Headlines are one of the most important elements in a piece of copy. They are what attract the reader in and set the tone of the piece. While many can write a compelling headline, not everyone can write a good story for it.
In today’s ever-evolving world of online marketing, where attention is fleeting and bombarded with more content than ever before, great headlines are more important than ever.
What is a headline, you ask? It’s the first, basic piece of text a potential reader will see when they visit your site or read your article. Typically a headline is three to six words long. It should be a short and snappy. It should also provoke the reader to delve further into the piece.
The best headlines should be:
- A hook
- An interesting fact or statistic
- A provocative question
- Something emotional, like “breaking up with my best friend”
- Something that will make the reader laugh, like “my dog ate my homework”
- Something that makes the reader think, like “will the world ever learn to love us muslims?”
Keep reading for more information on how to craft headings that engage and provoke readers into action..
The Evolution of Headlines
Over the past decade, online marketing and digital media have totally changed the game. When digital marketing was in its nascent stages, people spent more time creating websites and blog articles and engaging with customers via email marketing than they did on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. As a result, the way we consume content has shifted. We’re no longer limited to one form of media or platform. Not even close.
Since the pandemic, the game has even changed again. In the world of digital marketing, marketers are now discovering the importance of SEO, content strategy, and content creation for websites. If you’re not regularly updating and optimizing content, you’re losing potential traffic and sales. Even when the economy slowly recovers, gaining back audience trust and establishing your website as a go-to source of information and inspiration will take time.
The Importance of a Reliable And Up-To-Date News Source
Trusted news sources are a crucial element in a content plan. Journalists and press releases with a track record of delivering quality content can be great resources for story ideas. Most importantly, the content should be relevant to your target audience’s needs, wants, and interests.
If you decide to use a third-party source for your content, it’s imperative that you work with a content marketing agency that is both experienced and has a good reputation. A third-party journalist can be great for getting your message out to the public, but you must be able to trust that they are representing your interests and have your back when something goes wrong. In this day and age, nothing can be taken for granted.
Why Are Headlines Important?
The role of the headline is to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to click-through to your content. As a writer, you must keep this in mind as you’re developing your story idea and piece of copy. The headline acts as an ice breaker, enticing the reader to delve farther into the content.
Your headline should concisely represent your story. It should be easy to understand and contain all the necessary information. In the case of an article, the headline is usually longer than the body of the article. However, the body of the article is more critical. It contains the bulk of the information the reader will need to understand and process the story. When you write the body of the article, you have the opportunity to incorporate all the details you need into a cohesive, well-written piece. These details can be found in the headline, but it’s often hard to keep track of them all while drafting the body of the article.
How Do I Write The Perfect Headline?
To write the perfect headline, you need to use a combination of psychology and common sense. Start with the premise that people want to be entertained and informed at the same time, and you’ll be able to craft a winning proposition.
In today’s world of infinite entertainment options, we are constantly bombarded with pleas to entertain and be informed at the same time. These two desires can and often do conflict with each other. For example, you may want to inform the reader about the advantages of a certain product or service, but you might also want to entertain them with a quirky fact about the company.
To win the battle for your reader’s attention, you must have a clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll achieve it. Start by brainstorming on paper. Write down all the ideas that come to mind when you think of ways to grab people’s attention. Use a combination of these ideas to craft the perfect headline, one that will stick out for the reader.
The Six Step Process To Create The Perfect Headline
Developing a clear plan and knowing where you’re headed makes creating a great headline easier. Here’s a step-by-step process that will help you create the perfect headline.
1. Pick A Topic
Your headline should reflect the content of your article or blog post. In the case of an article, the topic of the article should be relevant to your target audience. For example, if you’re writing an article about raising children in a world without traditional gender roles, you might want to use the following headline:
“New research from Australia shows that children of today have fewer gender roles than previous generations.”
In this example, choosing this particular topic will allow you to fit all the necessary details into the headline. The reader will know exactly what the article is going to be about without having to click-through to the content.
2. Find A Diamond In The Rough
The best way to create a perfect headline is to find a piece of content that is already doing well and just needs a bit of an update or a voice to make it shine even brighter. In this case, you can find the “diamond in the rough”, a piece of content that is just waiting to be enhanced by your unique voice and engaging writing style.
Often, the best and simplest way to find a suitable piece of content with which to work is to simply ask other journalists, bloggers, or content marketers for their input. When looking for a topic, it’s best to choose something that is somewhat new and exciting, or at least, not yet covered extensively. In addition to finding an article to work with, you can also find a podcast, video, or Instagram story to collaborate with.
3. Craft A Killer Punchline
A diamond that has been polished to its full potential is a beautiful thing, but it doesn’t have the same effect as the rough diamond. To create the perfect headline, you must find the right words to describe the content you’re working with. When choosing your headline, you don’t want to go for a bland and unmemorable phrase that could be used for any article. Instead, you want to use a snappy phrase that will stick in the reader’s head. This is usually the hardest part of the process. Once you’ve found the right words, the rest becomes relatively easy.
4. Incorporate Key Words And Phrases
The next step is to incorporate key words and phrases into your headline. When writing your content, you’ll want to tailor it to include these key words and phrases. The idea is to choose words and phrases that either directly relate to or are a suitable substitution for your chosen topic. For example, if you’re writing an article on increasing product sales, you might want to incorporate the following words and phrases into your headline:
“grow,” “best,” “proven,” “save,” “increase,” “revolutionize,” “simplify,” “change,” “transform,” “pros,” and “cheap.”
When you incorporate these key words and phrases into your headline, it will greatly increase its chances of standing out in bold lettering on a typical news website.