Write headlines that explain, not headlines that impress

The largest text on your page is doing the most work, and it is usually the sentence that was written last, approved fastest, and understood least.

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A good website headline says what you do, for whom, and where, in words a stranger uses. Clever wordplay, abstract slogans and internal language all fail because the reader has to decode them, and a person scanning a page on a phone will not spend attention decoding. Put the plain version first and the personality underneath.

Clever headlines ask the reader to do work

A pun, a metaphor, or an abstract phrase requires the reader to pause and work out the meaning. It is a small request, and at the top of a page where they are still deciding whether to stay, it is a request too many.

Worse, the ones who do decode it often arrive at the wrong answer. Elevating spaces could be construction, interior design, lifts, or coaching. The visitor should never be guessing your industry.

What a working headline contains

The formula is unglamorous because clarity usually is. It names the thing, the person, and where relevant the place, in language the customer would use themselves.

  • The service, named as customers name it, not as your industry does.
  • The customer, specifically enough that the right person recognises themselves.
  • The place, when location decides whether somebody can hire you.
  • The outcome, if it can be added without turning the sentence into a paragraph.

Personality belongs underneath

None of this means the page must be dull. It means the order matters. The headline explains, and the sentence beneath it can have all the character you like, because by then the reader knows what they are reading about.

This is a far better arrangement than the reverse. A charming line that leaves people unsure of your business wastes its charm on people who are about to leave.

Test it the same way every time

Show the headline alone, with no logo and no images, to somebody outside the business. Ask what this company does and who it is for. If they can answer, it works.

Then apply the competitor test. Would this headline sit equally well on two of your rivals' sites? If so it is describing your category, not your business, and it gives a visitor no reason to choose.

  • Show it without design, logo or context.
  • Ask what the business does, not whether they like the line.
  • Check whether a competitor could use the same sentence.
  • Read it aloud: if it sounds unlike speech, rewrite it.

Headlines further down the page

Section headings are read far more than the paragraphs beneath them, because scanners use them to decide where to stop. Yet they are usually labels: Our Process, Our Values, Why Choose Us.

Make them say something instead. What happens in the first week. Why our quotes are fixed. Who this is not for. A scanner reading only your headings should still come away understanding your offer.

The same clarity helps you get found

There is a pleasant side effect. A headline written in the words customers use is also written in the words customers search for, and the words an assistant will match when somebody asks for a recommendation.

Abstract slogans match nothing. They are invisible to search and give an AI assistant nothing to quote, which is a large price to pay for a phrase that sounded good in a meeting.

How Licheo writes them

The copywriter agent starts from the question a customer would actually ask, then writes the headline as the plainest possible answer to it, and lets the personality live in the sentence below.

Section headings get the same treatment, so somebody who only reads the large text still understands what you do and why they should care.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of More revenue, same traffic. The other parts:

Questions people ask

What makes a good website headline?
It says what you do, for whom, and where, in the customer's own words. If a stranger can read it alone, without your logo or images, and describe your business correctly, it is doing its job.
Can I use a clever headline at all?
Put clarity first and character second. The headline explains; the line underneath can carry all the personality you want. Reversing that order spends charm on people who are still unsure what you sell.
Should my headline include keywords?
It should include the words your customers actually use, which usually are the keywords. Do not force a phrase in awkwardly. A sentence written for a person and a sentence written for search are mostly the same sentence.
How long should a headline be?
Short enough to take in at a glance on a phone. If it needs a comma and a subclause to make sense, split it: the second half is usually the supporting line you needed anyway.
What about headings on the rest of the page?
Make them say something rather than label a section. Our Process tells a scanner nothing; what happens in the first week tells them a great deal. Someone reading only your headings should still understand the offer.

Say it plainly at the top

The agents write headlines a stranger understands instantly, in the words your customers already use when they search.

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