Headlines: Have You Been Writing Them Wrong All Along? Whether Yes or No, here you will find the ultimate answer to how to write headlines that sell, every time!
Anyone to everyone that is involved in content marketing has at one time or another wondered about what they could do better. There are a number of ways through which your content strategy can become more effective. But the first thing that can be improved in articles, blog posts, press releases, or any marketing collateral is the headline you write.
How to Write Catchy Headlines?
Headlines are, after all, what influence the potential readers to click in order to read the full story. If it is not catchy, it is not a headline. In digital world, the dilemma for writers lies in pleasing the humans, and at the same time machines (the search engines) with the same degree of appeal, or else it will remain a hidden treasure. The online writers are here to share their treasures with their readers, but these machines make the process complicated. As a result, most of the writers surrender to the search engines and kill the appeal in their headlines making it extremely SEO-friendly. On the other hand, some writers completely forget about the search engines and make it highly appealing for the readers, which is the actual way and purpose. They work very well on social media platform, but search engines do not seem to be interested in those headlines, which ultimately minimizes the organic exposure.
In short, when you are all geared up to write the great headlines, you find yourself between the devious devil and the dangerously deep blue sea. To survive both menaces, you must know how to stay ahead of the devil and how to stay on the sea surface. It is tricky, but it is possible. The situation reminds me of a millennium-old cliché and I would share it here once again that ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ itself says that ‘I M POSSIBLE’. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist it bringing it here.
To deal with this situation, you must know how to write SEO headlines and how to write social media headlines. And here you will learn exactly how create good headlines successfully.
Paint a Picture through Headlines
Here’s the bitter truth. Most people that visit your website or blog won’t read all the great content you meticulously put together.
That’s okay though.
The visitors of your website don’t have to read every single word to agree with you or to buy the products you sell or the services you render. However, here’s the tricky part. You need to make sure that the visitors are able to extract the information you want to convey through the powerful headlines.
Let’s take this blog as an example. Through the main heading, a potential reader would be able to gather that a powerful headline should serve the SEO requirements for search engines while the readers on social media as well as through organic search should find it to be appealing enough for clicking. There are both good and bad practices when it comes to writing a headline, which is pretty self-explanatory stuff and it suggests that this post has some tips for newbie as well as writers with experience to write attention grabbing headlines. The best headlines channel the core ideas without beating around the bush.
Bad News Sells
It’s a sad thought, but the truth of the matter is that negative news is circulated more than positive news. As someone that’s responsible for the brand image of your organization, your gut instinct would be to share positivity because you’re working under the pretense that good news equates to a good brand image.
That’s true to some extent, but look at it this way…
The title of this post could have been 4 Tips to Improve Headlines. Do it, scroll back and see how much better the current headline is.
You don’t have to go all Negative Nancy with the headlines. Explore different options. Settle for one that would compel you to read through.
For More Details, Talk to Our Customer Care Representatives Right Now via Live Chat or Phone at 1-877-897-1725
Increase Length of Headlines
Three amazing sites, with fantastic content are Business Insider, Buzzfeed, and Upworthy. Guess what they all have in common? That’s right, they all use long headlines.
If you’re going to paint a picture through your headline and if it’s going to be spun in a negative direction, then you’re going to have to use a wordy title.
But how many words are too much?
According to a study by Sharethrough, 21-28 words is the range through which you’re bound to get maximum engagement and impact.
To us, that’s a bit much, especially considering most users read on their mobile devices. However, if you were to use the range that the aforementioned sites use, you should use around 10-15 words per title.
Use Power Words
When choosing a headline, try to incorporate words that imply that action needs to be taken. Words like;
- Improve
- Enhance
- Kickass
- Breakthrough
Also, you want to create a sense of urgency through words like:
- Now
- Hurry
- Latest
- Last Chance
- Today
Last, but not least, use superlatives.
- Amazing
- Best
- Excellent
- Free
- Latest
Pass Up on Passive Voice
There is a certain level of animosity against passive voice at large. That shouldn’t really be the case. In some cases, the use of passive voice is actually better than the alternative. However, in headlines, you should always try to use active voice. Here’s an example:
Passive: The revolutionary iPhone was introduced by Steve Jobs in 2007.
Active: Steve Jobs introduced the revolutionary iPhone in 2007.
Neither of these are great titles. But we don’t need a great title here to prove a point.
In both sentences, there’s an action word (introduced). Notice the placement of the action word in both sentences. In active voice, the action word is placed earlier in the title. You should always aim to place the action word as early as you can.
Second point you need to understand is the placement of the brand or the celebrity.
For the sake of argument, we’ll assume that the focus of this title is Steve Jobs. Let’s replace his name with your business’ name.
Passive: The revolutionary iPhone was introduced by YourCompany in 2007.
Active: YourCompany introduced the revolutionary iPhone in 2007.
Which one do you like better from a branding perspective? Ditch passive voice. Go active!
Test a Few before Selecting the One You Like
There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing the better headlines for the title of your content. Sometimes you might benefit from not revealing core ideas in the title, at other times, it may be advantageous for you to use a short, crisp headline.
It’s advised that you try out at least a couple of headlines whether you are writing magazines, advertising, articles, social media or to convert visitors into buyers before you select one of the better headlines. Ask yourself whether or not you would want to read on based off what the title is. If you don’t like it, not many on the web would do so. To learn how to write great headlines is a long period of trial and error, so keep on doing it till you get the desired results.
It takes years and years of experience before someone is able to master at learning how to write better headlines. There are so many different things to factor in before you publish anything. As professional writers, we encourage everyone to learn as much as they can about the trade. But it’s always best to leave your content needs to the professionals, especially if your organization’s reputation is at stake.
