The One Action You Can Take That Instantly Increases Your Website Sales

If you're getting traffic to your website but few people are
buying, you're like a lot of people I know. You may have a
good product (or service) and a good price. You just don't
have the sales you feel you ought to have.

One action you can take that can produce astounding results
in short order is to change the headline at the top of the
page - or, if you don't have a headline, put one up there!

My friend and co-author Jim Edwards did exactly that on a
promotion that was going south and his conversion rate
jumped up 500% in a matter of minutes!

But if you change (or add) a headline, it has to be the
right kind. This article will give you some important
guidelines that will help you choose a headline that acts
like a booster-rocket to your sales.

First, let's define terms. What is a headline, anyway?

A headline is the first set of words that your prospect sees
on any piece of copy you write. It's just like the
headlines you see in a newspaper.

Advertising Headline Templates

Here are five typical newspaper headlines. (But… a warning.
The first four are NOT the kind you want on your website):

1. Economy Improves As Unemployment Drops, Consumer Spending
Swells

2. Ninth-Inning Grand Slam Saves The Day

3. Flu Vaccine Shortage Worries Health Officials

4. Spring Rains Flood Farmlands

5. New Computer Chip Promises Better Video On Handheld
Computers

While all these headlines would work well to sell newspapers
and get readers interested in reading the news stories that
follow, only last one would work in marketing, 99% of the
time.

Why? Because most newspaper-style headlines merely sell the
reader on reading the story, but they aren't designed to
create interest in, and desire for, a product or service
that you'd be telling the prospect about.

Advertising Headline Templates

However, the last headline in the list…

New Computer Chip Promises Better Video On Handheld
Computers

… has a characteristic that could make it work just as well
for an ad as for a news story. It's this: The headline
conveys a benefit ("Better Video on Handheld Computers") of
a product ("New Computer Chip"), and this not only creates
interest in the product. It also creates a desire for that
product - if, that is, you're the kind of person (like me)
who likes video on your computers.

In short, a headline not only needs to capture attention and
keep your prospect reading. It also needs to set the tone
for what the prospect is about to read - and, to create a
mood in the prospect that will begin to make him or her
receptive to taking the action you will eventually invite
him or her to take in your sales copy.

That action might be to buy what you are selling. It could
be just to request more information. Or, it might be to
request an application form, which would lead to the next
step of the sales process.

Whatever action it is you desire your prospect to take, your
headline has an important job to do: prepare the prospect
emotionally for the invitation you are soon about to make.

David Garfinkel is author of "Advertising Headline Templates
That Make You Rich," a powerful resource that makes writing
highly profitable headlines easier than anything else. Many
top marketers privately consider this ebook their secret
weapon. To find out more, go to:

Advertising Headline Templates