How to Write Headlines That Don’t Suck
- At July 03, 2015
- By rbadmin
- In Blog
0
On the Internet you have about three seconds to grab a reader’s attention or they’re outta there—especially if they find your site through a search engine and have no idea where they are.
The first thing they’ll read is your headline.
Eighty percent won’t read anything else.
Think about how you read a newspaper. Doesn’t matter if you’re browsing online in your pajamas or reading a dead-tree edition over breakfast in a cafe. If you’re like most people, you’ll scan at least a half-dozen headlines before you read one of the articles.
Copywriters and content marketers face the same problem, so your headlines better not suck.
1. Be clear. Headline writing is an art, not a science, but the headline itself should not be artistic. Be clear. Don’t use metaphors or cute turns of phrase. If a twelve-year old can’t understand it, start over.
2. Be direct. Tell the reader exactly what your sales copy or content marketing is about. If it’s about a new smartphone with a week-long battery life, say that in the headline.
3. Emphasize the benefits. You can’t always let the reader know what the benefits are in a headline, but when you can, you should. Like this:
How to Double Your Sales Without Hiring Any More Sales People
It’s clear. It’s direct. And the benefits are right there.
4. Don’t be click-baity. The headline’s job is to convince the reader to read the first sentence. (The first sentence’s job is to get the reader to move on to the second sentence, etc.) But be wary of manipulative click-bait. If you promise amazing results, you need to deliver.
Manipulative click-bait has become a genre unto itself, and Click Hole brilliantly lampooned it last summer with this:
This Stick Of Butter Is Left Out At Room Temperature; You Won’t Believe What Happens Next
Below that headline is a three-hour long video that shows a stick of butter s-l-o-w-l-y melting on the kitchen counter. Not a single human being will ever watch the whole thing.
5. Be outrageous if possible. Click-bait will almost certainly backfire, but if you can deliver on an outrageous headline, go for it.
Jon Morrow over at Problogger wrote one of the best outrageous headlines ever:
How to Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise, and Get Paid to Change the World.
Look at what he did there. It’s clear. It’s direct. He emphasizes the benefits. Hardly anyone can resist clicking it. And, believe it or not, he delivers.