6 Proven Tips To Write Attention Grabbing Headlines That Work
Headlines matter!
If you’re a blogger there probably isn’t a better use of your time than to learn the art & science of how to write attention grabbing headlines.
In fact, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to spend a lot of time and energy creating a great piece of content…
… and then spit out a headline as an afterthought.
Why?
Because we live in a world of information overload and instant gratification…
… and a poor headline will cost you money.
Think about it… the headline is the first thing a reader uses to determine if they want to actually read your content.
If your headline doesn’t grab your reader’s attention right away…
… it doesn’t matter how well written or researched your content is because nobody will ever get far enough to read it.
So as you can see, without a good headline you run the risk of wasting precious…
- time
- effort
- and energy
… on all the content you create that most people will never see.
The good news is, I’m about to reveal 6 simple tips to help you write attention grabbing headlines for every piece of content you create.
After reading this article you’ll be equipped with everything you need to crank out dangerously compelling headlines that grab your reader by the collar and pulls them into your content.
How To Write Attention Grabbing Headlines That Work
Before we get into the 5 tips, lets start by answering the question…
… what is a headline?
To steal a phrase from my buddy Russ Henneberry over at Digital Marketer…
“A headline is a clear, tightly written promise that is made with enough words to make a promise, but no more words than necessary.”
~ Russ Henneberry
Make sense?
Additionally, your headlines need to be compelling without being “hypey” or obnoxious.
Finally, you must deliver on the headline’s promise within the content.
From a “creating goodwill with your reader” standpoint…
… there’s nothing worse than making a promise in the headline and then not delivering on that promise within your content.
So always make sure your headlines are congruent with your content and that you deliver on the initial promise provided in the headline.
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How To Use Attention Grabbing Headlines
So now that we know what a headline is, the next question is…
… how are we going to use them?
An attention grabbing headline can be useful for improving your email marketing, increasing conversions on your website, and for any other form of content marketing that includes its own header or title.
The headline is the first indicator your reader has to let them know what to expect from your content.
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.” ~ David Ogilvy
A great headline can act as a beacon of light, guiding your reader towards their desired destination.
The purpose of the headline is to…
- offer compelling information
- Solve a problem
- take away pain
- help someone achieve a goal
- fulfill a desire
… so you should always start your content with a killer headline.
Here are 5 easy to follow tips for writing effective headlines starting with #5…
1.) Write a Summary of Your Content
The first tip on how to write attention grabbing headlines is to write a summary of your content.
See if you can summarize the main point of your content into a single sentence.
Don’t worry about how it sounds.
Keep it simple and just write a sentence.
You can play around with the sentence to improve the flair of the headline.
For example, this article you’re reading right now is about writing headlines.
So, while the main point of the article is about “writing headlines that will grab people’s attention”…
… that’s not the most effective headline.
It still needs some polish.
So after some thought and revision I came up with:
“5 Proven Tips To Write Attention Grabbing Headlines That Work”
See the difference?
2.) Use Numbers in Your Headlines
Our 2nd tip to write attention grabbing headlines is to use numbers.
Simply put, people like numbers.
The cool thing is this applies to almost any type of headline.
Whether you’re writing headlines for blog posts, capture pages, or even if you’re writing attention grabbing email subject lines…
… numbers are incredibly effective!
No matter whether you’re…
- listing steps
- providing tips
- creating a checklist
… a good headline writing rule is to give your headline a number.
All you have to do is take your original sentence and see if you can add a number to your headline.
Mini-Case Study:
Which headline do you think is more effective?
“Several Proven Tips To Create Attention Grabbing Headlines”
Or..
“5 Proven Tips To Create Attention Grabbing Headlines”
Most people would agree that “5 Proven Tips To Create Attention Grabbing Headlines” is the more effective headline.
Why?
Because you are giving your audience more specificity.
We know we’re getting 5 tips, which for most people is a digestible amount of tips to consume.
If you go with “Some Proven Tips…” or even “Proven Tips to Create…”
… you’re reader has no idea how many tips they’re about to consume or how long it might take to consume them.
As far as the reader knows it could end up being “92 Proven Tips to Create Attention Grabbing Headlines” and that might take them all night to read.
3.) Include Exciting Adjectives
The 3rd tip for writing attention grabbing headlines is to include exciting adjectives in your headlines.
These are words that grab your attention and help to inspire action from your reader.
Here are a few examples of strong adjectives to use in a headline.
- Essential
- Excellent
- Effective
- Fantastic
- Important
- Mind blowing
- Proven
- Valuable
- Ultimate
- Simple
Remember, people buy on emotion and justify later with logic.
Therefore, our emotions are the primary motivating factors when we make a purchase.
When you use emotion evoking words in your headlines you’ll have a much better chance of grabbing your reader’s attention and pulling them into your content.
4.) Keep Your Headline Short
The 4th tip on our list of headline writing rules is to keep your headline short.
If you’re writing a headline for a blog post or web page…
… your headline will also work as your title.
Google recommends a maximum of 70 characters.
Along with the character count, you should pay attention to the number of words.
In most studies, headlines with between 10 and 12 words tend to perform best.
You could go as low as 8 and as high as 14 words.
But, these may not be as effective.
Therefore, your headlines should be short and punchy.
In other words, you need to use as many words only as necessary.
Don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board with your headline.
Remember the words of my friend Russ above?
“A headline is a clear, tightly written promise that is made with enough words to make a promise, but no more words than necessary.”
Here’s where the “but no more words than necessary” part comes into play.
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5.) Be As Specific As Possible
Finally… our 5th tip on how to write attention grabbing headlines is…
Specificity!
In fact, specificity is critical!
(say that 3 times fast lol)
There is nothing worse than a vague headline.
Consider the following two headline examples…
“Gifts For Dad”
Or…
“7 Gifts Under $50 For The Dad Who Has It All”
The “Gifts For Dad” headline is about as vague as they come.
However, the “7 Gifts Under $50 For the Dad Who Has It All” headline is very specific.
How many gifts?
7 Gifts
How much do they cost?
Under $50
Who are they for?
The Dad Who Has It All
This one headline has successfully answered three potential questions floating around inside the prospect’s head.
So as you can see, the more specific your headline is…
… the faster and easier your reader will be able to identify if your content is meant for them.
Along with effective headlines, you could also benefit from additional copywriting tips here.
6.) Headline Modifiers
Headline modifiers are additional phrases or snippets in your headline that allow you to take it up a notch.
Headline modifiers can help do the following:
- Show Speed: communicate how quickly or easily the reader can get the benefit or avoid the threat
- Niche it down: Create something useful or interesting to a specific group of people (location, age, or industry)
- Remove Objections: Shows how to get the benefit or avoid a pain despite the fact there is a legitimate challenge
To show you how a headline modifier works, let’s start with the basic headline…
“How to Build Your Business Online”
This is a fairly generic headline and doesn’t really grab your attention, right?
However, as soon as I add a modifier, the headline instantly becomes more specific and as a result more effective.
Example #1:
“How to Build Your Business Online in 90 Days or Less“
Using the modifier “… in 90 days or less” I’ve shown how quickly they’ll be able to build their business.
Example #2:
“The Baby Boomers Guide to Building Your Business Online”
By adding “The Baby Boomers Guide…” I’ve called out to my intended audience letting them know this is specifically for them.
Example #3:
“How to Build Your Business Online Without Breaking the Bank”
In this case, the modifier “…Without Breaking the Bank” helps overcome the objection for people who think it’s too expensive to build their business online.
Example #4:
“The Newbies Guide to Building Your Business Online”
Lastly, using the modifier “The Newbies Guide…” serves two purposes.
First, it calls out to “newbies”… letting them know this guide is specifically for them, and not for intermediate or advanced marketers.
Secondly, this modifier helps to overcome the objection that building a business online is just too dang hard if you don’t have online marketing experience.
So as you can see, adding modifiers to your headlines spruces them up and makes them more specific.
3 Types of Headlines
Now that you’ve gone through the 6 tips help you write attention grabbing headlines…
… let’s talk about the different types of headlines you can choose from.
There are 3 main types of headlines you can write, each of them having a unique benefit.
They are:
- Social Proof headlines
- Threat headlines
- Gain headlines
Let’s take a quick look at each one of the headline styles.
Social Proof Headlines:
Social Proof headlines serve to leverage the fact that many other people have already done this (i.e. bought this, wear this, eat or drink this, etc)
As humans, we like to know that we’re not the only one doing something.
Social proof serves as a safety net for us and helps to ease us into moving forward with a decision or a purchase.
Here are a few Social Proof headline examples:
- Here Is A Trick That Is Helping Thousands Of People To [blank]
- The #1 Secret To [blank] All The Cool Kids Are Talking About
- How To [blank] Like The Pros
Threat Headlines:
There are two strong emotional triggers that are often cited for why people take action.
The first one of those two is… moving away from pain.
The threat headline capitalizes on the “move away from pain” motivating factor.
Here are a few Threat headline examples:
- Do Not Try Another [blank] Until You [take desired action]
- Are You Making These 5 Blogging Mistakes?
- The Ugly Truth About [blank]
Gain Headlines:
Opposite to Threat headlines we have Gain headlines.
In addition to people being motivated to move away from pain…
… they also want to move towards pleasure.
Gain headlines serve to fulfill our desire to get closer to pleasure.
Here are a few Gain headline examples:
- How To Build A Business You Can Be Proud Of
- The Fastest Way To [achieve a specific goal]
- How To Lose 20 lbs. Without Working Your Tail Off
As you can see, when you write attention grabbing headlines, it will make all the difference when it comes to your reader determining if they want to take the next step and dive into your content.
Write Attention Grabbing Headlines: Final Thoughts
Now that you’ve read the 6 proven tips to write attention grabbing headlines, you’re ready to start writing your own headlines.
After applying the 6 headline tips above, read your headline out loud once it’s been written.
Does it grab your attention?
Also, does it convey the topic of your blog post and encourage your reader to read the blog post?
If it does, you’ve written a good headline.
If not… that’s okay.
Go back through the 6 tips again, and see if you can refine you headline and make it more specific to your target reader.
Remember, these suggestions can be used for writing any type of headline.
They can be used to…
- Improve the conversion rates of your landing pages
- Boost traffic to your blog posts
- Increase click-through rates on your emails
In addition to these suggestions, you may want to try writing 4 or 5 different headlines.
List them all out and then pick which one sounds best.
Now go out and start writing some headlines while using the 4 tips you’ve learned here.
Finally, if you’re struggling to write blog posts that convert your readers into buyers…
… grab your free copy of “The Ultimate Blog Post Writing Formula” HERE
Questions? Comments??
I want to hear from you!
What’s your favorite tip for writing headlines?
Also, if you got value from this blog post “6 Proven Tips To Create Attention Grabbing Headlines That Work”…
… comment below and share this post on Facebook or Twitter!
