3 Ways to Turn Your Homepage Headline Into a Client Magnet

We need to talk – about your homepage headline.

Hands down, it is the most important piece of copy on your website. Your headline is the first point of contact with your potential client – your first impression. And if your first words are all about you – your name and your title – you dream client isn’t likely to stick around.

Think of a headline like a conversation starter at a party. If Joe is someone you’ve never met, and his first lines to you sound like this:

“Hi, I’m Joe, I’m the Marketing Director for ABC Investments and we provide asset management services to…”

Chances are high you’d think Joe was pretty boring and self-absorbed, and would resort to pretending your friend was calling you so you exit that conversation asap.

Which means that even if the rest of your website is chock full of good information, it stands no chance of being read with a Joe-like headline.

To up the ante, writing your headline is no easy feat. Why? Because there’s no one crowd to write it to. Your headline gets attention from a whole bunch of people who come to your site for a lot of different reasons. Some are interested in 1:1 counseling for help managing anger, others want couple sessions to work through an infidelity, and others still want to feel better about their crappy job.

So, how do you write one headline to cater to such a mixed bag of wants and needs?

You don’t. Your headline needn’t be all things to all people. In fact, a headline that tries to appeal to everyone will probably appeal to no one.

Instead, write a headline for one person: Your Dream Client.

As in, the type of client you absolutely want and love to work with. Before we get into how, let’s get clear on the job of your headline.

Need help identifying your dream client? Take our ideal client quiz to help you pinpoint your audience.

The job of your headline isn’t to attract or persuade ideal clients to come to your website so that you can sell your services. No, the job of your headline is to make your dream client feel as though you truly, madly, deeply understand her – like you’re talking directly to her.

So, how do you do it?

Here are 3 feel-good, psychology-backed ways to write a headline that truly empathizes with your dream client and kickstarts a longer-term relationship with them.

1. Join the conversation happening in their head

Being understood is a basic and pretty fundamental human need. When someone understands us, we can’t help but feel drawn to them.

Use your headline to show your dream clients that you understand them. Specifically, that you understand the pain they’re experiencing on an intimate level – the pain that’s pushing them to look for a therapist in the first place.

Take a look at how the headline below from CBT Associates does this:

And this one too…

These headlines work for 2 big reasons:

1. They make it super clear who they’re targeting. How? By calling out the problem they know their ideal client is facing rather explicitly.
2. They use “I” and “my” to speak from the point of view of their target audience. This makes the headline way easier to relate to and connect with.

2. Interrupt their train of thought – with hope

Your dream client doesn’t necessarily want to go to therapy. Rather, she wants a solution to a problem she’s facing, and she sees therapy as a way to that solution.

Use your headline to first join the conversation happening in her head (like we did in headline technique #1), but then interrupt it – with a pleasant surprise.

Conscious Journey Counseling does a good job of this. Check out their headline below:

The headline poses a question that ideal clients would undoubtedly answer with “no”, and then surprises them with a bit of company.

Potential clients are intrigued and hopeful: I’m not alone? Someone else gets how I feel?

Why does a headline like this work? Because we are hardwired to love good surprises. So much so that when we unexpectedly experience a happy surprise, the pleasure center in our brain lights up like a Christmas tree.

3. Remind your ideal clients of their dreams

In transpersonal psychology, a key role of the therapist is to hold the client in “unconditional positive regard”.

As you probably already know, this is particularly important and impactful when the client is stuck in her mess, and feels hopeless or wants to give up.

At times like these, your view of her – as her higher self – can be like a beam of light in a dark room.

Maybe the way she sees her situation isn’t the only way to see it.
Maybe she is deserving and worthy of her dreams.

Lynn Superstein-Raber offers her clients explicit hope in her headline below.

But it’s not clear who she’s speaking to – until and unless we read the text underneath the headline.

An equally dreamy, but more targeted headline might read something like this:

“What if the relationship you’d always dreamed of having could be yours? Now, it can”.

Go Turn Your Homepage Headline Into a Client Magnet

Experiment with these 3 hacks to come up with your own home page headline.

Once you’ve landed on a headline you like, make sure to vet it with these 3 questions.

(Your answer should be a resounding “yes!” to all of ‘em.)

• Does my headline make it clear who who my target audience is?
• Does my headline either talk to my dream client directly (using “you”) or is it written from her point of view (using “I” and “my”)?
• Do I think my headline will help my dream clients feel understood?

Want to improve the rest of your website? Check out these qualities of the best therapist websites.

About Hannah Shamji

Hannah Shamji is an Online Persuasion Strategist and a soon-to-be Registered Professional Counselor. She helps therapists write websites that attract & invite the right clients--clients they love & get excited to work with--into their practice.