Sometimes the most frustrating part of an article or blog post is to figure out what the headline should be. You want it to be informative and sensible but also have some mystery so that the audience wants to read on. There is a whole science behind headlines and many different types, but no panic, we are going to break it down for you so that you can ace every headline from now on!
The art of headlines
The headline usually consists of only a few words and its purpose is to capture an audience’s attention and therefore it can’t be bland. If the headline is bad the article won’t do good and you will have lost the battle of attention that has become extremely fierce. So, the golden rule is to make the reader curious enough to click your article, but don’t go overboard with the headline – you still need to accurately describe the content of the article or text.
Some other things to have in mind are:
- Know your target audience. For example, if you have a popular SEO blog where people come to find advice, headlines like “How to improve your rankings” will be a perfect headline.
- Try several different headlines. Sometimes it’s better to write down many variants of the headline and read them out loud to see what sounds best.
- Solve a problem. Highlight the most important benefit your text will have to the readers, or simply state a solution – “This is how you avoid keyword stuffing”.
- Use keywords. Including a focus keyword in your headline will help your SEO optimization in search engines.
Different types of headlines
Besides the quick tips above, there are a few different types and formats of headlines to consider when creating one. You have probably heard of a few or used them before without knowing that there is a strategic approach behind them. Here are some examples:
The quote
A quote headline or a testimonial headline is straightforward – you use a quote to attract the reader into your content. In this case, the headline usually gives the reader an opinion of another customer or an expert that they can relate to. Or it is something that is made to be shocking and therefore can’t be ignored.
For this type of headline to work, there must be someone in the article that you can quote. For example, I couldn’t use a testimonial or quote as a headline for this text since there is no statement from anyone to use. Therefore, it works best for interviews or texts where an expert or customer had the chance to give an opinion.
Examples of this type of headline could be “ADM helped me grow my business“ or on the more shocking and provocative side “Everyone could be a millionaire if they weren’t lazy”.
The “How-to”
The “How-to” headlines are classics and are frequently used. The format of these headlines is simple but brilliant and starts with the words “how-to” and then lets the reader know what will be explained more in detail in the text.
It’s a great way to summarize exactly what your article will teach someone. For example, “How to increase your social media followers”. And, if you use this type of headline, you should follow it up with concrete steps and a basic overview to achieve the claim in the text.
The question
With a question in your headline, you pose a question to the reader, and the important thing here is to make sure that you can answer the question you bring up through your title. This is a great headline since many people use questions when they search for something on Google or other search engines. For example, “Why do I get 401 error in WordPress?”
Another tip for this type of headline is to ask questions that readers can’t answer with a simple “yes” or “no”. You want your audience to click on your article to find out the answer.
The list headlines
Articles that are made up of a list are called listicles and are a very popular form of content on the internet. But to bring extra attention to your listicle you need a great list headline, and there are a few templates to use here. For example, “5 signs your content is failing (and how to improve it)”.
When creating a list headline, make sure to outline the number of items in your article and the list’s focus in your headline.
Number/Statistic Headlines
Numbers or statistics are great when you need to make a strong point with your headline. This provides the opportunity for you to support the claim in your text by using a headline with a figure.
When using this type of headline, think of what numbers have a significant impact. For example, a 42% increase in revenue will be more interesting than a 5% increase.
Two examples would be: “I made $11,000 in 30 days” or “This company increased their revenue by 63% in one year”
Final tips
Maybe you already are a headline wizard and have all the different types down to a T, but sometimes it’s nice to freshen up your skills and see if there are any headlines that you might have overlooked in the past. Since the headline is such an important part of the article it can’t hurt to learn more about it.
Some additional great tips to always keep in mind are to imagine you’re going to tell someone a story or give them some advice; simply put, you want to grab their full attention. Good luck!