You know as a marketer that the most effective way to reach your target audience is to craft out engaging articles that will establish yourself as an expert in your niche. Informative, authoritative articles forged from your own knowledge will lead to solid sales.
One way to make your articles stand out is to furnish them with powerful headlines. The importance of an effective headline can never be over emphasized. They are the “hook” that pulls in your readers. They are the catchy leads that build anticipation for your site visitors. They are the signposts that will guide your customers to your little domain amidst thousands of other similar articles from competing sites.
Without a good headline, it’s quite possible for your otherwise exemplary article to get lost in the wilderness of the web. So how do you go about creating an effective headline? There are no exact rules, but there are a few proven guidelines.
It must embody the whole article
If your visitors have to read for ten minutes to get to your main message, they will leave your site even before they have read for ten minutes. Or even if they endure the first visit, chances are, they won’t come back.
It must urge the reader to read on
Embodying the message in the lead or the headline doesn’t mean cramming a book’s worth of information at the beginning of the article. That would simply confuse or overwhelm the reader into giving up on the piece. Instead, put down the gist of the story with the implication that more relevant details will be coming along as they read the rest of the article.
It must hint at an incentive
Most of your visitors are not disinterested browsers. They are busy individuals looking for information about products and services they need. While they are scanning your site, they are asking themselves, “shall I read this; does it appear to contain what I’m looking for?” If your headline doesn’t say “yes, I have what you need so read along” (not literally, of course), the visitors will move on.
It must deliver
Most of all, your article must fulfill what you promise in the headline. No gimmicky lines or tall claims just to get those visitors to stay, read more, and hopefully click on the ‘Purchase’ button. A cheap trick will be instantly recognizable to visitors. And you will lose credibility.
You’ve probably heard it said that the first fifteen words in a marketing copy are the most important in terms of attracting potential buyers. The truth is, if you write copies, those first few words are the most important when it comes to everything that has to do with your message.
Written by David Thackeray
IT Professional