If you missed last week’s post on how to increase your conversion rates in your web design, you may want to jump over there. Did you know that most people hate to learn things? Well, that’s not totally true. People may like to learn new things, but they typically dislike the work needed to learn new things. Think about it. You might say that you love learning things, but would you actually sit down and read a college-level biology textbook just so you could learn some new things? I doubt it. Most people don’t read textbooks for fun. It’s just too much work. We can handle learning small tidbits of information but handling heavy topics is a little intimidating. That’s why Jeopardy has been such a successful show for decades. The show’s bite-sized trivia is easy to digest. Compare the success of Jeopardy or Regis’ Who Wants to be a Millionaire? to the limited success of what I consider a pretty boring show, Nova, on PBS. Delving deep into a heavy scientific topic isn’t what most people consider fun. That’s why fewer people watch Nova.
On the other hand, people love to discover secrets. They’re typically easier to grasp. They’re short and sweet. Secrets are something that can be communicated quickly and easily. Plus, they’re coveted because they’re scarce. Only a few people know them so everyone wants what others can’t have.
So what’s all of this have to do with improving headlines and making them more effective? We’ll that’s a secret. J Wouldn’t you like to know?
For years people have used a headline formula that says something like “Learn the top ways to…” but that’s not a great way to entice people because readers associate that headline with something that will require a lot of work. Simply tweaking the headline to say “Discover the top ways to…” rather than “Learn the top ways to…” you can oftentimes double your conversion rates. You can reduce bounce rates, increase the time spent on the page and you’ll see people follow through on your calls to action. Give it a shot, you’ll be surprised what you discover.