What is a Headline?
The main headline on your landing page is typically the first piece of copy that a visitor sees after they click on an ad, and you only get one shot to secure that good first impression. With that in mind, aim to wrap your entire sales pitch into a single, bold sentence.
Did You Know?
- 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, and only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. (CopyBlogger, 2021)
- 90% of visitors who read your headline will also read your call-to-action (CTA). (Marketingsherpa, 2021)
- 23% of marketers who use A/B testing don’t test headlines. (Marketingsherpa, 2021)
As you can see, testing headline copy is not only useful for conversion rate optimization (CRO) and landing page optimization (LPO), but a crucial aspect of increasing your ROI.
When writing an effective landing page headline, ensure that you are speaking directly to the purpose of the call-to-action (CTA). For example, if you are offering a free demo of your product via a lead form, your headline should address the user’s desire and intent to receive that demo. There are numerous ways in which you can approach this strategy–refer to the following checklist as a handy guide.
Your headline should do one or more of the following:
✅ Pique the user’s curiosity.
Examples:
- “Master Healthy Cooking in 60 Minutes”
- “The Secret to Gaining 5k New Users on Your Platform”
- “Make Remote Employees Feel Like They Are in the Office”
- “Make Up to $35/Hour Driving Your Car”
✅ Answer a question for the user.
Examples:
- “The Reason Why You are Still Seeing Mosquitoes After Treatment”
- “Are You on Track for Retirement?”
- “Why Your Cat Should Use Our Elevated Bowl”
✅ Solve a problem for the user.
Examples:
- “Do You Want More Organic Traffic?”
- “A Project Management Tool Your Team Will Actually Enjoy Using”
- “The #1 Solution for Hair Loss”
- “Are You Suffering from Chronic Dry Skin?”
- “Designing Made For You, the Non-Designer”
✅ Provide instructions for the user.
Examples:
- “How to Double Your IG Followers”
- “Sell Your Old Clothes on the Platform Millions Trust”
- “When You Find Something You Want to View Later, Put it in ExampleApp.”
- “10 Ways to Succeed at Your First Investment”
An important thing to keep in mind is that, while you should utilize the above best practices when writing headlines, testing those headlines is vital for validating your marketing efforts. A/B (also known as split) and multivariate testing are solid opportunities to continuously optimize your landing page(s). In fact, one of our clients in the higher ed vertical saw a 138.6% uplift when we tested “Get Connected with a Counselor” against “Let’s Get Started”!
At Found Search Marketing, we create the perfect landing page headings for our clients using Unbounce. Our robust team of talented copywriters, CRO experts, and UI/UX specialists take the guesswork out of landing page headline writing and testing. Contact us today for a free consultation. We’ll turn your landing page into a well-oiled marketing and sales machine.
