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How To Write Compelling Headlines That Are Impossible To Ignore

A headline is the most important part of an ad, article, a piece of sales copy, an email – basically any written message you want others to read. The job of a headline is to “freeze the visitor, grab their attention, and escort them to reading the remaining parts of your letter” to quote one expert.

Once that mission is accomplished, then your headline should escort them on. The headline therefore is the 20% of your written piece (maybe even less?) that accounts for 80% of your results.

How do you know when you’ve written a great headline? Here’s the quick and easy test…   

“A quick way to test a headline without having a website up is to read it to a friend and pretend like you’re reading something online. If it doesn't cause a friend to come and peep over your shoulder at your computer screen then keep rewriting it until it catches their attention,” according to the expert.

Let’s see what he means, by looking at some attention-grabbing headlines taken from Scott Haines iconic book, Shortcut Copywriting Secrets (“How to Write Killer Headlines that are Impossible to Ignore”).

“How to Have ‘Always Perfect’ Beautiful Nails That Are the Envy of All Your Friends Without Ever Visiting A Salon…And…Without The High Prices!”

This would surely get a lady who is interested in her looks peeping over your shoulder to find out more about this promise.

“Amazing Secret Discovered by One-legged Golfer Adds 50 Yards to your Drives, Eliminates Hooks and Slices...And Can Slash up to 10 Strokes from your Game Almost Overnight!”

A golfer who’s looking to break 80 but whose golf game is still plagued by hooks and slices will want to check out this claim about a one-legged golfer having achieved pretty much what he dreams of achieving himself!

write compelling headlines

What makes for a good headline?

What's a good headline? A good headline, according to Scott Haines, is one that has one or more of these four elements:

  1. Self-interest/big promises or benefits
  2. News
  3. Curiosity
  4. Quick and Easy Way

Let’s see how this applies to the one-legged golfer headline…

News value: Amazing secret discovered

Self-interest/Big promises: Adds 50 yards to your drives, eliminates hooks and slices, and can slash up to 10 strokes from your game.

Quick and (presumably) easy way: Almost overnight

Curiosity: One-legged golfer achieved all this/discovered secret?

If you are stuck or need a headline fast… just start your headline with “How to” then give a benefit or benefits and a quick, easy way. 

“The curious thing about this shortcut is,” wrote Haines, “[that] the headline you create using ‘How to’ will often work better than any other headline you could dream up.”

The “always perfect nails” headline example above is a good example of a how to headline. It pairs very well with the “if… then” opening sentence, as below:

“If you’re interested in …, then this is going to be the most exciting message you’ll ever read”

Let’s see…

“How to Have ‘Always Perfect’ Beautiful Nails That Are the Envy of All Your Friends Without Ever Visiting A Salon…And…Without The High Prices!”

If you’re interested in having your nails look “always perfect” without the time-consuming hassle of visiting a salon… and …at the same time, saving a lot of money, then this is going to be the most exciting message you’ll ever read.”

Simple, and works better than almost anything else you can use, according to Scott Haines.

Here are some other easy headline structures to use:

The “If You Can… Then You Can” headline template

Example: “If you can write a grocery list, then you can make a side income as a stay-at-home mom working 30 minutes a day, writing short product descriptions for e-commerce websites.” 

It has elements of quick and easy, curiosity, and self-interest/big promise.

The “You Don’t Have To… To” Headline Template

Example: “You Don’t Have To Know A Thing About Creating And Editing Videos To Make High-Converting Videos With This New Software… Videos That Drive Loads Of Leads To Your Business Website In Just Minutes Of Being Uploaded!”

This headline starts by eliminating common objections the reader may have, communicates a quick easy way, and drives home the big promise and benefits.

how to write effective headlines

The “Give Me… And I’ll Give You” Headline Template

Example: “Give Me 21 Days And I’ll Give You The Secrets To Growing The Biggest, Tastiest Pumpkins You’ll Ever Grow”

If you were promoting a course on growing pumpkins and your target market are having a problem growing them big and tasty, then this headlines will get them reading more to see what secrets you’re bringing to the table.

Tips for coming up with compelling headlines your readers won’t ignore

Join the existing conversation that’s going on in your reader’s mind  

Your readers are already thinking about the problem they have and that you want to help them solve when they read your headline. You should therefore ensure that your headline and the sub-headlines and opening sentences join that conversation that’s already going on in your reader’s head. 

The best and easiest way to do this is to clearly state the problem and then promise a solution.  

Here’s an example:

“Does your arthritis keep you from doing the things you love, like gardening, knitting or playing with your grandkids? Now you too can experience relief, and enjoy these fun activities in just days …”   

Focus on the big benefits  

Your readers are not too interested in the features of whatever you’re promoting. They’re very interested in what’s in it for them; in the benefits. Ensure that you focus on what your product or service will do for customers – or what’s in it for them if they read your article or blog post for example.  

Feature: Has a big engine

Benefit: Goes fast

Ultimate benefit: Wins the race

Always think through to the ultimate benefit and give them that.

Arouse curiosity whenever you can  

Curiosity is a big motivator for getting people to read your message, as we saw from the examples provided above from Scott Haines’s Shortcut Copywriting Secrets.   

If you get curiosity in your headlines, you’re close to getting them to do the heavy-lifting for your copy or written piece – pulling close to or above the 80%.

Use trigger words in your headlines

Some words tend to attract people’s attention more than others. Here are some of them: You, Secret, How to, Discover, Amazing, New, Proven, Revealed, Quick, Easy, Free, Proven, Save, Results, Introducing, At Last, Guarantee, Bargain, Sale, Why, Just Arrived, Now, Announcing, Little Known.

Use these words in the headline if possible, and in the copy as much as possible.   

Offer social proof

People really don’t believe your sales letter or your claims. So, if you can show social proof, this eliminates most of the objections and disbelief. You can do this by showcasing testimonials from satisfied customers, especially the testimonials that help to directly back up your claims.   

Be specific when you use figures  

Specific claims are more believable than general claims, so, for example, saying that you earned $2,034.75 selling your first short report is more believable than saying you made $2,000. So don’t round off your claims – be specific.  

Use sub-headlines to build on your headline  

You should have a sub-headline directly after your main headline. These sub-headlines showcase additional benefits or elaborate on the promise in the main headline. If you’re writing a longer piece, sprinkle sub-headlines throughout your copy. This helps those who like to skim-read so that they’re still able to pull out the main benefits.   

Try to keep your headline short  

There is a big debate in copywriting circles about the length of headlines. Long headlines work; short headlines work – but given that you have about three seconds to capture the interest of a reader, especially online, most experts advise to err on the side of caution and aim for shorter headlines.

The key is to make it short yet impactful and attention-grabbing. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 10-20 words.   

Put your headline in quotes 

This is a very simple thing that tests have shown boosts read rates and conversion rates. Why it works is that it looks like the headline is a direct quote, which lends it more authority.   

Ask questions, ideally questions that elicit a “yes”  

The key here is to avoid asking yes or no questions, because someone may say “no” and leave your page. The questions can be in your headline, or in the lead, the first 100 to 200 or so words, where they help to force the reader to examine their situation and their needs and desires. We covered this in the Problem, Agitate, Solve copywriting formula.  

Brainstorm multiple headlines  

Some copywriters say they write about 20-25 headlines before they settle on a winning one. Your headline accounts for 80% of the effectiveness of your written piece or ad, or sales copy, so it deserves all the work and time you put into getting it right.

You may not hit on your best headline until you’ve brainstormed a dozen or more headlines, depending on the copy you’re writing. Of course, if you’re only searching for a good headline for say a blog post, more than five headlines is probably over-kill!

That wraps up this post on how to write headlines your readers can’t ignore. We’ve looked at what goes into crafting a winning headline, looked at some proven example headline templates, and we’ve looked at tips to develop a great headline from scratch. Use these ideas to get good at creating attention-grabbing headlines. Like with anything in writing and copywriting, practice makes perfect!