A good headline is one of the most important aspects of any piece of content you create whether it’s a sales page, a blog post, or a social media update. This is not to say that the content is not important, but it can be the best thing you’ve ever composed, and no one will see it if your headline isn’t compelling enough to draw them in.
If you really want to write a highly converting headline, it’s important to understand the principles behind what makes a headline convert as well as have a deep understanding of your target audience and your products or services. Then you must be willing to practice and test your ideas in the real world.
All headlines should:
- Be Specific
- Create Urgency
- Provide Value
Plus, a headline should state the offer, show the benefits, and mention or allude to the problem you’re solving all in one headline – especially if it’s a sales page. However, these rules can work with any type of headline you want.
Let’s break that down:
- State the Offer
- Show the Benefits
- Mention the Problem/Solution
So, you have six things you want your headline to do in a very short amount of space. How much space you have depends on where you plan to promote it. You need to know how it shows up in email messages, social media messages, your blog posts, the sales pages, and more. Wherever you are putting a headline, you need to know how your potential customers will view it.
- State the Offer – 101 Tips to End Clutter
- Show the Benefits – 101 Tips to End Clutter Fast
- Mention the Problem/Solution – 101 Tips to End Clutter Fast in Just 10 Minutes a Day
- Be Specific – You don’t want to trick your audience into clicking, so it’s much better to be specific that you’re talking about decluttering in just 10 minutes per day.
- Create Urgency – You can use a sub-headline to help, but you could rewrite this headline to be something like: Free for 7 Days: End Clutter in Just 10 Minutes a Day. Sub-headline could be: Download 101 Clutter Freeing Tips Today.
- Provide Value – Ensure that the headline itself provides or shows that there is value on the other side of the click. You can see from any of these headlines exactly what the topic is about, who it will help, and what it is.
As you work through an exercise creating a headline for yourself, just write down whatever comes to mind and then try to eliminate words that don’t advance the idea and add the right attention-grabbing keywords to it. Set aside a couple of hours for headline brainstorming and perfecting, then test, test, test.
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