Copywriting Headlines That Stand Out: How to Make Them
4 Copywriting Headline Types Helping You Increase Website Traffic
I guess there would be a lot of copywriters or those in the marketing business who’d immediately quote David Ogilvy’s sentence on the importance of copywriting headlines (I think at least we can call it copywriting headlines, although he talks about headlines).
I’m sorry, I don’t have such an excellent memory.
I can’t recite things from beginning to end in the same way someone said, so I’ll have to look in my notebook where I put all the useful things. From there these notes then may appear in my copywriting blog articles:
Are headlines really so much more important than the body copy? David Ogilvy claims they are.
David Ogilvy’s quote says much about how we decide what’s worth reading based on the appeal of the headline that we see. And it says much about our laziness, too.
We don’t want to spend time on reading everything. We filter out what could be beneficial to us (if we’re driven by a sole interest to gain something from the material).
We don’t dive into it, even if the visuals are inviting us to do exactly that.
It’s still the headline that determines if we’re going to give ourselves over to the text, just like in email copywriting, where the high opening rate of a newsletter is often attributed to a copywriting headline that’s nagging us to open what’s inside.
Copywriting Headlines That Resist the Omnipresence of Clickbait Titles
But sometimes, the more we read what follows after the headline, it causes us to be angry with ourselves, as the whole writing didn’t turn out to be as promising as the headline.
You can’t avoid this happening.
Newspapers are really relying on the impact of headlines. They put all their might into the headline, and then, when we open an article, or read a blog, we get a weak text after the headline.
Such headlines, deceptive headlines, are called Clickbait Titles.
Although, as Buzzfeed says, clickbait headlines get the most clicks!
They seem to be the most effective type of headlines in copywriting.
Headlines come first to mind when we think about creating a text that we want people to read.
These copywriting headlines play a trick on us. They want us to click on them.
They certainly are good ways to increase website traffic. But resorting to that tactic isn’t something that I’d recommend if you don’t put much effort into the text your readers are going to see after the headline.
We tend to fall prey to these clickbait titles, as the promise entertainment, amusement, or shocking details, but they don’t give us anything we had hoped to get out of the initial headline.
What’s the Purpose of a Copywriting Headline?
The above quote is from Peter Sun’s book “Secrets of writing headlines that could make you rich”.
There’s also some useful material for you to read on Quora on how to create masterful headlines that will convert.
These 2 examples are an addendum to what follows, and that’s how I see the purpose od a copywriting headline:
A copywriting headline’s purpose is to invite potential customers to have a look at the writing (offer, proposal, ad) designed for them at different stages in their journey (the customer journey) and bring them to the point of deciding to get what’s in the offer/proposal.
Or bring them to ask for more details.
You’ve noticed how the title of Peter Sun’s book entails the word “secrets.”
That word will be an important ingredient for one of the 4 copywriting headline formulas I’ll be mentioning in this article.
The headline is the hook.
The body of the text (the body copy) gives us additional elements to persuade us.
And the CTA (click to action) is the ingredient that tests the power of the headline and the body copy altogether.
It solicites an action. Not just attention.
Attention is the first step.
If the headline has our attention, then we’ve paved the way for the longer story, ultimately convincing the reader to become a buyer.
So, how can we best achieve results with copywriting headlines? Are there any strategies?
Copywriting Hacks for Headlines That Work
The following copywriting hacks to produce headlines with high CTR (click through rate) were taken from Copyblogger (article from 2021 with 22 headline-writing formulas).
I’m going to choose those that I see most often, that very rarely fail to perform well.
Put “secret” into the headline
Make your copywriting headline personal
Include numbers into your headline
Introduce a bold claim in your headline
4 copywriting headline suggestions that can help you craft content that will be read
Put “Secret” into the Copywriting Headline
Is there someone who isn’t curious?!
Curiosity isn’t reserved only for children.
Almost everyone wants to be in the know. Especially if you can learn a trick or two and be the person who’ll get the most attention next time in a larger company.
Similar to these copywriting headline formula is “Here’s how…”,“Little known ways to…” or “What everybody should know about….”
Another great example is adding personality to your headlines.
2. Make Your Copywriting Headline Personal
Example: “How ADHD made me a better person”
One of the most effective headline templates includes “Me”.
This is not unusual at all, as we like to get to know how someone achieved something, how that someone failed but then managed to reverse the path he/she was definitely heading for.
Stories, which tell lessons, inspire you to take similar actions to arrive at the same results.
Contrast plays a crucial role in this headline template.
Make the headline’s message unexpected!
3. Include Numbers into Your Copywriting Headline
No. 3 is not my favourite headline type, but it’s used way too often without losing efficiency.
It actually is a “How to” headline formula enhanced by specificity that either impresses the prospective reader with how many tips you’ve got or, at minimum, lets them know exactly what to expect.
Example: “101 ways to cope with stress”
The next headline formula is the most challenging for me, but I think it creates the strongest desire in you to keep reading.
4. Introduce a Bold Claim in the Copywriting Headline for Controversy
But first, you must stand behind that claim and provide ample reasons, which solidify it.
It’s all good if you can justify that bold claim. You’ll be met with disbelief first, but when you convince readers to change their minds and attitudes, then you’ll instantly earn trust.
And then they’ll eat from your hands.
Example: “You don’t need to starve like an early human to have those shiny set of 6-pack abs. Here’s how to get them fast without fasting…”
Places to Use Headlines to Attract Attention
Where you use these headlines depends on the media you’re going to apply to promote a service or product.
These can be videos (on copywriting and SEO) with the aim to rank high on Google or Bing to get more organic traffic.
For that, you must have copywriting skills(creating such effective headlines too) to describe each media type adequately (add a headline inviting viewers, know how long the descriptions must be, what keywords to use - performing keyword research prior to everything - all partly the responsibilities of an SEO copywriter).
You’ll most probably engage a copywriting professional who’ll strive to achieve the above for you, one who’s also knowledgeable in SEO.
But let’s not stop at theory.
Showing what huge impact headlines have can best be seen when we do A/B testing.
This test approach is inevitable, if we want to improve the CTR of our articles’ (ad campaign’s etc.) headlines which want to achieve more sales.
I’ll write more about this in my next article.
Before you leave, why not take away this Headline swipe file I’ve created for you?