What do people see when they land on your website? You have about 8 seconds to capture their attention. In that short period of time, you have to answer these questions:
- Who does this company serve?
- What does this company offer?
- Is this the right fit for me?
Ambiguous headlines and jargon do not explain how your company is the solution to someone’s problem. In the first 8 seconds, you want to capture the visitor’s attention. Show them they're in the right place and they'll continue to explore.
To improve a visitor's experience, create a powerful website headline.
Capture Attention
Your headline is different than your company name. If you have a lot of name recognition in your industry, you can include your company name in the headline. Otherwise, put your logo and company name in a corner or out of the way of the headline. In direct response-we call this area the pre-head. The text is smaller than the headline and doesn’t detract from it.
Many B2B companies are wary of “gimmicky” headlines, and you should be. Business professionals are your audience and you want to appeal to them. A powerful website headlines uses clear and direct language to let them know what you do and who you are.
Who Do You Help?
Your headline needs to point out who you serve and what you do, usually in less than 20 words. To determine that, you’ll need to ask yourself some questions.
You aren’t helping companies, you’re helping people in those companies. Instead of saying we help hotels do X, you want to define who in the hotel you help.
Is it the front desk manager? The owner? The IT head?
This is all based on your ideal buyer persona. You might have several different people you help. You want to discover who is the best customer for you. Who has the final say? Who is most likely to be landing on your site?
The head of IT or the owner will have to approve the purchase. Are they the ones who will do most of the research on your site? If the answer is no, you want to appeal to the person you will be helping directly.
For example, you sell a POS system. This is unique because it can be used in both restaurants, spas and front desks. Who do you help? Who will benefit most directly from the POS system? In a powerful website headline, who you help should be obvious.
What Do You Do?
Be clear about the solution or service you provide. A headline with: Improving efficiencies in the streamlining process for better growth sounds impressive, but doesn’t give me a simple understanding of what you do.
You also want your solution to relate to a bigger benefit. We Create a Faster POS System is a feature. We Save You Time with a Faster POS System gives me a benefit.
Use these guidelines to create your new headline. For our Hotel POS vendor:
We Help Hotel Managers Save Time and Reduce Stress with a Faster POS System
A hotel manager who wants to save time processing payments is in the right place. A hotel manager who wants a better booking engine is in the wrong place. A revenue manager looking to save time may or may not be in the right place.
Now, the people who land on your site and could use your solution know they’re in the right place. They’re more likely to stick around after the first 8 seconds. Now, it’s time to get to know them better.
Are you ready to improve conversions on your homepage and create a powerful website headline? See if you qualify for a FREE 20-minute marketing strategy session to improve your website.
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