Content marketing and copywriting is a weird, wonderful world, and we’re so glad you’ve decided to be a part of it!
In this email training series, we’ll be talking about building powerful websites, engaging your audience, and growing steady traffic with social media and SEO.
But before any of that, let’s kick off with a traffic builder that’s ultra powerful — and really, really quick.
And if you can master this skill, you’ll be ready for any copywriting challenge that lies ahead…
How to Write Magnetic Headlines
Ever notice that sometimes really good content — useful, interesting, well-written content — just doesn’t get the love it deserves?
Instead, you see thin, recycled garbage getting more than its share of traffic and social sharing … even though people end up disappointed with it.
A lot of the time, the difference is in the headline.
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 ebook on how to write better headlines. It’s absolutely free to you. (There’s more where that comes from, so stay tuned to this training!)
And 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 an ultra-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, you want to include the words “Become More Productive.” Now think about adding other elements: How much more productive — 50%? How long will it take to achieve — 30 days or less?
- If your content includes fast, tasty recipes, the headline might be “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 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 be ignored.
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 the “click-bait” 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 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. You can get it for free 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