Getting your message across quickly

When I was in high school, I had a job at the Paramount movie theatre located in downtown in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. Among the tasks I was assigned was that of changing the letters on the marquee each week.

Because the Paramount was located in the center of town, just about everyone would see the marquee on their way to work or school. If the marquee wording was interesting, people would talk about it at work or school, and we'd get a good crowd at the movies that evening. If the marquee was uninspiring, the crowds would be thin.

The marquee would hold four lines of text, at most. Each line a maximum of 18 characters in length. It wasn't much room, but it made a huge difference in the number of tickets sold each evening. Having the right word or phrase could create a real buzz - or a real yawn - depending on what was said.

For example, we knew that adding the phrase 'date night' to the marquee, would bring in crowds of teenagers. Just as adding the words, 'family night' would bring in the families. Sure it was always date night and family night at the movies, but by adding the words to the marquee we reminded our target audience that this was their night.

The same is true with the headlines on your web site. It is the 'marquee' which will either create a 'buzz' or a 'yawn' in your target market.

The words and phrases you use as the main headline and following 'teaser' line on your site are often the only words your visitors have time to read as they 'drive' by your site on the internet.

For that reason it is important to make sure your marquee gets the message across quickly and effectively. Else the crowds have no reason to check out what's playing on your site.