Most people don’t even put a headline on their website pages. And this is one of the biggest copywriting mistakes I see. Why do I say that?

Because research shows you have 3-5 seconds to convince a visitor that you have the solution to their problem. If there’s no headline at the top of the page to grab their attention, their eyes will begin to wander all over the page trying to decide what to look at. If they haven’t figured out in that 3-5 seconds of wandering around that you’ve got their solution, they are going to click out and move to the next site in the Google SERPs.

“But I tell them all about my great widgets and all the wonderful things they can do in my page copy.”

And there’s another part of the problem. There’s an old saying in marketing. “People don’t buy the drill; they buy the hole.” In other words, they simply don’t care about your company or your widget. They just want to know if you understand their problem and can solve it.

Does your copy tell them that in 3-5 seconds? And without a headline, what will grab their attention when they get to the page and get them to read the copy even if you did write it well?

Let’s talk about headlines…

Okay, I think we’ve established that a “killer” headline is mandatory. So how do write a headline that grabs their attention and forces them to read the copy? Here are some great formats for an attention-grabbing headline. If you use one of these formats every time you write a headline for a web page, website article or blog post, you will guarantee plenty of attention.

Try one of these “killer” headline formats next time you write website copy:

• They laughed when I sat down at the piano…but when I began to play!
• Multiply the response rates of your…
• Franklin introduces…The most efficient transducer money can buy!
• Unlike our competitors, this isn’t the first time we’ve designed a phone system.
• A whole new way to polish titanium!
• Discover the secret to creating your own electroplating system!
• There can be only one top-of-the-line copier…and you’re looking at it!
• Top ten questions you need to ask your accounting firm…
• Last chance to get a new car at used car prices.
• Why 4 out of 5 engineers use Hewlett-Packard calculators…
• Why would we give our accounting software away for free?
• Introducing painless cost-cutting for dentists…
• The 5 Tech Stocks You MUST Own Now!
• Can you really get your next evening out free?
• Don’t buy a car until you’ve read this report!
• Order now and get $280 in freebies!

Whenever you get any kind of direct mail or catalog with a great headline, save it. Or if you see a website headline that really grabs your attention, copy it and put it in a “cheat” file. That way, when you need to write a headline, you’ll have a bunch of professionally written headlines to “steal” ideas from.