Headlines are the most important part of your sales letter. They account for ~ 90% of your success. In other words, if you don’t get your headlines right, your site won’t sell.
What’s the job of your headlines? They have to get your site visitor excited. Their goal is to grab your reader’s attention and to make her continue reading your sales letter. If your headline fails to create excitement, it’s very likely that your visitor will leave your site immediately and probably never return again.
How do you create excitement? You have to intrigue your reader with the fantastic benefits of your product. The headline of your sales letter has to present the most important benefit - the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) -- of your product.
The goal of your headline is to stir emotions and to help your reader to imagine enjoying all the great benefits of your product. People buy for emotional reasons and that’s why it’s so important to describe the benefits of your product and not its features.
Your site visitor is having only one question on her mind: What’s in it for me? -- How can I solve my problem?, How can I make more money?, How can I get that job? ... Focus only on your customer and answer her burning questions immediately -- that’s how to write a great headline.
In your headline, tell your customer that you have a solution for her problem, that you have the answers for her questions, that you will provide what she wants...
The result? Your reader will be excited right from the start, she will be eager to continue reading through your sales letter and chances are really good that you will get the click on the "credit card symbol" at the end of your sales letter.
Learn how to write a great headline and getting the sale will become easy -- outstanding headlines can increase your sales by several 100%.
One headline isn't enough - use also subheadings
* Right at the beginning of your sales letter you have to fire your biggest gun -- your USP, that’s the most compelling benefit of your product. To keep your reader interested and excited, use several subheadings throughout your sales copy.
* Each of these subheadings conveys a benefit. That way you will pull your reader through your sales letter, right to the "Buy Me" button. If you don’t keep your reader interested, you risk loosing her. So, keep on firing benefits. Also, it’s absolutely ok to state one and the same benefit several times in different ways.
* Most web surfers only scan pages, they don’t read every single word, but they will you’re your headlines. Therefore you have to make sure, that a visitor who reads only your headlines understands exactly what he will get out of your product.
* Make your reader’s job easy. Divide your text into small logical blocks and start each block with a headline. A headline is like an ad for the text that follows -- it has to convince your visitor to keep on reading.
10 simple tips to make your headlines more effective:
1. Write down all the benefits of your product. What kind of problems does it solve? How it make people happier, healthier, wealthier?...
2. You might not be aware of all the benefits. Think outside the box and keep on looking for more benefits -- don't let any of them slip away.
3. What is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of your product. What makes it stand out of the crowd, what makes it unique? That's your most important benefit, that's the one that will differentiate your product from those of your competitors.
4. Use short, active verbs that rouse emotions and create images.
5. Write your headlines only for your target customer and don’t care about the rest.
6. Powerful words you can use in your headlines: How to, Free, Why, Who wants to know, Finally... or ask an open-ended question: "Why do so many people fail to attract more money?"
7. Don’t hype, what you are saying has to be believable.
8. Brainstorm 10 - 20 headlines.
9. Pretend you are your customer. Which headline would get you excited, which one stirs your emotions? Pick your three favorites and keep on modifying and changing them until you are really happy.
10. Take a break and come back the following day with a fresh mind. Do a final edit if necessary.
Learning how to write a great headline takes time and effort, but its absolutely crucial if you want to succeed. It's very likely that you will spend the same amount of time for your headlines as for the rest of your sales letter -- and that's perfectly ok.