Relevance: The Secret To Writing Headlines That Work

By David Bullock

It doesn't take a lot of words to tell a complete story in the headline.

Telling a complete story that grabs the reader is what your headline should do.

I was just listening to my daughter as she screamed at the top of her lungs for her sister to stop messing with her hair. All I heard was the one word – Stop. I knew immediately it was more than just a casual conversation. And, I knew that I might want to get more information.

But, let's look at this more closely. There is a marketing lesson here.

The words were coming from someone that I knew. Someone I cared about. And, I'm familiar with the current situation. In essence, I cared about the speaker and my future with the speaker. Further, the situation could affect me if I did not take action.

This is a great example a relevance and how it plays into how your visitor responds to you and your website.

So how does this work online? You have to position yourself as the one to handle the visitors current problem and handle their concerns.

One of the things that is most important in a headline is relevance. Is what you're saying important to the listener. Too many times we use language that the listener doesn't care about.

We don't address their concerns. We don't address the current situation. We try pull them into our system, not follow theirs.

So, relevance usually goes out of the window at the very beginning.

If we were really in tune with the audience and we took the time to find out what they really care about we would have a better shot at making sales. Headlines are the very beginning of the ad.

In fact, it has been said that the headline is the ad for the ad. If you get the story wrong, you have no chance of moving forward in any conversation with the client.

How can you become more relevant to your visitor?

Make sure you say something that they care about at the very beginning.

What you need to say is testable. Your market will actually help you write headlines (and copy), if you test.

* Yes, there are formulas for headlines.

* Yes, there are headline templates.

* Yes, There are secret headline formulas.

But, in the end you have to connect with your audience. Human to human.

And the only way to connect is to speak to see if what you say and how you say it communicates and get the response that you want.

* Are you relevant to your audience and market?

* What can you do to become more relevant?

* What do you need to know?

* What you need to do?

* What can you change on your site to become more relevant to your audience?

To find out more, visit SEO Rainmaker.