Does this Headline "Grab" Your Attention?
By David McKenzie
Posted Tuesday, July 13, 2004
If you are reading this first sentence then the answer is yes.
You see, the objective of the headline is to get the reader to keep reading.
Whether it's an article, a sales letter, an ezine ad or just the subject heading in an email, the objective of the headline is to get the reader to read more than just the headline. To read the next bit'.
So what makes this headline an attention grabber?
Let's look at 4 points within this headline that makes it "grab" the readers attention.
1. Ask a Question
If you ask a question in your headline then the reader is inclined to want to answer the question themselves. The reader is intrigued. This prompts the reader to read on. Asking a question is one of the best ways to grab' the attention.
2. Use Inverted Commas
Use inverted commas around a single word as I have done, or around a group of words or the whole headline. The inverted commas themselves actually highlight something that the reader can latch on to. If you had 10 headlines and 1 had inverted commas around it, then it's more likely it would be the most read headline.
There is another benefit to using inverted commas around the whole headline. It often means that in an alphabetical list of headlines you will be near the top. This is because inverted commas come before the letter "A".
3. Capitalize the First Letter of Each Major Word in the Headline
Capitalizing each major' word in the headline grabs the readers attention. However do not capitalize every word. Do not capitalize words such as a', the', of', to', on', in' and an' unless they are the first word of the headline. It's just not necessary.
Take a look at the headline' above for point 3. The words the', of' and in' are not capitalized. Let's see what this headline would look like if they were:
Capitalize The First Letter Of Each Major Word In The Headline
It just does not impress as much. There is no distinction between the words. The major' words do not stand out as much.
However, in the headline under point 3 the following groups of words stand out more because they are separated by the not so important words:
Capitalize
First Letter
Each Major Word
Headline
4. Use powerful words
"Grab" is a powerful word. So is "Free". Even "Powerful" is a powerful word for that matter. Try and have at least 1 and maybe 2 powerful words in your headline. These powerful words will draw in the readers attention and prompt them to keep reading.
Use these 4 techniques to help you write better headlines. Get the headline wrong and there is no use writing the article, the ezine ad or the sales letter.
Get the headline right and you are half way to making the sale or obtaining a new ezine subscriber.
About the Author
David McKenzie in an author of an ebook "How To Write Free Articles and Market Them With a 0 dollar Marketing Budget". Visit (http://www.brisney.com/).
