They say that if your web
site has a bad opening headline
you'll loose over 50% of your
visitors in the first few
seconds after they arrive at
your home page. Headlines are
the most important part of a web
page, but what constitutes a
good headline?
In today's article I'm going
to list the top 12 best direct
response headlines ever created.
How do I know these are the top
12 headlines ever? Simple. I
read this article. I've written
quite a few headlines over the
last few years. Some worked and
some didn't. The headlines below
have sold hundreds of millions
of dollars of products over the
last 50 years, and best of all
you can adapt each of these
headlines to suit your own
business.
"They laughed when I sat
down at the piano - but when I
started to play!"
This is *the* most popular
headline of all time. It has
been used in direct marketing
to sell millions of dollars
worth of products, but what is
it about this headline that
makes people keep reading? I
think it's the anticipation.
As a reader you ask yourself
"well, what happened when he
sat down at the piano? Did
they like what he played? What
song did he play?". This makes
you want to keep reading to
see exactly what "they" did
when "he" started to play the
piano. Can you use
anticipation to build
curiosity in your headline?
They grinned when the
waiter spoke to me in French -
but their laughter changed to
amazement at my reply.
Again, the use of
anticipation. "What was her
reply?" you ask yourself. "If
they didn't think she could
speak French, then what
country was she from?". When I
see this headline I picture a
group of mature aged women
sitting around at a fancy
restaurant with a waiter by
the side of the lady who
replied in French. How can you
use visual imagery to create a
killer headline for your web
site?
Do you make these mistakes
in English?
When I was writing our most
recent newsletter I decided to
give this headline a try. "Do
You Make These Mistakes When
Attracting New Clients?" is
the headline I chose. The
headline is followed by a
paragraph about our web master
secrets email course. I think
when you see this headline you
immediately ask yourself "What
mistakes is he talking about?
What if they are costing me
and my business money?" This
headline is easy to flip and
use for business. Can you flip
it?
Can You Spot These 10
Decorating Sins?
Similar to headline #3, this
headline provokes thoughts of
embarrassment. Obviously this
headline would've been used in
craft magazines targeted to
female homemakers, but what
you do you think the inner
monologue of a reader would
have been when she saw this
headline? "Decorating sins?
I've spent so much time
decorating the family home. I
hope I haven't committed any
of these decorating sins. Let
me read on just to make sure."
What "sins" might your
potential customers be
committing? Can you use this
headline on your web site or
in an article?
How a "fool stunt" made me
a star salesman
The "How" headline pulls
really well because it sounds
more like the introduction to
a story rather than a
headline. People love reading
stories and when I see a
headline like this I say to
myself "Hmmm, a story. I don't
really like salesmen but I
wonder what the stunt was that
made him a star". How can you
use the "How" headline to make
your ad or web page sound like
a story? Being a PHP
developer, I might use it like
this: "How crashing a web
server made me a star web
developer".
How a strange accident
saved me from baldness
The same as headline #5. I
think to myself "How can an
accident save this guy from
going bald? Is he crazy? This
sounds like an interesting
read, let me skim over the
article".
Who else wants a screen
star figure?
The "who else wants" headline
implies the theory of social
proof. "Who else" means that
other people already have
what's in question (in this
case it's a "star figure").
This headline also implies
that just by reading the
content of the article, you
too can have a star figure.
This gives the copywriter
plenty of time to "warm you
up" in the body of the article
so that you're ready for the
sales pitch a few paragraphs
after the headline. Make this
your next headline: Who else
wants [insert the benefit of
your product here]?
Who else wants a lighter
cake - in half the mixing
time?
The same as #7 with a clear
benefit – half the mixing
time. Implies social proof and
if that doesn't work the
benefit acts as backup.
Free to brides - $2 to
others
Headlines with "free" in the
title don't really work
anymore, but you could flip
this headline in another way.
This headline is strictly
targeted to brides, making
them sound in a class of their
own, as opposed to "others"
who have to pay $2 for
whatever the article is
promising the bride for free.
Free to high school
teachers - $6 to others
The exact same format as
headline #9. Use this headline
and just plug in words
relating to your industry:
[Low price] to [your target
audience] – [High price] to
others
Announcing the new Ford
cars for (year) "Announcing"
is an authoritative word and
immediately removes the
visitor's skepticism that the
headline could be for an
advertisement. "New" also
piques the interest of a lot
of people as in most cultures
it's generally acknowledged
that the people with the
newest [product] are
trendsetting individuals and
not followers.
Are You Ashamed of Smells
In Your Home?
This is a binary response
headline. You either answer
yes or no. If you answer yes,
then the headline gets your
attention and you continue
reading. The trick with this
type of headline is to make it
a question that the majority
of your readers will answer
yes to. Which question will
the majority of your web site
visitors answer "yes" to?
Conclusion
You've just read my thoughts
on 12 of the top 101 headlines
of all time. Next time you're
adding a page to your web site
or writing an article, why don't
you try incorporating one of the
headlines mentioned above? You
never know which one will
trigger your customers into a
buying frenzy ;)