Headline test

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A correspondent has posed a very sticky question. How, she asks, can you tell whether a headline you have written is a good one…or not? What she means by this, is whether the headline will actually help to make sales, rather than just act as a passing amusement to its readers.

Obviously, there is no absolute test. If there were, copywriters would be earning ten times what they are earning now, on the grounds that their work would be foolproof.

But there is a test - a very good test - that you can apply to any headline you create. We call it the 'So What?' test.

An example of 'So What?' in action: If you produce a headline that says: Our Widget works twice as fast as any other Widgets, and then ask yourself 'So What?', it immediately becomes clear that the line is bereft of a sales proposition. Because there is no obvious benefit to the potential customer.

On the other hand, if you write: Our Widget works twice as fast, so you do the job in half the time, then the 'So What?' has been answered. Your customer can cut his production time by 50%.

Likewise, were you to write: Our Widget is so small, it fits into the palm of your hand, you simply invoke 'So What?'. Which results in: Our Widget fits into the palm of your hand, so it goes wherever you go. In this case, the benefit is portability.

The 'So What?' test has been found to be invaluable. You might care to give it a try yourself.

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A good headline is so badly needed that without it your SEO content provider is doomed to fail. It matters little how good their writing is or even how good they are in finding the best keyword phrases.Good keyword phrases will give you a good position in search engine results, but if you have a poor headline, readers will ignore your site listed at number one on the page. Instead they will eagerly click on the site listed at number ten and right at the bottom of the page, simply because it has a more catchy interesting headline.