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| Page: Definition Headline |
Headline:
Headline is the line which
typically appears at the top of each page or in an
ad and is supposed to tell the visitor
in one short phrase what he will find on the page or when
he clicks on the ad. The Headline is usually bigger than
the rest of the text and in bold font. Often it is in a
different color, too.
Due to its layout features, the Headline is amongst the first
things a visitor notices. Then the content and phrasing of the
Headline have the important task to keep up the visitors
attention and interest so he would stay on the page and absorb
the rest of the content.
Generally an average visitor stays on a website
for about 5 seconds before he decides if he wants to stay or
leave. Hence, a Headline should be striking enough to capture
the visitor’s attention in those 5 seconds and give him a
reason to read on. That is why Headlines are so crucial and
most marketers consider it as the most important part of their
salescopy. The text may be as brilliant and intriguing as it
can possibly be, if the Headline is dull and uninteresting for
the visitor he will never come to read the text at
all.
The best way to achieve that is to show the visitor how he would benefit from the offer or how the advertised product/service would solve a problem for him. There is a lot more to know about writing very good Headlines, though.
Next to Headlines there are
also Sub-Headlines. They are used to divide longer text
into shorter sections and summarize the next section’s content.
Sub-Headlines are in smaller font than the Headline but still
bigger than the text. They are supposed to maintain or renew
the reader’s interest when he might get bored from reading.
Plus they serve those readers who like to skim through the text
to find those parts that they would like to read in more
detail.
Example for a
marketing offer with Headline (big red font) and
Sub-Headline (yellow background) on
www.HotMarketingVideos.com
.
Headlines also play a major
role in the on-page
SEO (search engine optimization) of a
website as keywords appearing in the Headline have a higher
importance. Or, stated the other way around, if the keyword,
the website is optimized for, does not appear in the Headline
the site will have a hard time to rank high.
[Head
comes from Old
English heafod
= top of the body, also chief person,
leader;
Line
comes from Old
English line
= rope and
Latin linea
= linen thread, string,
line;
Headline originally was a term used by newspaper printers in the 19th century for the line at the top of the page containing title and page number, later extended to broadcast media]
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