A/B Testing Idea #2: Make your headlines sound super cool.

A/B Testing Idea #2: Make your headlines sound super cool.

Hello everyone,

We're back with our second post in the CRO testing idea series. If you missed the first post, please check it out here: "Place irresistible and clear CTAs." In today's post, we'll look at how to effectively A/B test your headline content.


 
Some people say "you only get one chance to make a first impression" while others contend that it only takes seven seconds to make an impression about someone or something. Well, the same concept applies to your website.

A good first impression on your website is crucial for making visitors trust in your products/services and keeping them tied to your business forever. Creating this first impression depends on many factors like structure, colors, spacing, symmetry, amount of text, and fonts. But, of everything else, a good headline plays a major role in the success of your website.  

Your headline is the first thing that readers see as soon as they land on your site; it holds the power to make or break a deal at first visit. Even if your content is truly unique and innovative, a weak headline can ruin its chances of being super successful in terms of conversions. So how do you create a strong headline that drives more traffic and clicks on your website?

Here are a few aspects to consider as you A/B test your site's headline content:

Communicate your brand's purpose
Often we just assume that the visitors fully understand everything about our website and its product offerings. However, that’s not always the case, especially for new visitors. With hundreds of websites selling products/services online, it's important to make sure that the primary headline on your homepage tells visitors what your website has to offer and how it aligns with their expectations—all in a few short seconds. Tweaking and testing headline copy that clearly communicates your brand's purpose and differentiates yourself from the competitors can encourage your visitors to take the desired action without another thought.
 
Example:
Say you own a website testing and analytics software solution that offers a set of tools to grow an online business. Take a look below at the old and new versions of the same headline message. Notice that while the first tells people what the product is, the second tells people what the product will actually help them do.



Extra tip: The easiest way to determine if your brand message is clear to your visitors is by assuming your audience knows nothing about the business you're running.

Try different headlines for different set of target audiences
Each website caters to a specific type of audience. So understanding which audience group you cater to, where they come from, what their interests are, and what information they are hoping to find on your site is another major parameter to consider before starting to test your headline content. Testing and optimizing your headline copy based on a particular set of audience segments like demographics (such as location, gender, age, etc), personal interests, and past engagements with your site can help you deliver personalized content for each category of visitors, which is more likely to generate conversions. 

Example: 
Say you run an ecommerce business and want to A/B test your headline copy with enticing offers for returning visitors to see which one convinces them to fulfill your conversion goals.
 

Extra tip:
  • You can target your A/B test in PageSense using a variety of audience segments such as visitor type, device used, JS variable, day of the week, and more to learn which version grabs your audience's attention immediately and performs best for each segment.
  • To know your target audience better, you can set up polls on your website using PageSense and learn your visitor’s business (or personal) needs and how your product can help achieve them. Later, you can use this feedback to test and optimize your website content. 
Match your headline with your ad copy
When a visitor clicks on an ad, it's of the utmost importance to match the message on that ad to the headline content on your post-click landing page. If your headline doesn't match the offers and features that you promised in your ad copy, you're wasting all your marketing investment and conversion opportunities. A/B testing your headline by incorporating relevant keywords that resonate with your ad copy can help you reassure people that they've come to the right place. It can also later persuade them to take the desired action on your site more quickly. Further, this type of testing is more likely to generate increased clickthrough rates, conversions, and revenue for your website.  
 
Example:
Say you're running a Facebook Ad for older travelers, and the post-click landing page shows the most relevant tourist packages, flights, and hotel stays based on their interests. Now compare the old and new headline messages below to see which version of the message sounds better.



Include stats and numbers
Numbers in your headlines are a great way to grab attention by spontaneously triggering curiosity in your targeted audience. When you use symbols like %, $, or digits instead of words to express percentages, dollars, or numbers in your headlines, it creates specificity around the duration, size, value, etc. of what you're offering customers, which is more attractive than a generic offering. This is a powerful psychological tactic that spotlights your headlines and immediately hooks the reader's interest, which results in more traffic.

Example:
Consider the pricing page of your website and see how adding a number to the headline can increase reader engagement.


Follow the problem-solving methodology
Solving your customers' problem is the easiest and fastest way to reach their heart. Crafting a headline that addresses an issue and provides a cutting-edge solution to solve the problem can make optimizing your website easier. Intriguing your readers like this can make them look for more information on the rest of your site. Further, when done well, it can build a solid emotional bond between you and your customer for a longer term.

Example:
Take a look at the image below to see how implementing the problem and solution technique in your fitness website can make your headline sound more interesting.


 
Test with power words and sentiments
Sometimes the right audience is just one word away. Using forceful positive or negative power words in your headlines has the potential to kindle your customers' emotions and inspire action on your website in no time. Also, these words can guarantee more clicks and make your headlines stand out from the rest. You can test your headlines depending on two groups of power words:  
  • Negative headlines: This type of headline tends to intrigue your customers by setting a stage to avoid a miserable situation. It includes words like never, stop, worst, avoid, or do not.
  • Positive headlines: This type of headline tries to build a relationship with feel good emotions. It includes words like best, always, fastest, easiest, most, greatest, largest, funniest, hottest, strongest, biggest, and ever.
Example:
Take a look at the image below to see how the choice of words can invoke a positive feeling as you read the headline.



Test the font and appearance of your headline
The presentation (color, fonts, and layout) of your headline copy has a huge impact on the performance of your site. Below are a few points to consider while testing the appearance of your headline:
  • Use title case. Avoid writing your headlines in all caps as it can reduce the readability of your text.  
  • Choose a font style and size that matches your website's personality. The most popular font style is sans-serif and font size is 20 - 36 pixels.
  • Apply colors that contrast (while complimenting) your website's background well and focus on the legibility of your content.
  • Align your headline perfectly with your body content for a bigger impact. Centered headlines are most powerful visually, while left-centered are more conservative and formal. 
Example:
Say you own an online food delivery website, and you want to test the color and font of your homepage headline for better clickthrough rates. Take a look at the before and after images of the headline below. Which one you think will attract more eyeballs? 

 
Try out the two-part strategy
Don't forget your supporting cast! Successful headlines act in two parts. Including a persuasive subheadline copy below your headline can be another winning strategy to pull your customers deeper into your website. You can test different versions of your subheadings to see which best suits your visitors, such as explaining a bit more about your product or services, emphasizing your product benefits, or encouraging visitors to click the CTA button placed on your site.

Example:
Take a look at the main headline and the subheading of a customer support software website as shown below. In this case, your subheadline re-affirms how your software helps your customers and adds emphasis about different product features.

 
Test the headline length and SEO compatibility
Test your headline for the right length, SEO keywords, and sentiments. Keeping a headline no longer than six words will help readers easily process your text and attain the goal of your website. Using free headline analyzer tools such as Coschedule or Sharethrough can help you effortlessly understand your website's performance. They analyze important factors (like searchable keywords, word balance, and sentiments) and assign a percentage score based on how good your headline is. They'll help you identify the factors you need to improve for more productive headlines.

Example:
Let's say you own an online pet supply store and you want to test the headline of your homepage to attract more visitor traffic. The screenshots below show the performance of both the old and new versions of the headline in terms of length.



Bonus tips:
  • Create a sense of urgency in your headline with words like "today," "now," and "last-minute offer."
  • Use comparison phrases like "versus" to reinforce the benefits and features of your products/services.
  • Research your competitor's headlines to add more value and optimize your headlines better.  
We hope you found this article useful. What is your favorite headline tester? Have you had any success with headline A/B testing? Do share with us in the comments box below.

Happy testing. Happy converting!

Thank you.

    • Recent Topics

    • What is the difference between "Reply" and "Public Comment" in a ticket?

      Hey, my company is thinking about switching to Zoho Desk but we do not understand the difference between the "Reply" and the "Public Comment" feature. When should we use which? And why? What is the difference between them? Thank you for your help! Kindest

    • Tasks View for Opportunity/Jobs does not indicate "Related To" account

      How can ZoHo be setup so that when a task is created for an Opportunity, the subject automatically lists the underlying account? Right now, it's impossible to link the Account to the task when the task is created from the Job.  Therefore, the open task view is inadequate.  And it's a lot of maintenance to have to manually add the account to the subject...defeating the purpose of "Automated" workflow. 

    • Writing SQL Queries - After Comma Auto Suggesting Column

      When writing SQL Queries, does anyone else get super annoyed that after you type a comma and try to return to a new line it is automatically suggest a new column, so hitting return just inputs this suggested column instead of going to a new line? Anyone

    • can i show alert when i finish running the function?

      how i can show alert inside the custom function or popup notification. when i use alert inside the custom function it show this error Error at line number:  2 'ALERT' task can be used only in on load, on validate and on change actions ​

    • CRM calendar not syncing with Zoho Calendar

      The sync is not happening: This is my Zoho Calendar CalDAV synced with Outlook This is my Zoho CRM Calendar (sadly empty ...) I have enabled CalDAV Access. In Zoho Calendar, I have set up APP Calendar sync like this: What else can I check? Thank

    • Pipeline in Custom Modules

      I love the way the Sales Pipeline looks and functions with reports. I would like to add the save pipeline features and visualization to a custom module, however, I only see that these pipelines are only available for the Deals module. Is there a way to add pipelines to custom modules?

    • How to apply a tag to a ticket based on the to email address?

      I need to assign a tag to a ticket if the ticket was sent to a specific email address. For example, we have the email accounting[at]company.com forwarding into Zoho Desk. We would like all emails that were sent to this address to be tagged with an Accounting

    • How to work with getFieldNames formdata functions ,Any Examples

      I don't find any example showing usage of getFieldNames. Where do i find .is there any Help documents available

    • Ecommerce integration with prestashop

      Development of campaigns integration with prestahop. When???

    • Cannot associate event with other objects when creating?

      I am attempting to associate an Event with one or more other objects when creating it via the API. According to the API docs, the "Related_To" property is a jsonobject even though the description says "Provide the details about the entities the event

    • Zoho Cliq not working on airplanes

      Hi, My team and I have been having this constant issue of cliq not working when connected to an airplane's wifi. Is there a reason for this? We have tried on different Airlines and it doesn't work on any of them. We need assistance here since we are constantly

    • Validation Rules Trigger on Untouched Fields

      In Zoho Desk, validation rules trigger for ALL fields during an update—even fields that weren't modified in the current edit. This behavior is fundamentally different from Zoho CRM and other Zoho products, where validation rules only apply to fields actually

    • Departments in Zoho

      I'm trying to set up a department. It looks like Departments have been removed from Zoho One. Is there another option? We have our main account setup, but want to set up a separate small department that can't see our tabs.

    • How to disable subform records dynamically

      Hi Everyone I have a requirement to dynamically disable or hide subform fields based on certain criteria. However, the code I tried didn't work as expected. It either disabled or hid all the fields in all subform records or none at all. What I actually

    • Client Script Operate Timeout

      Hi Zoho, I have set a client script that use for ( i =1; length < i , i++) to fetch all of the product in order I have an order have 30+ products, seems this script will be stopped when it is checking rough 10 + products because of timeout (may be). May

    • Why and When to Manually Regenerate Reports?

      What is the protocol for needing to regenerate reports?  It is very confusing when data in reports pulls correctly sometimes, but are inaccurate other times.   Why is report regenerating necessary at all - can the report function not read the live data as inputted into the forms?  We have built lots of reports and it is very tedious and time consuming to have to regenerate the report before each use of that data to make sure it is accurate.  Is there a way to know when a report should or shouldn't

    • Import template from Zoho Writer

      I am trying to import a mail merge template - tried to import direct from my .docx file on my hard drive and the formatting went all over the place. I then imported the .docx file in my Zoho Docs and then fixed up the formatting within Zoho Writer. Can

    • CRM for Everyone - More Actions Option to Create Record

      Please consider the option create a new record for the module from the More Actions menu. I know there is an "Add New" icon further down the menu to create a record for any module, but this just seems more intuitive and could reduce the need for the "Add

    • Configuración

      Hola acabo de instalar Zoho CRM y quiero configurarlo correctamente. Al respecto me surgen algunas dudas tales como la diferencia entre: Cuentas, posibles Clientes y Contactos. ¿Conceptualmente que son cada uno? ¿Como se se relacionan entre ellos? Si

    • Is there a way to request a password?

      We add customers info into the vaults and I wanted to see if we could do some sort of "file request" like how dropbox offers with files. It would be awesome if a customer could go to a link and input a "title, username, password, url" all securely and it then shows up in our team vault or something. Not sure if that is safe, but it's the best I can think of to be semi scalable and obviously better than sending emails. I am open to another idea, just thought this would be a great feature.  Thanks,

    • Enhancements to Custom Connectors in Zoho Creator

      Hello everyone, At Zoho Creator, we believe in providing you with the necessary tools to achieve a well connected ecosystem of apps. Our Custom Connectors feature is a testament to this, enabling you to integrate with a wide range of external services

    • AutoScan Not Working Since April -Support says it with engineering

      Hi there, Autoscan has not been working on my account since April. Without this feature, completing expenses reports is laborious and error-prone. I keep asking for updates seeing as this is a critical feature, but told that it's being looked into and

    • Clone a Module??

      I am giong to repurpose the Vendors module but would like to have a separate but very similar module for another group of contacts called Buyers. I have already repurposed Contacts to Sellers. Is it possible to clone (make a duplicate) module of Vendors

    • Zoho books bulk update for invoices

      Hi Zoho team, Why only 25 invoices can be bulk update at a time. I am booking 800 to 900 invoices in a month. Please increase this limit? Please dont tell that you dont have enough request for this task. 25 limit for bulk update is too much low

    • Querying CloudSQL using NodeJS?

      How can I query CloudSQL over nodejs? Are there any rest apis from which I perform Select Queries in the data of a Workspace? In the v1 we had C#, Python, Java for CloudSQL Now I only see Java? I am confused about the overall API of Analytics, there any

    • How can I move a ticket from Department A to Department B?

      Hi there, how do I move ticket from Department A to Department B? I went in the ticket and tried to scroll down the menu under the "department" but it won't let me, I am a support admin. Did I do anything wrong? or am I doing it in the wrong place?

    • Sending Email with Attachment (PDF, Excel file)

      Hi, I'm new to Zoho CRM and I'm setting up a flow to send an Email with Attachment when user reaching a certain stage of a Deal. In detail, I've created a Blueprint which requires user to attach a PDF file when reaching a certain point of the stage and

    • How to Integrate Zoho CRM with Traffic Rider Mod APK Unlimited Money?

      Hello, I am exploring the possibilities of integrating Zoho CRM with a mobile game app. I am working on a Traffic Rider Mod APK Unlimited Money version where we want to store user engagement data like session time, high scores, and in-app interactions.

    • Rename Record Templates in Zoho Creator

      Hi Team, I need to rename the Record Templates based on the name of the employee which i have configured in Zoho Creator Deluge Script. How to do this one? // Attachments :template:PDF_ECF:Exit_Clearance_Form input.ID as PDF

    • Les Zoholics 2025 sont de retour

      Bonjour à tous, Préparez-vous pour deux jours exceptionnels au cœur de l’écosystème Zoho ! Nous avons le plaisir de vous convier à Zoholics France 2025, un événement dédié à l’innovation, à l’expertise et à la communauté Zoho. Au programme : • Présentations

    • Engineering Change Order Process using Tickets?

      Hi Zoho Community, I'm working with my company to create an Engineering Change Order/Request (ECO/ECR) process where engineers can internally create tickets for changes in a product that must be reviewed, approved and implemented by people or teams in the company.  I'm using Blueprint to create statuses and transitions for the various ticket states as the ECO is being processed, but it continually seems like Tickets aren't a good way to build an ECO process. My question is:  Does anyone have experience

    • Sesión "Ask me anything" Zoho en Español - 26 de junio de 2025, de 14:00 a 17:00 (en español)

      ¡Hola Comunidad! ¿Quieres entender mejor Zoho CRM o Zoho Desk? Nuestros expertos estarán disponibles para responder a todas tus preguntas durante nuestra sesión "Ask me anything". Puedes comentar este artículo y durante tres horas, nuestro equipo estará

    • Not receiving instagram verfication emails

      Hi- I'm not receiving Not receiving instagram verfication emails.  I have seen other users having the same issue and your answer was to contact instagram.  But instagram no longer has a support email.  

    • CRM Feature Request

      When enabling Translation in Zoho CRM I would like to see the ability to remove the language "English (US)". I have encountered a user experience issue with a client recently. The client uses English (UK) but they are based in Spain, so they have activated

    • Change work hours per day for employees

      Hello, Is there a way to modify the work hours per day for employees in Zoho projects? This would be helpful for resource allocation to more accurately see when an employee who works 35 hours a week vs 40 hours has a full schedule. Thanks.

    • Is there a way to set Document Owner/Sender via the API

      When sending requests for zoho sign, it would seem zoho uses the id of the person that created the zoho api cred to determine the owner_id, is there a way to set a default for this?

    • Zoho Commerce

      Hi, I have zoho one and use Zoho Books. I am very interested in Zoho Commerce , especially with how all is integrated but have a question. I do not want my store to show prices for customers that are not log in. Is there a way to hide the prices if not

    • Name Change and Delete Email ID and Alias

      Hello please i require urgent assistance, 1.) I would also like to change the name that appears when people receive my emails. I have an info@spacetraiders.com but when people receive my email its say Ronma Adedeji instead of either Info or Space Traiders..

    • PROBLEMA AL CONECTAR EL DOMINIO

      hola buenas tardes hoy estoy tratando de crear mi registro y no me deja conectar el dominio  me dice que el dominio ya está vinculado a una cuenta y la verdad no tiene conectado el dominio a ninguna cuenta  tengo acceso al hosting y cpanel que se compro pero al revisar los dns estan apuntando al mismo hosting del panel  del proveedor del domini ... como hago para poder crear la cuenta con ese dominio, incluso cree un registro pero no  me deja vincularlo el dominio es integrasoft.co agradezco me ayuden  

    • Delay in delivery of emails

      I'm experiencing random delays for emails sent from Zoho account. Headers show that the message reached mx.zohomail.com almost instantly, followed by a delay of anywhere from 3-15 minutes (and counting). Please confirm whether this is a system-wide

    • Next Page