"Getting people to stay on your website is easy, isn't it..."

I heard somewhere recently that the average time a person spends on the first page of a website is 10 seconds, I've checked on Google to see if I can verify this but can't find any specific data. What I did find though was a forum where people posted the length of visits to their websites... kind of a self help group for geeks like me! This forum certainly would indicate that it's not long... typically, it seems 60% of visitors leave in the first 30 seconds.

"My website's sexier than yours.. na, na... na, na, na"

The current trend seems to be scrolling flash animations. Like this. And this. I know these examples aren't dental businesses, but you get my drift don't you.. scrolling animation showing the surgery, you, your staff, your services, a smiley face etc, etc.

I have a problem with this technique. I believe that most (not all, but most) websites that are designed like this serve only to fulfil the narcissistic desires of the business owner and to provide bragging rights "Have you seen my website? Oh it cost me £000s and it looks SOOOO sexy!"

These images are lovely and really do look good, they provide an excellent opportunity to brand a website... but beyond that I am a bit lost...

An alternative?

Let me propose for you an alternative. I believe that text sells. A well written and placed headline will grab attention and hold it far better than any image, no matter how well designed.

Let me share some stats to back up my claims. I have looked at the average time spent on all the websites I manage... none of them have scrolling images and the average time spent on the landing page is 3 minutes 31 seconds... compare this to the seemingly normal time of less than 30 seconds and you have to ask is there something in this? (by the way don't tell me it's because the sites are not navigable and the visitors are taking 3.5 minutes to work out where to go... they aren't, as most of these sites only have 1 page... so I KNOW they are reading the content!)

So what makes a good headline

A headline is the first thing a visitor sees on your website. Get it right and they'll stay and read the rest of the page... get it wrong and they'll leave instantly.

A headline should ideally do as many of these things as possible:

1. Grab the visitor's attention
2. Let them know you understand their problem
3. Fulfil a desire
   
4. Engage the visitor
5. Remove their pain
   
6. Make them desperately want to read more

Tricks to writing a good headline

Here are some tricks I use to generate great headlines that keep people on the web page reading more.

1. Write your headline then put 'so that' after it, what follows 'so that' is the true headline!

Example: 'Have whiter teeth today' goes to 'Have whiter teeth today so that you feel more confident around the opposite sex', the true headline is therefore 'feel more confident around the opposite sex'

2. Phrase the headline as a question. Questions force the reader to think about what you have said and answer in their own minds, you have then started an interaction with the visitor without lifting a finger!

Example: 'Having white teeth is great' becomes 'How much better would you feel if you had whiter teeth'

3. Use emotion. People buy with emotion and justify with logic, the headline should have emotion and the text have logic so they can justify the decision they have just made.

Example: 'Are you worried your dentures will fall out when you eat?' then in the text put lots of logical evidence as to why your dentures/implants mean that dentures don't fall out

4. Use an ellipsis and leave a headline unfinished. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) in our brains is concerned with making sense of the world around us and it gets frustrated if it can't make sense, so if your headline is not complete, the RAS desperately looks for completion and stimulates the reader to read on to find out what the headline is all about.

Exaxmple: 'Imagine what would happen if you could eat, chew and smile with confidence...'

5. Put the headline in quotation marks. Building relationships online is the key to successful websites, putting a headline in quotation marks makes it look as though you are actually saying the words and speaking to the website visitor.

Example: "Why is it that some people are fearful of the dentist?"

6. Phrase the headline as You... never We, or I. The website should be all about the visitor, not YOU.

Example: 'We are the best dental practice' becomes 'You will be seen by the best dental practice'

7. People tend to love 'How to...' headlines. 'How to...' headlines are great as they instantly show the visitor that you understand their problem.

Example: 'How to eat, chew and smile with confidence with our new denture stabilisation system'

8. Use the imperative mood to ensure your visitors take action.

Example: 'Put an end to grinding your teeth' or 'Get more done in a day by spending less time at the dentist'

More headlines

Headlines are important for your website to get people to read the content, but also consider these as headlines also:

1. Emails
2. Blog posts
3. Twitter Posts
4. Facebook Page status updates
5. Newsletter titles

Headlines are all around us, and if you want to engage with your readers and get them to read the content of your website, blog or newsletter then you'd better get them right! Don't rely exclusively on the scrolling image thing, it's trendy, gives you bragging rights, is GREAT for branding, but leave it without a great headline and you might just as well not bother.

Stay sharp until next time,

Mark