📂 Landing page headline formulas for SaaS

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Coming from someone (me) who has written dozens and dozens of headlines for SaaS landing pages... let me tell you:

It's still hard.

So if you're sitting there having a hard time coming up with a new headline, let me share with you a collection of formulas to help you find the highest converting variation.

{Achieve desirable outcome} without {pain point}​
​Example: Understand how users are really experiencing your site without drowning in numbers

This versatile formula combines the outcome that users care about with addressing their concerns. Being upfront about their main pain point will make users confident that your product is the right fit to solve it.

The {opposite of what the process usually is like} way to {achieve desirable outcome}​
​Example: The easiest way to turn your passion into income

A benefit-focused formula emphasizing how the product is the solution to achieve an outcome in an opposite way to what users are used to. As the headline is entirely focused on benefits, make sure to explain what the product is in the subheadline.

Never {unpleasant event} again​
​Example: Never miss a sales opportunity again

Remind users of the unpleasant feeling they get when experiencing the pain point your product solves. Humans respond more intensely to negative stimuli (negativity bias) so this type of headline has the potential to be a strong attention-grabber.

{Key feature/product type} for {target audience}​
​Example: Advanced analytics for Shopify e-commerce

Target your exact persona by mentioning it explicitly in the headline along with the key product feature. Make sure to use the subheadline to mention how that feature is related to the outcome they care about most. How to make it stronger: appeal to your audience's ego by including the trait they like to identify themselves with (e.g. 'Email for closers').

{Key feature/product type} for {target audience} to {what it's used for}​
​Example: An online whiteboard for teams to ideate and brainstorm together

Add more clarity to the previous formula by saying what your product is mainly used for. Worth trying in less established niches where use cases are not easily understood yet.

You don't have to {skills or resources your audience doesn't have} to {achieve desirable outcome}​
​Example: With Ahrefs, you don't have to be an SEO pro to rank higher and get more traffic

Overcome objections related to insufficient skills or resources of your audience by explicitly stating they're not required to achieve the desired outcome. Good fit for products reducing the complexity of some processes and in niches that are thought to be accessible only to a narrow audience.

{Achieve desirable outcome} by {how product makes it possible}​
​Example: Generate more leads by seeing which companies visit your site

This formula lets you support the benefit you're selling with a brief description of how the product makes it possible. The second part of the headline makes it stronger and more convincing.

{Key benefit of your product}​
​Example: Sound clear in online meetings

A very straightforward formula - just say what your product enables users to do in simple terms. Works best for products with a simple use case.

{Question highlighting the main pain point your product solves}​
​Example: Hate returning stuff to Amazon?

Ask a question mentioning the pain point your target audience wants to avoid and that users will answer 'yes' to. Add in words like 'hate' or 'tired' to make the headline even more intense.

Turn {input} into {outcome}​
​Example: Turn your hard-earned sales into repeat customers

Show visitors how they can turn something they already have into what's even more valuable. The hook here is that it takes little effort to achieve the promised outcome as they only need the right tool to make it happen.

Come for our {most recognizable feature}. Stay for everything else.​
​Example: Come for our chat. Stay for our everything else.

This headline, best suited for all-in-one tools, highlights the fact that the product offers much more than just the main feature it's known for.

{Achieve desirable outcome} while you {effortless activity}​
​Example: Drive subscription revenue while you sleep

Use this formula to highlight how effortlessly your audience can get results from your tool. Especially relevant for products working in the background or those that don't require users' active input.

{Achieve desirable outcome} in {short amount of time}​
​Example: Scrape any website in 2 minutes

Use this simple headline formula if the time-saving aspect of your product is crucial to your audience. Satisfying their need in a shorter time than expected is a compelling benefit.

{Key feature/product type} made {positive adjective}​
​Example: Bug reporting made easy

A short and simple formula that highlights how a product makes a given activity different than it usually is. Most often used for products that make some process easier or simpler.

{Achieve desirable outcome}{in a better way}​
​Example: Build internal tools, remarkably fast

Create your product's value prop around the one differentiator that's crucial to your target audience. In 1-2 words, highlight how it's better than others.

—Corey

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