Without it your advertisement is going nowhere.

Some years ago when the Internet was still a mystery to most, I was commissioned by our local paper to write a piece on Christmas shopping on the Internet.

My feature was duly published and those I spoke to afterwards said they hadn’t seen it. Even when I told them what page it had appeared on they still had difficulty finding it.

The reason? The headline. It was written assuming that readers had already some knowledge of the World Wide Web with the heading: `Christmas Shopping on the Web’, which meant nothing to most people and so they either consciously, or subconsciously, didn’t read it.

Your headline must grab the reader and make them want to read more.

Target your customers by making the heading as specific as you possibly can. If your product will only appeal to those interested in sailing then make it shout at sailors:

ATTENTION FRUSTRATED SAILORS

Or if you’re selling to gardeners with bad backs:

IS YOUR GARDEN BREAKING YOUR BACK?

And so on. Be as specific as you can. Grab their attention and make them want to read your ads.