6 Strategies to Write Better Headlines

Understanding What The Headline Does

A lot of the clients I work with, think a headline is to sell.

The sole purpose of the headline is to guide readers to the first paragraph. Pique their interest enough to continue.

80% of people will read the headline, but only 20% will continue to read the body.

It's important to know that the headline is there to grab your customer's attention.

If there is one thing to take from this section, don't focus on trying to sell with your headlines.

Know Who Your Audience Is

Not knowing who your audience is, is the main reason why most headlines fail. Take your time researching if you do not have a clear understanding of your audience.

You may be wondering why is this so important?

Well, if you create a headline that does not hit a pain point or does not relate to them in any way. You won't see any results.

A great way to seeing what your customers are talking about is to read your reviews. If you don't have any, read the reviews of competitors in your niche.

Look for their desires, pain points, and questions. Formulate a headline to match that.

Do Your Research First

Research, research, and more research.

I am a firm believer that you should conduct 80% of your time researching and 20% of your time writing.

What does research have to do with copywriting.

Research has everything to do with copywriting. You need to understand the product or service you are writing about inside and out.

To begin writing to capture potential customers attention, you need to know every feature and benefit of that product or service.

Create Unique Headlines

It's a great idea to gain inspiration from competitors. However, don't just blatantly copy what they wrote.

Instead, find all the related headlines that captured your attention. Write them all down word for word. Then try to dissect each one, getting inside the mind of who wrote that.

Many times while doing this, you will have an "a-ha!" moment.

This is when you start writing out headlines in your own words. Your best headline will come from this moment.

I always recommend writing between 10-20 different headlines. Choosing the one that you feel will resonate with the audience best.

Don't Use The First Headline You Thought Of

Using the first headline you thought of is a big mistake!

When does anything in life go perfectly on the first attempt? You are right, hardly ever!

Don't just use the first headline that comes to mind. Take your time with it and think about how it will make someone feel when reading it.

A good test to put your headline through is the "so what" test. What is this you ask?

This is a test I like to do to see if a headline seems boring and dull. Let me give you an example.

Boring and dull headline: Increase Visitors to Your Blog

So-what proof headline: How To Hit 1,000,000 Visitors In A Year Of Blogging

Do you see the difference? Do you feel the difference?

Use Emotion In Your Headlines

There are tons of studies related to using emotion in headlines and its affects. I won't get into it too much here.

I just wanted to stress the importance of using both positive and negative emotions in your headlines. The stronger the emotion, the more likely your headline will grab attention.

I want to give you a few examples of a strong emotionally charged headline:

1. On Dying, Mothers, and Fighting For Your Ideas
2. 106 Excuses That Prevent You From Ever Being Great
3. 37 Tips for Writing Emails that Get Opened, Read, and Clicked
4. 29 Life Lessons Learned In Traveling the World
   

You may be wondering how you can add emotion to your headlines. Choose words that are powerful and invoke emotion.

One of the most powerful words you can use in a headline is "You". There is no better way to capture someone's attention by speaking directly to them.

Use these 6 strategies to start writing headlines that will start converting right away!