Great Bloggers Write Great Headlines
Those who write great headlines in media get paid as much as – sometimes more than – those who produce great content, and with good reason.
The headline of a blog post or article is a ‘leverage point’. A tiny change to the headline may well have a huge impact on how effective it is. A single word can massively multiply or totally destroy click through rates, whereas a single word in a post (in most cases) won’t make a jot of difference to your reader or the action they take.
Whatever medium or mode of marketing or traffic generation you’re working with – be it Search Traffic, Social media or even offline media – headlines are what people see first, and on the basis of their quality (or lack thereof) they click through to read your content (or not)
How to Write Great Headlines
- Great headlines have impact.
- Great headlines speak to the reader and compel them to click.
- Great headlines promise some kind of fulfillment or gain for the reader.
And the simplest way to Tick those boxes is with Results, Benefits, Relief.
Your headline has to concisely express the results, benefits or relief that the reader will experience as a result of reading your content. And hence they click…
Built upon a solid understanding of your target readership’s needs and wants (if you don’t know what they want, ask them!), the benefit driven headline goes straight to the heart of their problems, frustrations, worries or desires and offers them a solution in their own language.
The Language of Magnetic Headlines
Active headlines Grab attention.
They don’t ask. They’re not polite. They are direct. They are concise and clear.
Use words which pack a punch.
Consider the difference between:
‘money’ and ‘cash’
‘start’ and ‘ignite’
‘get’ and ‘grab’
In each case, one carries more emotion, more action, more power.
Note: A thesaurus is a great tool to help you find impact words for your headlines (if you don’t have one on hand, try thesaurus.com)
Great Headlines Wield Emotion Like a Master Samurai Wields his Sword
The way you word your headlines can load up (or leave out) emotion, and it’s emotion that drives our decisions and clicks.
Use words and phrases which have a strong emotional component to increase attraction and connect deeply with your potential reader.
Convey the results of not knowing the information your content contains. Or communicate the benefits (oh, the benefits!) of clicking through and reading on.
Headline/Content Alignment
Don’t matter how great your headline is if the content doesn’t deliver or match up to the promises you’ve made.
Make sure your content follows on and fully connects with your headline in a holistic, continuous way. A Disconnect (at any stage of the marketing process) causes people to click away with a ‘bad taste’ in their mouths, never (probably) to return.
Consider the aim of your content, where it leads, and lovingly (but firmly) sculpt your headline to guide the reader in taking the first step towards that goal.
This is the first post in a series on Writing Great Headlines That Get Readers. Read my follow up post Magnetic Headline Writing Made Easy. and subscribe to my RSS feed to be kept up to date with all the fresh content here covering headlines, traffic generation, productivity and blogging tips.
When you’ve shared this post (I always appreciate it when you do), leave me a comment.
What makes you click or ignore a headline?
Image based on Another Hackney Gazette Dream by Gwire
How to Write Great Headlines That Get Readers © 2011 Blogger’s Alchemy
Here at Blogger's Alchemy, Jym shares simple tips, tricks, strategies and techniques to make blogs remarkable, successful and exceptional. For a long time, he felt like his blogging career was going nowhere fast. That is, until he learned and implemented the things that you'll learn if you stick around... Get the best from this blog by Subscribing Now
facebook comments:
I’ve read before that you should actually put more time into crafting your headline that you do the article. For me, I’ve found that writing the headline last – helps me create a more attention grabbing headline.
Here is a neat tool I just recently found too: http://www.aminstitute.com/headline/
Holly Hanna invites you to read…5 Fantastic Ways to Fail At Goal Setting
Hi Jym,
I am always amazed when I read your posts. You are a wonderful writer. Not only are your headlines ones that draw the reader into the article, but the content is expressed in a dynamic, friendly and easy way to keep the reader engaged. I am going to be studying your style and see about incorporating it into my style. I tend to be more emotionally bent, but by using the right words, like you do, I think my content would pack more of a punch. Thank you. Keep doing what you’re doing cause it’s good. Sally
Sally Brown invites you to read…What’s The Best Thing You Did For Your Site In 2011? This is what I did for mine!
Thanks for the compliments Sally, much appreciated
I do my best to make my posts as easy as possible to understand.
I’m not the only one doing this, but it’s certainly worth taking time to develop clarity and impact in both marketing and writing.
Slowly slowly, post by post, we continually improve…
Jym invites you to read…Magnetic Headline Writing Made Easy – 5 Simple Steps to Dynamite Headlines
I enjoyed this post as well Jym.
Everybody wants to believe that we make decisions based on intellect, but that simply isn’t the case.
We are driven by our emotions as you have pointed out.
The secret to marketing is finding out what your prospects need and help them get it.
Thanks for sharing!
Karen
Karen J Miller invites you to read…Do You Know How to Succeed with a Great MLM Business Opportunity?
That certainly is the secret Karen!
Ignoring the emotional component and fundamental target market drives is a sure-fire way to fail… And who wants that?!
Thanks for stopping by
Jym invites you to read…5 Simple Blog Post Ideas for Quick, Valuable Content
I agree that emotion is key. And you shouldn’t be afraid to be controversial because that will often make you stand out from the other results that Google offers up. (Although you shouldn’t do this just for the sake of it. You should always sincerely believe what you write.)
I have found this with a couple of political blogs I write. If you keep your eyes open for issues in the news, then write posts about them making sure to include specific keywords like the names of people or organizations involved, you’ll often rank highly for those terms. Then if you say something surprising about them you’ll get more than your usual share of clicks, too. (Though you should be careful and not be gratuitously offensive or defamatory, of course.)
Matt invites you to read…A good Australian website building and promotion guide
emotion certainly drives clicks, and controversy or surprise is a great way to get people interested enough to at least find out what your point is by clicking through…
There is a fine line though – depending somewhat upon your niche and audience, there’s only so much controversy you can get away with as you noted…
Google’s Freshness update makes it even easier to rank for relevant news posts, not to mention that piggy-backing on trending topics is a great way to attract attention.
Having a ‘twist’ to your story definitely helps though!
Thanks for coming by mate
Jym invites you to read…The Ultimate Master Key to Incredible Productivity
Thanks for the excellent tips, Jim. Indeed, if you absolutely screw up the few words you use in headings, a whole 1000 word blog post can pretty much go useless. Sparking an interest instantly as reader skims through blog posts is definitely crucial!
Anyway, thanks again. I’ll keep your guidelines in mind!
Jack.
JackS invites you to read…Anti-Snoring Devices
You’re welcome Jack.
There’s SO MUCH information flying around online, that people’s attention is plummeting year by year. Grabbing it and giving them no choice but to click through is the way to go!
As you say, the best post in the world is wasted without a quality headline to pull in readers…
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Astro Gremlin invites you to read…Superheros Among Us: The Key Man
LOL nice work Astro. I think you summed up some of the best headline writing strategies in there.
All your own work?
I’m intrigued by #3 I have to say. You have a knack for this
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Hey Jym,
“…Use words which pack a punch.
Consider the difference between:
‘money’ and ‘cash’
‘start’ and ‘ignite’
‘get’ and ‘grab’…”
Wow Jym, I never even considered this. That is so unbelievable. I can see how much of a difference a simple word can make.
I always thought I do ok when it comes to writing attention grabbing titles, but man, this example just woke me up. Thank you Jym.
satrap invites you to read…Get Paid for Photos
Glad to bring something useful to you attention Satrap
The difference a single word change makes in a headline of 6 to 10 words can be huge..
Considering which synonyms carry a greater emotional charge is vital.
One good way to find the best words for some headlines is to notice which words your readers or target market use when they’re talking about the problem your content addresses.
As a double benefit, it’ll help with keyword research too…
Always happy to be a ‘wake up call’ mate! Thanks for sharing
Jym invites you to read…Speed Up Your Blog Without Code – Slow Blogs Lose Readers and Rank Lower (part 2)
Great Article. There are no doubts headlines play a big part in the success of your blog. I just have to look at my statistics to see that, the really good titled posts that i took that extra time determining attract way more traffic over the long term. Every month two posts written over a year ago get the higest visits from google.
Yup, I’m sure that this principle will be born out by the stats.
Taking time to get the headline right will up traffic numbers without a doubt Larry. Next step is to convert of course…!
I always appreciate your comments here mate. I’d also love to see your face with a Gravatar from gravatar.com
Jym invites you to read…How to Use Facebook Comments Plugin to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
As a Part Time Marketer, I need to be sure that every marketing piece is right on target. So I pay special attention to headlines, as I know that this is the first hurdle to getting your target’s attention.
I agree that emotion drives the click. I also like to use suspense or intrigue, curiosity if you will. That’s what makes me click on something, when I say to myself… “What’s That About?”
Bob Clarke invites you to read…Email Open Rate: 8 Reasons Why Yours Is Dead Low
Great addition to the list Bob (that’ll get included on my follow up posts to this I’m sure)
Curiosity killed the cat – perhaps – but only because he clicked through to read further.
The less time you have, the more each post, headline and word has to count to get the same results. Headlines certainly deserve the special attention!
Jym invites you to read…7 Sure-Fire Ways to Make Your List Hate You
As a reader, the title is a big factor I consider if I will be reading a post or not. It should be catchy, interesting and valuable. Thanks for the tips in headline generation,I’ll keep them in mind incase.
Your tips worked on you (hope mine too) since it got my attention.
donah soltez invites you to read…Four vehicle crash injures seven people
Of course Donah… If a headline doesn’t catch our attention and offer us something we consider valuable or interesting, we simply won’t click it!
Glad you clicked this one. I must be doing something right
Jym invites you to read…3 Tips to Speedily Improve Your Online Productivity
surely did.
donah soltez invites you to read…Four vehicle crash injures seven people
Nice post, Jym. The headline really is the major weapon you have. Whether you make a Bazooka out of it or not is up to you
Darren
Darren invites you to read…8 Terrific Tips For New Bloggers
Sure is Darren. Bazookas at the ready!
That said, sometimes a really good sniper rifle can be the way to go as well.
And studying Nuclear warheads to get the idea of what really ‘does the damage’ is never a waste of time…
Thanks for coming by mate
Jym invites you to read…11 Popular Places to Promote Your Blog Posts
I started a big of a discussion on this site awhile back over whether the headline or the content was what drew people. I say it’s the headline. Yes, the content should be great, but it can get away with almost great if you bait your hook with a super headline.
Ann invites you to read…Leadership Teams
Agreed Ann, it’s the headline.
The headline gets clicked first, not the content. If you’re content is awful, visitors will click away fast.
But if your headline is awful, they’ll never arrive in the first place.
Obviously quality and impact on both counts is what we’re really striving for here…
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Great post Jym,
I was on this mission some time back and did a lot of research on this topic. Saved a lot of sites that share tips on how to really write great headlines long with using some as an example. I was doing really great there for awhile too.
I guess my problem is that from time to time I just want to write about what I want to write about and the “magnetic headline” doesn’t necessarily come into play for that particular post.
I just need to be more consistent with this because I do want to entice more people to my content.
Thank you for sharing this post and for bringing me back around to knowing what’s important. I need to get back to this so will look forward to your upcoming posts!
~Adrienne
Adrienne invites you to read…Do You REALLY Want To Know How To Build A Successful Business?
I don’t see that as a problem Adrienne, and I have to admit I sometimes do the same.
As a blogger, some of our posts will be aimed at pulling in new readers, promoting our blogs and sharing massive value.
But others are simply news updates or a sharing of ideas with our readership, and therefore don’t need the earth shattering impact of our other headlines…
As an example, my ComLuv link below is pretty straight forward. But that’s all it’s meant to be!
As long as we develop this skill and can use it when we need to, it’s not necessary to do so all the time.
Will keep my eyes open for your attention-grabbing masterpieces!
Jym invites you to read…A Day in the Life of Blogger’s Alchemy
One thing I have noticed is that one day a headline attracts and the next it does nothing. Headlines get the reader but if the content is not useful, you will be flicked off fast. So yes the headline gets the reader’s attention but the content keeps them there – not easy
Roberta Budvietas invites you to read…Success needs Follow Through
That’s absolutely true Roberta – a promise which isn’t kept ain’t gonna bring you readers who”ll come back!
The headline is the critical ‘entry point’ and has to be awesome. But of course we should strive to produce valuable, relevant content as well.
Headline mastery is only one (very important) piece of the puzzle!
Jym invites you to read…5 Productivity Blogging Tools That I Wouldn’t Go Without
Hi Jym,
Writing great headlines is an art that every successful marketer must master.
I’m getting better at writing headlines. Certainly, practice is the magic ingredient. From what I experienced/saw so far, intrigue headlines worked the best. Everyone wants to highlight the benefits but not everyone knows how to create mystery and deadly curiosity through a headline. That’s why they are so successful. Randy Gage has a course called “How to become a copywriting student” where he gives some powerful examples. Recently I started to study the master copywriter Gary Bencivenga. What do you think about him?
Thanks for sharing your ideas along with thesaurus.com
Definitely a powerful tool to work with as a blogger.
All the best,
Radu
Agreed Radu – a thesaurus is a powerful ally to have beside you on the road to captivating headline glory…
Intrigue and Curiosity are other excellent elements to include to woo potential readers in to your content. Whatever it takes to give viewers no choice but to click…
I’ve studied copywriting materials from a few top guys – Gary Bencivenga is one – he’s awesome and I recommend his material to everybody who wants to write better copy or understand marketing more deeply.
Haven’t seen Randy Gage’s training, although I guess he has a particular focus on copywriting for network Marketers?
One thing I’ve noticed is that all (without exception) the top marketers in any online industry are either highly skilled at copywriting themselves, or pay people who are to do it for them.
There’s no way around it. successful blogging or marketing online requires this skill…
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You’re so right about the importance of headlines. You can have a top notch blog post but if you can’t drive readers to it, it doesn’t matter. When I write headlines, I try to include a benefit to the reader.
Lisa Kanarek invites you to read…All Dressed Up: A Working Naked Update
That’s exactly why it’s so important to spend time learning to craft devilishly magnetic headlines Lisa!
If you don’t get clicks and readers, it doesn’t matter how good your content is…
Benefits is a always a sure-fire way to make people pay attention, as long as you know what benefits they’re looking for of course!
Jym invites you to read…How to use Strategic Blog Commenting to Market Your Blog
Awesome article Jym! A great headline also compels people to buy! I’ve been A/B split testing the headlines on a few of my landing pages to increase conversions and the results have been great.
Tory McBroom invites you to read…How I Use Hoot Suite To Dominate Social Media
Thanks Tory… Absolutely agree, split testing is a very good idea and will clearly show the impact of each change as you test.
I recently ran across a plugin for split testing within a WordPress blog but I haven’t followed it up yet. Definitely worth considering!
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