9 Tips for Writing Awesome Headlines You Can’t Forget

The most important line you’ll write for your blog post or any type of content is the headline.

Advertising pioneer David Ogilvy once reported only 1 in 5 will make it past your headline into your copy. Though I don’t have a modern day update on the percentage, I suspect, given the immense volume of content available to the active web surfer these days, the percentage of readers that click through to your story is far lower.

In an article from SEO technology company Conductor, they report:

"A day in the Internet shows that 2 million blog posts, 294 billion emails, 864 thousand hours of video are created daily. Each day also brings 400 million tweets. (From 2013)"

That’s a lot of competition for your attention. The obvious result is tons of great content is ignored. The challenge is to quickly engage readers and inspire clicks with headlines that suggest your articles are useful.

To help understand a range of approaches for headlines that will help bloggers, here are 9 tips with each starting with a letter from the word “HEADLINES.” The examples attached to each tip relates to online marketing.

H - HELPFUL

The first rule of content marketing is to deliver value to your audience. There’s no more meaningful way of achieving this than being helpful.

So let’s assume your content - be it a blog post, video, podcast, infographic or what have you - was created with the intention of helping those you want to tune into it. Your headline serves as the invitation. Make it very obvious with your headline that the end result of reading through it is very useful information. E.g. The 7 Most Essential Tactics for Capturing Your Visitor’s Email Address.

E - EMOTION

An effective headline triggers emotion. When you actually think about it, an effective anything in communications and art does the exact same thing. Psychology has demonstrated we trigger emotion by appealing to the two most prevalent drivers of behavior: achieving pleasure and avoiding pain. E.g. Doesn’t it Suck When Your Bounce Rate Goes Up?

 A - ASK

The question headline is largely effective as long as you ask a question your target audience wants to know the answer to. E.g. How Do You Write More Magnetic Headlines?

D - DO’S AND DON’TS

Central to effective content marketing is education. So a sure-fire approach to writing a compelling headline indicates your article or content is going to deliver tactics that do or don’t work for a task your audience needs to understand. E.g Five Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make when writing a Blog Post.

L  -  LIST

Lists work every time. There’s just something about how the human brain processes information with numbers attached. E.g. 21 Simple Ways to Increase Your Conversion.

I - INSPIRE

Write a headline that speaks to your readers’ desires. Inspire them and you’ll have them hooked for life. E.g. This is the Day Your Blog Fulfills Your Creative Passion.

N - NIGHTMARE

Ace blogger Jon Morrow of Boost Blog Traffic, and author of the popular e-book “52 Headline Hacks”, offers a 3-point headline checklist, which includes what he calls “the 2 a.m. test”. Jon’s point is a formula for a great headline is to speak to a problem that keeps your readers up at night. E.g. What to Do About Your Relentless Shopping Cart Abandonment Problem. 

E - EMPATHY

Jay Baer, author of the great marketing book “Youtility”, points out that in the social media landscape, your messages are delivered alongside those of your reader’s friends and family. To earn their attention and trust, you too have to achieve friend status. The best way to accomplish this is to show your reader you understand their problems and care. E.g. You’re Going to Love These Free Analytics Apps.

S - SUCCESS

The oldest and most proven approach to headline nirvana is delivering a little bundle of success. Of course, you need insights into how your readers define success. When you have them, speak to them. E.g. Nine Headline Tricks Sure to Boost Your Leads.

Put some serious time and energy into your headlines. Don’t settle for the first idea that comes to mind - write as many as you can think of and attempt to put yourself in the mindset of the reader when you evaluate your options.

Of course, not every headline you write needs to combine all 9 best practices or even conform to any specific formula. However, I believe if you practice using these tips, you’ll be able to write more effective headlines and get better at earning the time and attention of your readers.