Monday, April 04, 2005
Eyetracking Study Reveals Importance of Headlines
Did you know there is an entire field of study dedicated to how the eye “tracks” information on a page? It’s true. Over the past 13 years The Poynter Institute has been studying consumer behavior through eyetracking research. And they just released their latest report.
This is great news for us copywriters. It’s like insider information about how your marketing message will be consumed. The big aha moment to me was this phrase in their study, “Understand that the first few words in a homepage headline are crucial in engaging the largest number of users.”
Here are some of their findings.
Make that top left corner count – As suspected, readers are drawn to your header graphic and top headlines first. Obviously this would be a no-brainer place to put important information first.
Headlines should be in large font – Since the eye is drawn first to the headline then other page elements, they recommend using larger font (but you already knew that).
The hook can be used to reel them in – Readers usually read the first few words and decide whether or not to keep reading. Again, they reinforce what you say early on in your copy is crucial to keeping them there or leaving in a heartbeat.
Don’t fear the unusual – Initial words that are a bit out of the ordinary are more likely to capture attention. (This is probably the reason the action words you see used in a lot of copy are sometimes mistaken for hype.)
Small type makes them read – Larger type promotes scanning, while smaller type encourages closer reading. (This doesn’t mean you change all your fonts to 8 point. Keep it balanced.)
Lots of white space - Shorter paragraphs get read over the longer ones. In fact, short paragraphs get TWICE as many overall eye fixations as longer ones.
Copy counts – Readers are drawn first to the words and then to the graphic elements.
You get 5 chances to work your magic with headlines and subheads - Readers give you a minimum of 5 chances to engage them with headlines and subheads. So you should not scrimp on your headline writing exercises.
Overall Conclusion: If you want your copy read, focus on your headlines. By the way, I was planning to wait but in light of this study, today I am formally releasing my new software, “Instant Headline Creator”. Learn more about it here at www.red-hot-copy.com/instantheadlines.htm
Read the study directly at http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm.
This is great news for us copywriters. It’s like insider information about how your marketing message will be consumed. The big aha moment to me was this phrase in their study, “Understand that the first few words in a homepage headline are crucial in engaging the largest number of users.”
Here are some of their findings.
Make that top left corner count – As suspected, readers are drawn to your header graphic and top headlines first. Obviously this would be a no-brainer place to put important information first.
Headlines should be in large font – Since the eye is drawn first to the headline then other page elements, they recommend using larger font (but you already knew that).
The hook can be used to reel them in – Readers usually read the first few words and decide whether or not to keep reading. Again, they reinforce what you say early on in your copy is crucial to keeping them there or leaving in a heartbeat.
Don’t fear the unusual – Initial words that are a bit out of the ordinary are more likely to capture attention. (This is probably the reason the action words you see used in a lot of copy are sometimes mistaken for hype.)
Small type makes them read – Larger type promotes scanning, while smaller type encourages closer reading. (This doesn’t mean you change all your fonts to 8 point. Keep it balanced.)
Lots of white space - Shorter paragraphs get read over the longer ones. In fact, short paragraphs get TWICE as many overall eye fixations as longer ones.
Copy counts – Readers are drawn first to the words and then to the graphic elements.
You get 5 chances to work your magic with headlines and subheads - Readers give you a minimum of 5 chances to engage them with headlines and subheads. So you should not scrimp on your headline writing exercises.
Overall Conclusion: If you want your copy read, focus on your headlines. By the way, I was planning to wait but in light of this study, today I am formally releasing my new software, “Instant Headline Creator”. Learn more about it here at www.red-hot-copy.com/instantheadlines.htm
Read the study directly at http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/main.htm.
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