How To Compose A Successful Headline

Transcript

By definition, a headline is a line of words printed in large letters as the title of a story. But in reality, it is so much more than this.

A headline is the first point of contact with your audience, it is essentially what makes them want to read more or just scroll on.

John Caples said: “If the headline is poor, the copy will not be read. And copy that is not read does not sell goods!”

My name is Hannah and I am a technical writer here at Insynth. My job is to create effective content which makes the reader and audience want to find out more.

So, how do we compose a successful headline?

Firstly, you must know your audience and buyer personas. This may seem obvious, but it’s vital that you understand your target audience and always produce headlines and copy that is relevant to them.

Make it stand out!

You need to make them stand out. We mean this both literally and hypothetically. Headline’s need to be bold, the bolder the better. But they also need to attract and engage your audience. Keeping your audience engaged means two things – they’re interested in what you’re saying and, this could possibly convert into more, such as a subscription or even a purchase.

Use Questions, Lists & Numbers!
Research shows that certain templates work better than others when creating that eye-catching headline. For example, using how-to-titles or answering a specific question which you know customers have asked before. Also, using informative headlines, such as lists or including a number all tend to get more readers and shares.

Here’s an example:

HEADLINE ONE: WAYS TO UNDERSTAND YOUR TARGET MARKET

Would be more effective as…

HEADLINE TWO: 6 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO UNDERSTAND YOUR TARGET MARKET

By simply including a number and an attractive adjective, you have already made your article more desirable to the eye.

Also, consider this next example:

HEADLINE ONE: THE FORMULA TO WRITING BETTER HEADLINES

Could become:

HEADLINE TWO: TRY THESE USEFUL HACKS TO WRITING BETTER HEADLINES

Just by incorporating call-to-action words in your headline, such as ‘TRY’ and ‘HOW TO’ it automatically makes your article more personal and sounds like it will benefit the consumer. It’s a win-win!

Keep writing for search engines 

Let’s not forget – it’s important to remember that a headline is not just for a reader. It is also as equally important for SEO and the search engines such as Bing and Google. Whilst it’s extremely important that we create headlines our readers want to read, it is equally important to make sure our headlines are fit for search engines too.

Keywords are essential to optimizing your search engine performances and you should include them in both your headers and body content. If and where possible, keywords should be used at the beginning of your headline.

Making sure you research keywords prior to composing your headline is vital. You can use programmes such as ‘Semrush’ to check what has been ranking for your topic or to get potential headline titles you could use.

So to recap, when composing a successful headline, always remember these 5 quick tips:

1. Do your keyword research and use them in your headlines
2. Effective headlines should be no more than 8 words or 81-100 characters.
3. Try to include numbers and / or positive adjectives
4. Aim to answer a question your target audience might ask
5. Use call-to-actions words or informative guides such as ‘How to.’

Once you’ve cracked headline writing, then we will move on to sub-headers and creating those catchy intros.

Thanks for watching. Why not try to re-create some successful headlines of your own? You could even view the Insynth blog for more inspiration.

Thanks for watching!