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

    • Locking Certain Feilds

      Hello! I was wondering if there was a way to lock certain fields from being changed until another field had been filled in. For example, my origination has a chain of blueprints that have to be filled in for someone to properly convert from the "Leads"

    • Link Zoho Inventory to Clover POS

      Is it possible to link zoho Inventory to Clover POS?

    • Email Notification to WordPress Blog Subscribers

      You know when a new WordPress blog is published, your subscribers will be notified via email with a link to that blog? Jetpack does it but I'm hoping to get away from it or any other specialized WordPress plugin (like MailPoet), and instead, use a dedicated

    • How to upload a file to form file upload field from deluge script.

      Hi guys, I need to store API response into Form File upload field . I'm not getting any errors but PDF file is not assigned to file upload field. You can check possibilities using below details: Method: POST URL: https://v2.convertapi.com/convert/web/to/pdf?Secret=<<SecretKey>>&Token=<<APIKey>>&Url=https://www.google.com You need to generate secretKey and APIKey by Login to https://www.convertapi.com/a/su Response: { "ConversionCost": 4, "Files": { "FileName": "www_google_com.pdf", "FileSize": 68342,

    • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

      Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

    • Lookup field - Can I avoid using advanced search?

      I have a lookup field in my app that has surpassed 500,000 records, now basic search is disabled and I'm forced to use advanced search. That adds multiple steps to what used to be very simple. Before: Select field > Type last digits of product code and

    • How Can I Easily Access and Manage My GEPCO Online Bill Using Zoho Sheets?

      Hello everyone, I'm looking for an efficient way to access and manage my GEPCO online bills. I've heard that Zoho Sheets can be a powerful tool for organizing and tracking bills, but I'm not sure how to set it up for this specific purpose. Does anyone

    • Why Doesn't TrueSync Desktop App Have an Auto-Update Feature?

      I have to manually update the app myself. I think it's a big shortcoming.

    • Zoho Sign Custom Domain

      Any plans for Custom Domain?

    • Multiple date selection

      Hello, we want create app for our company. We need create tasks for our employers. For example - 1 employer have task every Friday the whole year. Second have task every Monday for 6 months. For simple way create Multiple date selection in date form

    • Book project costs to tasks

      Hi all, New to zoho but far from new to this sort of platform. I've been scouring the web for a suitable platform for my growing business. I'm currently using Xero and WorkFlow Max but it lacks a key need. I signed up to zoho projects and books to test

    • SalesIQ-Desk integration update: Seamless helpdesk ticket editing in-chat!

      Did you know you can now edit your desk support tickets within SalesIQ? Happy to announce the latest update to the SalesIQ-Desk integration. Managing your customer support tickets within SalesIQ just got even smoother and better. No more toggling between

    • Been getting this error, every now and then "Get count limit exceeded, please try again after 3 mins"

      it is really annoying.

    • Tags on notes aren't syncing correctly on Android

      I've created notes on the desktop version that have several tags assigned, but on both my Android devices those notes only have ONE of those tags instead of all of them, despite the actual content of the note being correctly synced, and I'm also starting

    • Unlocking New Horizons: A Year in Review

      As we bid farewell to 2024, let's celebrate and revisit the key highlights of the year. From adding a new edition to cross-platform enhancements, here’s a roundup of all the feature updates designed to simplify accounting, optimize financial management,

    • Campaign API Error 2001

      I'm getting a 2001 Error stating "Error in subscription. Please try after some time." I've waited but it continues to persist. I"ve copied and pasted the exact request on the API website yet that doesn't work either.

    • How to list Expenses that have not been matched to a Bank Transaction

      In ZoHo books I use expenses to record invoices I receive. I know I should probably uses Bills for this but Bills was not available in the Free edition I initially used. When I upgraded I contunued to use Expenses. I'm trying to find a way of listing

    • How are you handing birthdays?

      I'm deciding on the best way to handle contact birthdays in my set-up. None of the options seem ideal, so I am interested in how others approach this. The aim is to have a usable ui to track birthday without knowing or requiring the year. I'm currently

    • I have been looking for CVID to get segmate list where & how can fnd it?

      I am trying to get segment details from the Zoho API. The API documentation says that the CVID is a mandatory parameter, but I cannot find the CVID in the "getmailinglists" API. Can you tell me where to find the CVID?

    • Fiverr is better than Zoho Partners

      For anyone out there looking for help with Zoho Creator's confusing Deluge, I highly recommend hiring NON ZOHO PARTNERS on Fiverr. I've had much better experiences with those who are NOT certified by Zoho. Almost every single "certified" zoho partner

    • Another nightmare experience with a "Zoho Partner": Cloud Z Technologies

      I found "CloudZTech" on fiverr and I hired them to do a simple $300-$500 task. They did not deliver on time and I was forced to fire them. You guys must watch out for these fake ZOHO PARTNERS, 99% of them don't have the expertise necessary to help. I

    • Marketing Automation pour maximiser le ROI : évaluer les performances et optimiser les campagnes

      Le Marketing Automation a transformé la manière dont les entreprises mènent leurs actions marketing, offrant une solution efficace pour simplifier les processus, améliorer la productivité et, surtout, maximiser le ROI. Dans un environnement commercial

    • Spotlight series #25 - Create presentation outlines using Zoho Show's Chrome extension

      Hello all, the feature in this month's spotlight is Zoho Show's Chrome extension. The first step to creating a good presentation is outlining your ideas—a crucial process that sets the foundation for everything that follows. But this often involves extensive

    • Noto Sans numericals appearance changed?

      Before the update on Christmas the numbers looked a little skinnier and in my opinion it looked really nice. Why did it change?

    • Option to Re-order from past orders

      Customers would like to place a repeat order with the business entity. Currently there is no option to support this and everytime the customer has to check out following the same process. Can a option be given to reorder from the past orders?

    • Introducing Zia LLM: Zoho’s in-house Generative AI solution for CRM's AI capabilities

      Hello everyone, We're excited to announce the launch of our in-house Large Language Model (LLM) by Zia to power our AI offerings. What is LLM? LLM stands for Large Language Model, a powerful AI technology that processes and generates human-like text based

    • Will zoho thrive be integrated with Zoho Books?

      title

    • Using Creator API access tokens in deluge script

      I am working on generating download urls for files that are uploaded via a creator form. I want to include these urls in record templates so they can be easily accessed. The goal is to make downloading multiple attachments in a record as quick and easy

    • Workload Reports

      Under Reports > Workload Reports, would it be possible to get Kanban view sorted by Task Owner? Seems like it'd be an easier/ quicker view of how many tasks are assigned to each user and what status they're at. Also gives you more information about the

    • attributed automatically database section

      Hello everyone and happy holidays... here in zoho CRM, I created 3 bases: - Properties (House, apartment ...) - Transactions (Notaries, ...) - Real estate ads I want when the address is identical on these three bases, that in "Properties" the transactions

    • Remove County field from Customer Address input screen (or allow input to be deleted)

      We are in the USA and have just noticed that there is now a County field in the Customer Address input screen (and maybe other areas of Zoho Books, but this is the one affecting us at the moment). County is not important to our business, and in fact we

    • Custom Module I made shows the records I uploaded are there but they are not showing up.

      Here's a screenshot of the module - It shows there are around 2000 records but it says that there aren't any. The module is viewable by administrators and I am on an administrator account so I am not sure why the records aren't showing. Any help would

    • Display your zoho contact name when they call your mobile number

      As per the title If a contact calls the office number, the contacts name shows on mobile as long as I have their contact details registered in my crm. Is there a way that if the contact calls my mobile, their name can be displayed? Currently just their number shows when they call.

    • Webform & spam

      Hi, We set up 2 webform on our website, fowarding the content to Zoho CRM. Since it has been opened up, we are getting lot of spam message (for now about 20 a day). To lower the  amount of false new leads we added the captcha field and new enquieries are send to the Approval Leads list. However we still get some spam. Is there any "anti spam" mechanism built in Zoho CRM, or how is the best way to avoid these kind of spam ? Thanks

    • Need Help with Journey in Zoho Marketing Automation

      Hello everyone, I’m new to Zoho Marketing Automation and am trying to build a journey that triggers based on the contract end date of customers. My goal is to send them an email with an ebook one day before their contract ends. To achieve this, I used

    • Announcing Trident desktop app for Zoho Mail & Zoho Workplace users

      Hello Community, I hope you are doing well and staying safe. As you know, our Mail & workplace teams have been constantly working on adding more value to our offerings to ensure you and your organization continue enjoying your Zoho experience. As part

    • Kudos to the Zoho Flow Team!

      Hi Zoho Flow Team, Way to go on the new design—it looks fantastic! We especially love the festive touch with the Christmas decorations. It's a delightful and thoughtful addition that brings a bit of holiday cheer to the experience. Keep up the amazing

    • Website not found when trying to unlock Zoho vault with fingerprint(authenticator) in windows 11

      Whenever I try to unlock the Zoho vault with fingerprint(authenticator) it shows the Website not found on the server. To replicate the issue follow the below steps: Download the zoho vault extension and login. And now open the zoho vault extension ->

    • Kaizen #170: FAQs on Notification APIs

      Hello all!! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! In this post, we will address the most frequently asked questions about Zoho CRM's Notification APIs from the Zoho CRM Developer Community Forum. Notification API This API allows you to subscribe

    • Extracting data from cells in zoho sheets for zoho books

      I am currently uploading my bank statment in excel format to zoho workdrive. I would like flow to extract certain data and send it to zoho books. Would scripting in zoho flow be able to help me with this? By this I mean should I attempt this in zoho flow

    • Next Page