3 Tips For Writing Better Headlines

5 Types Of Article You Can Write
If you always write the same type of article then you are probably limiting your chances of getting published. Look at your favorite publications and you will see they print a variety of types of article. Here are five of the .....

Copyright ' 2005 by Bruce Carlson

The single most important element of your website's copy
is the headline. Take away practically everything else
and you can still manage a sale (if the headline's good enough
and you have a strong enough call to action). But take away the
headline and your chances for any success are about zero.

Why is this'

Simply put, your headline is the magnet for your copy. It's
the 'door' through which people enter your world of persuasion.
Make it appealing enough and theyll step through the door. Fail
to make it appealing and they'll walk on by.

If you want to pull in customers, you need to be able to write
good headlines. And in order to write good headlines, you need to
understand a few fundamental principles of the craft. Here are
3 quick tips for writing better headlines for your website. Take
these to heart and you'll find writing headlines a lot less painful.

1. Understand the true purpose of a headline

A Copywriter Never Mumbles ' And Other Principles Of Effective Writing
H.L. Mencken, the author, jounalist and social critic observed that most people "write badly because they cannot think clearly." And the reason they cannot think .....

First off, you need to have a clear understanding of what your
headline is doing there. From all the confusion I see on websites,
it's safe to say that many people don't understand the purpose
of having a headline up there in the first place.

So what is the purpose of a headline'

Article Writing: SEO, Expert Authors And The Dumbification
Article authors who use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) keywords to attract attention and falsely position themselves as experts, are like impurities in the water, clogging up the pipes. .....

Your headline's basic purpose is to get the reader interested enough
to continue reading.

Not to make the sale. Not to be clever or artistic. Not to offer
a riddle for them to solve.

It's just to get them into your copy so they'll read the next thing after
your headline!

Think of your headline as the first step in a journey. Taking a journey is
a pretty major thing. People don't do it lightly. They have to genuinely
believe they'll get something worthwhile out of reading your copy before
they'll take the plunge.

Readers come in all shapes and sizes, since they're people plain and simple,
after all. But in general, readers of your copy have certain basic characteristics.
A big one for your website copy's purposes is the 'skimmer' mentality.

Most people are 'skimmers'. I'm sure you skim a lot yourself. I know I do
regularly. Very few of us are willing to sit down and read every word in
every ad or newspaper story or magazine article just for the fun of it. So

3 Tips To Profit From Newsletters Without Writing Them Yours
I'm sure you have heard many online marketers touting the benefits of having a newsletter. I have used newsletters in the past for many sites. I've used them as a source of revenue by having advertisements .....

we glance at the headline quickly and decide in a split second whether or
not we're going to continue reading. If it's compelling enough and clear
enough, we'll read more.

Assume that every person who comes to your website will only skim your headline.
Even if your reader is the most perfect prospect you could possibly find for your
product or service, they'll most likely still skim read your headline.

So you need to work out specific strategies and tactics for getting these skimmers'
attention.

2. Get their attention and target a strong emotion

There are three standard ways to get attention with your headline. These have been
proven by copywriters for many decades now.

In their order of effectiveness they are:

1. Go after your prospect's self-interest
2. Offer your prospect news
3. Try to arouse your prospect's curiosity

Appealing to your prospect's self-interest is the most effective single method
you can use to get their attention. Offer the reader something they want and can
get from you -- a direct benefit. Here are two simple, generic examples of
self-interest direct benefit headlines:

Add Another $1,000 A Month To Your Income

Want To Impress And Delight Your Friends And Family'

When appealing to your reader's self-interest, you must target a strong emotion. The
first example above targets people's desire for more money. Most regular folks would
certainly like to have another thousand dollars a month coming in. The second
example targets people's sense of pride. Practically everybody wants to feel more
important and look good in the eyes of their friends and family.

Avoid These Web Site Design And Writing No-Nos
Copyright 2005 Ronald Gibson

Is your website doomed before it even gets off the ground' A badly-designed website can turn off potential customers before they even .....

Your product or service has a strong emotional appeal built into it (if you haven't
found it yet you'll need to do so right away). And there may even be more than one emotion
involved. If so, then use the one which is the strongest ......

More Of This Article ....