10 Secrets To Writing Great Headlines…
How Bigfoot Saved My Life…
Did that headline grab your attention? It sure did mine when I saw it on a supermarket tabloid. Writing great headlines is critical in grabbing the attention of your reader. The headline is what everyone reads to determine if they are interested in what you have to say. Studies show that 8 out of 10 people will read the headline. But, only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of the copy.
It doesn’t matter if you’re, writing an article, a sales letter, creating your own website, posting on your blog or at your favorite social network, the headline determines if people pay any attention to you and your writing. The better the headline the greater the chances of people reading the copy.
I’ve posted some examples of headlines that reflect the secrets of writing great headlines here.
Do You Know AIDA? (Hint: Not the girl in 3rd grade you had a crush on.)
Folks in marketing follow a method called AIDA which stands for:
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
Did you notice the first step in the method is “attention”? If you can’t capture your reader’s attention in the very beginning there is absolutely no chance that they will read the rest of what you write. I’m not going to elaborate on each step of AIDA. This post is about writing headlines that grab attention and propel your reader into the rest of your article, sales letter or post.
Headlines are also an important element in the search engines’ page ranking algorithm. Headlines containing the keyword/keyword phrase rank better than a random headline with little or no relationship to the page content.
Do a Google search for “writing great headlines” and take notice of the first few organic results. Do they contain that exact phrase? I’m guessing they do.
10 Secrets of Writing Great Headlines
Secret #1 of writing great headlines:
You must know what action you want the reader to take before you write the headline. In fact, many professional copywriters craft the headline after they have written the rest of the copy. Writing the copy first generates ideas for the headline. The headline always starts the reader’s journey. It’s a good idea to know where you want them to end their trip. If the headlne has little or no relationship to the content the reader stops reading and, of course, the only action that happens then is you’ve lost your reader or customer. The headline and content must be woven together.
Secret #2 of writing great headlines:
Know your reader. The headline must hook people. Not everybody – just your reader. What is it that your reader wants? It’s probably the same things you want.
If you can’t imagine yourself in the other person’s shoes you need to do some research or find a topic that interests you.
Secret #3 of writing great headlines:
Headlines need to answer the question “What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM)” Does it solve their problem? Does it address their fear or anxiety? What benefits will they get? Will it arouse their curiosity?
I’m not at all suggesting that one headline must address each of these conditions. One is plenty sufficient when done effectively.
Secret #4 of writing great headlines:
Proper grammar is not required. In fact, neither is proper punctuation. You’re trying to grab their attention, not get an “A” on your term paper or thesis.
Never put a period (.) at the end of your headline. The reader will subconciously stop and then consciously move on to something else. Use an ellipsis (…) instead.
The next time you’re standing in line at the supermarket checkout read the headlines on the National Inquirer, The Star or The Globe. If you don’t want people to think you actually buy and read those tabloids, do it with a non-revealing glance.
I buy them every week! These tabloids are terrific tutors. Read all the headlines, look at the ads. Some of these ads have run for years. These ads are selling product or they wouldn’t be in the paper every week. What do these ad headlines do? Solve a problem. Improve a person (self-help). Maybe reduce anxiety.
The largest daily newspapers in the country are bankrupt or near bankruptcy, i.e. The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. But the tabloids have money to burn. The tabloids have a bigger readership than the 3 largest daily newspapers combined. Note: I said readeship, not circulation. Circulation is the number of papers printed and circulated. Just because it is circulated doesn’t mean it’s read. Do you read every memo and email that comes to you?
When a person buys a tabloid they intend to read it. Or, at least part of it. Why? Because some headline grabbed their attention and wouldn’t let go. They just had to read the article.
Secret #5 of writing great headlines:
Keep it short. The rule of thumb is seven words or less. Shorter should mean punchier. Not cutesy or clumsy. The headline can be witty as long as it is references a current topic that the majority of people will recognize.
Secret #6 of writing great headlines:
If you can’t get your message across in seven words or less use a sub-headline. The sub-headline should be in a smaller font from the headline. The headline hooks your reader. The sub-headline reels them in. Try to keep the sub-headline to seven words or less, also.
Secret #7 of writing great headlines:
Use action words (verbs) and words that stir emotion: “learn”, “how to”, “know the secrets”, “hidden”, “you can”. These are words and phrases that generate curiosity. Or, tell the reader the goal is attainable. These words and phrases are called “Power Words” in the marketing community. Here is a list of 186 power words: FreeReports Power Words you can have for free.
Secret #8 of writing great headlines:
The use of numbers in a headline communicate achieveability. One of the best longterm selling self-help books is “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Dr. Stephen Covey. It suggests that you can be effective and successful if you develop these seven habits. Seven! Is that all? I can do seven.
Secret #9 of writing great headlines:
Write at least three or four versions of the headline. Set them aside for 24 hours and put them out of your mind. Then come back and read each one. It’s amazing just how clarifying this can be. It has become habit with me. Sometimes I need to rush to get an article or a post published. It seems like I always regret it. When I return to it a few days later and read it I wonder “What the hell was I thinking or better yet, not thinking?”
Secret #10 of writing great headlines:
Create a Swipe file. A swipe file is an collection of your headlines and others that grab your attention. Whenever you run across a headline that grabs your attention, copy it and paste it into your swipe file. I use Windows Notebook because it is a plain text editor. That means it doesn’t add any programming formats to the copy. Word and Word Perfect add formatting to the text. You don’t see the formatting but it’s there. I’m not talking about font or color formatting but software formatting that is hidden. You can just copy and paste from Notebook into your web-based application without problem.
I keep the swipe file open all the time. When I find a headline that knocks me out I grab it and paste it into my swipe file. Of course, you should make some changes to the swiped headlines just in case they are copyrighted. My swipe file as saved me on many occasions when I was having a brain fart and just couldn’t come up with anything great.
Albert Einstein said “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
Writing great headlines takes practice. It’s a skill that can be learned. You don’t have to be a “natural” to create great headlines that grab your readers’ attention. Practice makes perfect. Keep writing and tweaking until you are comfortable and confident. If you never get there you can outsource the task. I must warn you though, having a professional copywriter create a killer headline and copy can cost thousands of dollars.
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4 Comments on 10 Secrets To Writing Great Headlines…
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vips on
Thu, 4th Jun 2009 9:44 am
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AndrewBoldman on
Thu, 4th Jun 2009 1:15 pm
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pete on
Fri, 5th Jun 2009 9:30 am
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nada padovan,perika on
Thu, 13th Aug 2009 11:33 am
I like your writing style, nice!
Hi, cool post. I have been wondering about this topic,so thanks for writing.
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