How to Write Webpage Headlines That Increase Site Traffic

 By Jim Hingst

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

 

 Writing headlines for webpages is different than writing headlines for print media. In this article, Jim Hingst describes copywriting techniques for writing webpage headlines, which will attract the attention of your website visitors and entice them to read further. By providing readers with a gateway to other webpages in your body copy as well as delivering relevant content to satisfy their needs, you will increase dwell time, reduce your bounce rate and grow your site traffic and response rate.    

 

Each webpage should have its own headline or title, which describes the content of the page. Your headline is the first thing that the reader sees and, in many cases, is the only thing he reads. Descriptive headlines also help website visitors to find answers to their search questions.

 

If your copy does not capture the reader’s attention and interest, the visitor may leave your page immediately. This affects your dwell time and bounce rate. These are two very important factors that search engines use in ranking webpages.

 

Bounce rate records the percentage of visitors that leave after viewing only a single webpage. A low percentage indicates that visitors view multiple pages, which increases dwell time and suggests that you are providing content that visitors value.

 

Dwell time is the length of time that the visitor stays on your website. In addition to helping your search engine rankings, longer dwell times usually generate a higher response rate, provided that the webpage has an adequate call to action and response mechanism.  

 

Taking the time to write an interesting headline attracts the visitor’s attention and entices him to read further. This improves the site traffic and encourages return visits.

 

Each webpage headline should always include a relevant keyword phrase. Keywords are the search terms that users use in looking for answers to their questions.  More importantly, keywords tell the search engine what the topic is of the webpage. These phrases are used in indexing or cataloging webpages.

 

SUGGESTION: In the HTML code for the webpage, you can add an <h1> tag around the keyword phrase in your headline. The <h1> tag emphasizes the topic of the webpage to search engines. For example, here’s how to highlight the following keyword phrase <h1>writing webpage headlines</h1>.

 

Keywords, of course, are not enough in writing a successful headline. Your headline  must appeal to the interests and needs of your website visitor. It must invite him into the body of the story. Writing a headline that will captivate the imagination of the reader will be your most difficult challenge in developing a webpage.

 

Copywriting Techniques for More Effective Headlines

 

Ever since the days of David Ogilvy, father of modern advertising, copywriters have relied on a variety of techniques to lure the attention of readers. These attention-getting practices for writing winning headlines include:

 

● Asking a Question; (Example: Do Your Vehicle Graphics Generate an Acceptable Advertising ROI?)

 

● Promising a Key Benefit. Promising a benefit entices the reader to learn more, drawing him into the article. Of course, your content must deliver on that promise (Example: Secret to Successfully Painting Powder Coated Metal Surfaces).

 

● Proposing a Unique Solution to a Universal Problem; (Example: How to Fix Edge Peeling Vinyl Graphics).

 

Headlines that begin with “how to” are successful because they suggest that you are offering solutions to your prospects’ problems. Using a number in your headline is another effective technique to generate a favorable result. For example, “5 Elements You Must Include in Your Vehicle Wrap Design”.

 

Headline Length. Don’t worry if the webpage headline is long. As a rule of thumb, longer headlines pull better that shorter ones. However, you should limit your headline to 65 characters. Titles longer than that are cut off in the Search Engine Ranking Page or SERP. The SERP is the list of results that a search engine provides the user in response to his search.

 

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About Jim Hingst: Sign business authority on vehicle wraps, vinyl graphics, screen printing, marketing, sales, gold leaf, woodcarving and painting. 

After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 190 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 500 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

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