Internet Marketing Tutorial : Headlines and H1 tags

Having good headlines on your website can often mean the difference between success or failure for your online business. Statistic generators like Google Analytics show us time and time again that people who surf the net are usually are in a hurry. They do not always have time to look around and read all of the information that's on your homepage. Most visitors, it seems, appear to be eager to merely have a quick glance at them move on.

Countless studies by people like Steve Krug (author of “Don't Make me Think – A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability”) have suggested that one of the first places where people look when they visit a webpage is around the area of the page where we might expect to find a page headline. So, you can think of the area which is near the top left hand side of your screen as being prime real estate, as far as your website goes. Whatever you put in that area absolutely must entice your visitor into staying and not becoming another contributor to your bounce rate.

Unfortunately, many website owners have poor headlines on their website. Headlines like “Welcome to [company name here]” are extremely common and extremely damaging. Such headlines do not give visitors any information about what is on the website. They do not give the visitor any motivation for staying and furthermore, they do not offer anything which is likely to result in an improved search engine ranking.

A good headline should help you to achieve the following two goals:

1.A high search engine ranking for your website
2.More success in converting website visitors into buyers


To achieve the first goal you should always use H1 tags when you are creating your headline. H1 tags appear to send out the message (to the search engines) that your web pages are properly constructed and it also gives the search engines an indication of what kind of content your website has. Secondly, you should always include your primary target keyphrase within your H1 tags. So, if you are selling leather handbags and you want to get to the top of Google for the phrase “leather handbags” then you should include that phrase within your H1 tags.

Well written headlines can also dramatically convert more website visitors into buyers. In several split tests we have observed conversion rates doubling simply by replacing poorly written headlines with good page headlines.

One of the most common mistakes people make when writing page headlines is to simply say “Welcome to [insert company name or name of website]”. Headlines like that do not help with search engine ranking, nor do they tell visitors what service is on offer or why the visitors should do business on the website. You should avoid using this type of headline at all costs.

A simple technique you can use to write more powerful headlines is to try to include the word “you”. This simple three letter word appears to have a powerful positive psychological effect on the reader. So, instead of saying:

“Our beauty cream can make people look five years younger.”

...you could say:

“Our beauty cream can make you look five years younger.”

There are a range of other strategies you can use to write better headlines. Since most website visitors appear to have an extremely short attention span it is in your interests to write a headline which directly tells the visitor why they should do business with you.

Unfortunately, many website owners use their headlines to describe how glorious and fantastic their business is. This strategy does not work. A better approach is to imagine that your website visitor has just asked you the question, “What's in it for me?”. Your goal is to answer that question in a direct and economical manner. For example:

“Our car insurance costs one third less, on average, than the next best company.”

...might seem like a good headline. After all, it makes a bold claim. Never the less, it is weak. The reason it is weak is because it does not tell the visitor directly why they should do business with this website. A much better headline would be:

“Insure your car with us and save up to £350!”

There are several other simple but powerful techniques which you can use to write powerful headlines for your website. One such example is to create a sense of urgency with your headline. So, this means that if you have a special offer or a special deal then you can use your headlines to create a sense of urgency with your visitor, which will encourage them to respond more quickly, more positively and in vaster numbers to your website. For example, instead of saying:

“All of our carpets come with FREE delivery and FREE fitting!”

...you could say:

“Order your carpet before November and enjoy FREE delivery and FREE fitting!”

The second headline is better because it creates a sense of urgency. The second headline also uses another powerful sales technique which is called “passing off ownership”. Passing off ownership simply means writing or talking about your product or service in a manner which suggests that the potential buyer has already purchased the item. This type of technique, as simple as it may seem, will have a powerful effect on your website visitors.

Also, when you are writing your headlines you should NOT be afraid of being specific about what the unique selling points of your business, products, or service are. Many website owners let themselves down by using their headlines which make sweeping generalised statements about their business, products or services. They will say things like:

“Our tracking software makes websites successful.”

Headlines like that are like white noise to your visitors. Almost every software company is claiming that their software will make people successful. You should try to be more specific about the benefits and unique selling points about your product or service. So, the headline below would be a much better:

“Our software can make you successful by converting more of your website visitors into buyers.”
Using headlines to tell your visitors about your company's primary or unique selling points is a fantastic idea. However, most website owners who appreciate this truth shoot themselves in the foot by making “cheapness” or “low cost” their main selling point. This is a deeply flawed strategy on the web. The trouble is, the vast majority of commercial websites out there are already using low price as their key selling point. Also, most web shoppers have an inbuilt assumption that buying online is a cheaper alternative to buying on the high street, or elsewhere in the “real” world. So, cheapness, low cost, rock bottom prices or whatever term you want to use is certainly NOT a good or unique selling point to put forward in your headlines.

Instead you should try to find another, more interesting and catchy selling point. Faster, more powerful, more reliable, more environmentally friendly, easier to clean, better service, more luxurious, better guarantees, easy to use are all examples of powerful unique selling points that you might want to put forward. If you insist on using low cost as your primary selling point then you should at least try to be very specific about why your offer is better than offers which are available elsewhere. So, as a reminder, you'll notice that our car insurance example was very specific about the benefits that were on offer. Once again:

“Insure your car with us and save up to £350!”

Giving very specific price examples, as shown above, is far better than making sweeping, generalised statements like “we are cheaper than our competitors”.

If you have read this far then congratulations. You are almost a headline guru. But there is one final detail that needs to be put right. You may have noticed that this tutorial has been divided into two parts. In the first part you learned how to build headlines which will help you to get a high ranking on the search engines. The second half of this tutorial has consisted of advice on how to write headlines which sell your products or services in a more powerful manner. This raises the possibility of an interesting dilemma for the person who wants to get a high ranking AND convert more visitors into buyers with their headline. In other words, there is a problem if you do not want to use your primary target keyphrase in your headlines.

So, as an example, let's imagine that you have a website which sells car insurance.

QUESTION: Should you use a headline which will help you to get a high search engine ranking like, “Cheap car insurance company” or should you use a headline which will convert more visitors into buyers, like “Insure your car with us and save up to £350!”?

You will notice that the second headline does not contain your primary target keyphrase (which is almost certainly going to be “car insurance”). However, the second headline is more appealing to the reader.

The answer is you should use both. However, the trick is to use h1 tags on the first headline to make sure it is search engine friendly. You should then use CSS to make that headline smaller and more discrete. You should also use CSS to ensure that your first headline appears high up in your source code. This means that the search engines will love your page but your visitors will see your other headline first.

Your other, more sales orientated headline should be written with a large font (perhaps using CSS to make the font appear large) and it should be very striking. You may even consider using an image for your second headline. Using an image (a picture of the words “Insure your car with us and save up to £350!”) can make your text appear more attractive and can also allow you to use commercial phrases whilst giving your website all the hallmarks of a non commerical website. This has major implications for your search engine optimisation efforts. However, I shall leave that conversation for another day.

Good luck with your headlines!

-David Connelly