Is this an alternative to garish red text?

[GuerrillaIM]

The majority of sales pages use red text for the headline. This is because the eye is drawn to it. We are all conditioned to think that red can mean danger or something important.

Personally I dont like the aesthetics. I have been trying to make my headlines stand out recently by adding them to a box with a shadow like below. This way I can make them match the colour scheme of the website.

Do you think this is a good format for an attention grabbing headline?

[new2ebiz]

That looks good, especially with the different shadow.
Just be sure that any substitute will stand out.

It's like changing a link color, will your site visitors recognize where to find things on your site.

I prefer burgandy to red. It's easier on my eyes for some reason. I've also tried different shades of red.

And while you've mentioned colors -- people, please don't use pink or purple. Yuck! Maybe on some niche site, which I would still hate!

Sorry, GuerrillaIM for that mention of other colors - but yuck.

[GuerrillaIM]

Hehe it reminds me that in one of my niches my main competotor just re-designed their website to be pink. We all had a good laugh about it in the office as it is a very poor design, not just because its pink and selling IT products to professionals. I know the guy who runs it and he is complaining about sales dropping off. Coincidence?

[Mandy Allen]

I have always hated seeing the red text at the top. It just does not appeal to me at all. I like the burgundy idea, and I love the little shaded box too, food for thought, thanks.

Enjoy the journey.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM

The majority of sales pages use red text for the headline. This is because the eye is drawn to it.

I think it's actually because everyone copies everyone else and assumes that it's "the right thing to do".

There were originally studies showing that the eye's drawn to such headlines, but whether they're still applicable now to sales pages is a very different matter.

Originally Posted by GuerrillaIM

Do you think this is a good format for an attention grabbing headline?

I think it's certainly better than bright red, and in my opinion (which may well be a minority one) it would be better still if you Removed The Capital Letters That Start Every Word And Therefore Make It A Fraction Slower To Read.

[Mandy Allen]

Brilliant suggestion, Alexa! I have never understood why that was developed. What is it all about??

Enjoy the journey.

[pmt3]

I remember the first time I ever saw a sales page-thinking how cheesey and amateur it seemed. Then when I started researching IM, I realized that almost all sales pages looked the same. I figured there must be some extensive research that showed this was the "look" that worked, but it has always puzzled me. I'm interested in knowing if anyone has tested different layouts with the same content and whether or not it made a significant impact on sales.

Personally, I prefer the shadow to garish red...let us know how it works for you.

[Mandy Allen]

There has been research. Apparantly these types of sites convert more than other designs. I still don't like them though.

Enjoy the journey.

[Mike Shain]

I prefer a black or dark blue headline with important words in red or maroon. A gianormous red headline gives me a headache.

Then again if someone really wanted or needed what you were selling it wouldn't much matter what color the headline was.

As a surfer if I didn't want what you were selling I could care less that red is supposed to be better for headlines it wouldn't make me buy from you.

[Josh Anderson]

This is my own headline formula applied:



Can you guess what I want people to do when they land on that page?

Two tone red and blue and has produced the best results for me.

Oh, and by the way... I don't buy into any of that "this color symbolizes" baloney.

It does not matter what a color "symbolizes" it only matters that it increases your conversion rate.

For example for years, and even now, the myth has continued that blue backgrounds are somehow the best and "symbolize" blah, blah, blah.

What you need to find is what produces the best results for you. You might start by testing the common practices and claims of others...

But what I found is that when I stopped listening to others who told me blue backgrounds boosted conversions and changed all my page backgrounds to black my conversions increased by 30%+

There are a lot of myths in copyrighting... it reminds me of that fake most powerful word list that has been going around for decades.

[Michael Oksa]

It may be attention grabbing, or not. We can offer our personal feedback, but what really counts is your site's visitors.

In other words...

Test, test, test.

I think it comes down to two things. Expectation and presentation. Your visitors have expectations of what colors and words go with different things. Many of these expectations are subconscious. Therefore, your presentation needs to meet their expectations, and at the same time move away from what they expect. The key is to not move so far away from them that it becomes incongruent to your message.

All the best,
Michael