy.

FORGET ORGANIC. EAT LOCAL.

The best food you can eat may be in your own backyard. Here is one man’s quest for the perfect apple.

IS GEORGE BUSH SPYING ON YOU?

AFTER SHARON: Does Peace Stand a Chance?

The important thing is to make a real impact. Keep it short. Hit ‘em hard. Use the subhead to expand the point. Just because these are magazine headlines aimed at consumers, it doesn’t mean you can’t use the same tricks to grab visitors to your business website.

Tip #2 – The headline always comes first…

There’s some controversy around this one. Some copywriters think you should write the website copy first and a great headline will flow from there. I disagree.

You should already know what the page copy is about before you start on the headline. But the headline is the “hub” or “spark” around which you’ll craft your copy. It is like a lens that brings everything into laser sharp focus.

As I may have mentioned before, I prefer to study direct marketing copywriters because these are the people who make upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year with their copywriting. And the best ones will tell you that they spend more time getting the headline right than they spend on the copy. Because if you don’t get the headline right, no one is going to read your brilliant copy.

These people often recommend that you write at least fifty versions of your headline. Don’t judge; don’t edit; don’t question. Just start writing headlines. Out of that bunch, the right one will likely pop out at you like a ripe tomato. Just don’t stop creating them when you think you have a brilliant one. The next one might even be better.

Tip #3 – Website headlines are unique because…

…no other type of headline must have a keyword phrase in it. We’re talking search engine optimization here. And that is extremely important with website copywriting headlines. That also means your job is doubly tough. All those direct mail copywriters and magazine copywriters don’t have an SEO expert leaning over their shoulder saying, “where’s my keyword phrase?”

My original headline for this blog post was “Writing Killer Headlines Every Time!” Guess what? The global monthly search for “killer headlines” is 260 people. I’d kind of like to do a little better than that. The monthly search for “great headlines” is 2400. A much better level of interest.

Always keep that in mind when you’re writing your headline.

Tip #4 – Question-based headlines can beat the heck out of statement headlines…

So now you’re asking yourself why my headline is a statement rather than a question. My headline worked best to get my point across and get my keyword phrases in by using a statement. However, questions can be a great way to grab interest.

Look at the four headlines I copied from Time. Two of them are questions. If you weren’t a fan of big government or George Bush, could you resist a headline like “Is George Bush Spying On You?” Doubtful.

Humans are curious creatures. We gotta know. And if you can hit our “hot button”, you have us pinned to the mat. Questions are a great way to multiply the effectiveness of a great headline. Which leads us to…

Tip #5 – Get inside your reader’s head…

You can’t write a great headline if you don’t know who you’re trying to communicate with. I recently had a client who sold and serviced equipment for testing parts that needed to be exact to hundredths or even thousands of an inch.

Unfortunately, I had just finished writing the copy for another client who put subtitles on Hollywood movies and wanted to be edgy and hip. I was still in that groove when I wrote the website copy for the testing equipment firm. The headlines were “edgy, hip or amusing”. Needless to say, they were horrified.

Their visitors were engineers and technicians who developed pacemakers and airplane parts. They had lives in their hands and were very serious people. I had to rewrite all the copy and write headlines that were serious and factual.

Never make assumptions. Always put yourself in the mind and “mind-set” of your visitors and the business you’re writing for. I once wrote copy for an accounting firm website. Boring and dry, right? Wrong. These accountants were all young people and they wanted to set themselves apart from other accounting websites. They wanted to be edgy and hip.

If you follow these tips, your website copywriting will get read because you’ll be creating great headlines that visitors simply can’t resist.