As you spend more time reading Copyblogger, you may notice something about headlines.
Namely, that we mention the importance of them constantly.
What’s so special about headlines? Let’s turn that around and look at what can happen to a brilliant post that has a so-so headline.
The post is well-researched. Clear and well-written, with user-friendly formatting. Conveys useful information that gives the reader something she really wants. Is interesting and funny.
And it dies. No comments, pitiful traffic, anemic shares.
Why? Because as magnificent as it was … it didn’t stand out in the sea of content. Because it never caught anyone’s attention, it couldn’t wow anyone with how terrific it was.
And the good news is, that’s actually easy to fix.
Our best tip for making your headlines better
We wrote an entire book on how to write better headlines. And it’s free with your My.Copyblogger subscription.
But if you want the one tip that will give you the biggest results in the shortest period of time, it’s this:
Make sure there’s a specific, well-defined benefit in your headline.
If your content teaches a quick tip for improving their golf swing, translate that into “The 5-Minute Improvement that Adds 50 Yards to Your Drive.”
If your content teaches a productivity technique, the headline needs to include the words “Become More Productive.”
If your content includes fast, tasty recipes, the headline should include something like “Get a Delicious Dinner on the Table in 20 Minutes or Less.”
See the trend? These headlines get specific about a particular benefit that the audience will get out of reading your content.
Get over your addiction to clever
At this point, you may be wrinkling your nose and thinking these headlines look “salesy.”
Or that they look like a lot of what you find on HuffPo, Buzzfeed, or the magazine covers at your local supermarket.
And you’re right, they do. Because that’s what works to bring the greatest number of readers in. And if you never get readers to look at what you have to offer, the entire battle is lost. All of your hard work, all of the great content you create, will languish.
But there is a way to beat the “cheese” effect of a hard-hitting headline:
The road out of Cheeseland
How do you get past that “infomercial” factor?
You get past it by creating content that’s amazing.
Because you know and I know that a lot of the “canned” content around the web and in popular magazines is … well … crap.
It’s thin. It’s recycled from the last 100 issues they put out. It’s not very useful. It’s not well written. And it’s not particularly interesting.
If there is a “Copyblogger formula” for great content, it’s this:
Killer headline + Incredibly useful information that benefits readers + Lively, interesting writing = Genuinely great content
If you don’t want to be “cheesy,” get better. Put a strong, attention-getting headline on something that’s worth reading.
And yes, we’ll talk lots more about how to do that in upcoming lessons. 🙂
How to get seriously good at writing headlines
This is just one tip, but there are lots of techniques that will make you a stronger headline writer.
We’ve bundled some of our most valued tips into an ebook for you. This is the distillation of everything that Brian Clark, Sonia Simone, and the Copyblogger editorial team have learned about headlines that grab attention. And it comes free with your sign-up to My.Copyblogger. You can go grab it right here:
How to Write Magnetic Headlines
Remember, don’t just make this theoretical! This week, pick at least three of the techniques you find in the ebook and craft some headlines with them. Like everything else worth doing, the more you practice this, the better you’ll get.
You won’t believe how much difference a strong headline makes until you try it for yourself. So get some great headlines going, and enjoy your traffic, shares, and links. 🙂
See you next time!
– The Copyblogger Team