Eight out of ten people read your headline, but only two out of 10 will click through and read the rest of your article. It's all about the headline.
Your headline is what will make people decide to stop and click to read or see your content. So, in this article, we are going to show you how to write headlines that people can't help but click.
We have also included powerful headline formulas, so make sure you read until the end to gather the whole information and correctly implement it as soon as possible.
Hi there, and welcome back to Serendipity Marketing. We're a digital marketing agency with a mission to help small businesses grow by applying psychology to their marketing strategies.
Before we get started, please go ahead and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.
So, let’s go straight to the point.
1. Write different options
The first tip I have for you when it comes to headline generation is to write at least five different headlines.
You may not know what works best, what people love, versus what you love. When you write five different headlines, you can go from there and A/B test them.
When you do this, you'll figure out what headlines perform the best and which don't. This will give you ideas in the future when you're writing more headlines about what your readers like, versus what they don't.
That way, you're not just making decisions on your headlines based on the gut. And then now starting to use data.
From there, look at things like, what has the best CTR. Once you find the ones that have the best CTR, from click-through rates, from social media, from Google.
Test different variations of those that are very similar and then you'll be able to fine-tune.
You'll also want to test length too. Typically, headlines that are under 50 characters, from what we've tested, do better than longer ones.
2. Use specific numbers and data points
The second tip to writing amazing headlines is to use specific numbers and data points. Instead of having a headline like “I lost millions by doing X instead of Y”, it could be “how choosing X instead of Y cost me $3,452,928”.
When you get very specific and granular in your headlines, that's a headline formula that's worked really well for us. You can also use that and borrow it and make it your own. We have found that we tend to get way more clicks and reads.
The more specific, the more intriguing, the more honesty and transparency that you're including, the more exact the number is versus vague, you'll do better.
Because when you give a vague number, what does that seem like? Oh, it could be dishonest, it could be that you made it up, there's nothing that really backs that up.
3. Use words that drive action
The third tip, use words that drive action by giving readers rationales. Tips, reasons, lessons, tricks, hats, ideas, facts, lessons, wins.
All those words help with clicks. These will pique the interest of potential readers and your click-through rates should go up because they will be feeling like your content is actionable versus nonactionable content – meaning that they will get the best value out of it.
And this, of course, will drive much more clicks.
Alright, now before we move on with the next tips on how to write headlines people won’t avoid clicking, have you ever thought about how much you should invest in marketing to generate constant business growth? Click the button below to calculate the ideal marketing budget you should allocate for higher visibility, engagement, and profit.
How much should you invest in Digital Marketing?
4. Be creative with your adjectives
Now, what does sound better?
- “Nine interesting lessons I've learned from A, B, and C”
- Or, “Nine game-changing lessons I learned from A, B, and C”
You're probably going to go with the second one of game-changing lessons.
You want to inspire people to click by showing them that they're going to get something beyond the ordinary. Of course, you need to make sure your content delivers on that.
If you're telling people like, there are 12 effortless ways they can double their search traffic, and all your tips are really hard to do, you're going to let people down, and the next time, even if you have an amazing article with an amazing headline, no one's going to click and believe you because you just lost trust with your audience.
So, make sure you're not duping people, as well, and you maintain the promises you make in the title and provide as much value as possible.
5. Use fresh timely information
The next tip I have for you is use fresh timely information and make sure you're leveraging the fear of missing out.
You don't want people to scroll by your content and be like “Oh, there is no urgency, I can get to that later” because chances are they're not going to come back and get to that later.
But in letting people know it's fresh, by letting them know that it's immediate, it's just hot off the press, you're likely to get more clicks and more reads.
Creating a sense of urgency is a great way to get more clicks and more shares.
For example, we once wrote an article that talked about an “SEO strategy that less than 1% of SEOs are using”.
This title is stimulating curiosity and urgency. Curiosity because you would like to know what is this strategy that no one else knows and maybe you’d like to know if you’re that smart to be part of that 1% that’s using it.
On the other side, being something that basically no one else is doing, it’s like a game-changing strategy that you’ll want to use as soon as possible to get the most results out of it before everyone else becomes aware of it and start using it. So, you simply cannot wait longer and you want to click and find it out.
Conclusion
These are 5 tips that, when used all together, become the best step-by-step formula for creating high-compelling headlines that people won’t be able to avoid clicking.
If you use this formula on how to write headlines, you’ll be able to stand out and get more clicks. And as a result, the more clicks you get, the higher Google will rank your pages and drive you more qualified traffic.
What tip did you find helpful the most and why? Let us know in the comments. This way, we can keep track of it and keep generating content that will help you out furthermore.
If you need help with your website optimization or digital marketing to grow your business in terms of visibility, engagement, and profit, contact us today and speak with one of our digital marketing experts to see how we can build the bridge between the point you’re standing at right now and your goals.
