Your headline "sucks"

Would you pay $1500 to have someone write you headlines for your website?
I personally know someone who has and according to him it was worth every penny.  I would agree with him…  and I am going to show you why here shortly.
Now why on earth would someone pay $1500 for just a few expertly crafted words?  Because headlines hold a TON of weight when it comes to online sales and conversions.
Think about it.  From your ads to your site copy, it is just short attention grabbing headlines.  Studies have shown that in our noisy digital world you have less than 3 seconds to grab the attention of the visitor.  Which isn’t alot of time.
The number one way to capture their attention is with an fantastic headline.
Now the subject of this article is “Your Headline Sucks” and I use “sucks” in two ways.  Either your headline is horrible and not doing its job or it is effective at sucking the visitors into engaging in whatever else you have on your landing page.
Which one you fall under is completely up to you and your optimization efforts.
We have loads of case studies on headlines having a BIG impact on conversions.
153% improvement
36.1% improvement
31% improvement
346% improvement
The list goes on and on.  This is one of the biggest leverage points we test when working with a client and a good benefit driven headline is often one of the first things we test.
A good example was from the great direct response marketer, Dan Kennedy.
A company before the days of the internet was running a music education program in print ads.  For the longest time their headline read “Put Music In Your Life”.
It was getting pretty good response until one day the person in charge of placing the ads made a slight mistake and submitted the headline as “Puts Music In Your Life”.  Just one letter difference.
The result?  Triple the response rate to the ads.  But why?
The first headline conveys a sense of ‘work’ involved.  While the new headline conveyed that the ‘work’ was already done.
A good benefit driven headline that engages the visitor into seeking more information is worth its weight in gold.
So I ask you this question…  To which level does your headline “suck”?  Is it doing it’s job of sucking visitors into the page or turning them away without taking action?
Get out there and test your headlines as you might be surprised at just how much weight they hold in your conversions.