As a copywriter, headlines are some of the most important words you write. They are so important, in fact, that if you spend more time copywriting headlines than you do the articles that go with them, you are probably doing it right.
It is easy to see why. In our connected world, we see thousands of headlines every day. Every blog post, e-mail, social media update, and every article in every newspaper and magazine begins with a headline. The competition for attention is steep.
The headline has one job
And that one job is to get a potential customer to click the link and read the first sentence of the article, blog post or e-mail. The purpose of the content is to bring the reader closer to being a paying customer by providing value to the reader. If the reader does not read the article, they cannot get any value from it. It is just that simple.
A lot of the work is already done
It may seem contradictory to suggest that it is impossible to spend too much time copywriting headlines only to follow that up by suggesting that a lot of the work is already done. However, headlines are not new; they have been around more or less forever. As long as there have been people using words to convince people to buy, there have been people trying to figure out the best ways to do it. You can build off their efforts.
Headlines make the reader feel special
Headlines that promise to make the reader feel smarter than everyone else, or like they are part of a special in-group perform very well. Sometimes those headlines look like this:
- The Secret of [_____]. Everyone loves being in on the secret. If you are reading this article, chances are you want to be in on the secret to copywriting headlines, so a good headline for this article would be "The Secret to Copywriting Headlines." Of course, we do not want to stop with good. We could probably do better with something like "The Secret to Copywriting Great Headlines," or "The Secret to Copywriting Headlines that Really Work."
- Little Known Ways To [_____]. "Little Known Ways To Have Great Sex," "Little Known Ways To Make Great Brownies," "Little Known Ways To Save on Car Insurance." Anything that promises to let the reader in on something most people do not know is going to work well.
Sometimes it's about inclusion
Sometimes it is not about feeling special as much as it is about not feeling excluded. Headlines like these:
- Who Else Wants [_____]. "Who Else Wants Great Abs?" "Who Else Wants Great Cookies?" The “Who else” subtly suggests that there is some social proof that the information in the article is already working for many people. If people really want great abs or great cookies, they are missing out if they do not click.
- This Technique is Helping [_____] to [_____]. "This Technique is Helping People Copywrite Headlines," "This Technique is Helping Shoppers Save Money." This style headline has the same sort of implied social proof of the “Who Else” headlines but helps zero in on the target audience more.
Some things just work
We do not always know why things work, but we can use the fact that they do, so here are some things that a lot of great headlines have in common.
- They are Short. If someone has to stop to read your headline, you’ve probably already lost them.
- They Ask Questions. There is something about questions that seem to draw people in like their lives are not complete until they have the answer.
- Lists. I know, I know. List posts are some the most clickbaity nonsense on the internet, but that does not mean your list post has to be clickbaity nonsense.
Research and test
You always want to use the best headline, but you cannot always know what the best headline is. The good news is that people are willing to tell you which headline works best. All you have to do is put up the same post with both headlines, give them the same exposure, and track the clicks.
You can also spend a little time every day paying attention to the kind of headlines you click on and look for similarities. Think about the things you like to click. You will probably find that a lot of the headlines look like the ones suggested here. Compare what you like to what your test results show, and you will have a winning strategy for copywriting headlines.
You can also spend a little time every day paying attention to the kind of headlines you click on and look for similarities. Think about the things you like to click. You will probably find that a lot of the headlines look like the ones suggested here. Compare what you like to what your test results show, and you will have a winning strategy for copywriting headlines.
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