Writing totally original article headlines that get the click can be real tough sometimes. However, thankfully, there are some shortcuts that can help you write powerful headlines for your articles.
The easiest way to start writing great article headlines is to copy the top pros in your niche and adapt their headline to your article. How do you do that? There are several sources of this kind of inspiration:
1. Go to Yahoo News or MSN News or Google News and do a search for the keyword you are targeting in your article. Take some of the headlines from their articles and put in the information for your topic and see how you feel about it. These three do extensive testing to see how much their headlines are being clicked. Their headline writers are real pros. Copy their headlines and substitute their subject with the subject matter of your specific article.
2. Go to YouTube and punch in your keyword. You will find some good ideas there. Look for the video with the most views. People don't click on videos unless the title attracts their attention. Since these are videos, not articles, you can conceivably use the popular video headline as your article headline and no one will mind.
3. You can also go to Amazon.com, indigo.com and other book selling sites. Look at the titles for the top selling books, ebooks, DVD's and CD's. Base your article around the top titles and make a headline out of the title if appropriate.
4. Magazines.com and other magazine sites can be a good source of article headlines that you can get from the covers they show for niche magazines.
5. Magazine directories for Yahoo, MSN, Google and others can be a great source of headline ideas.
6. Then there are specific magazines that are known for their great headline writers like The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, National Enquirer, World News, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and others. Look for the top magazines in your niche and adapt their stories and headlines for them to your article.
7. Be sure to look at niche specific magazines by typing in your niche + directory or niche + magazines into Google and look at the results.
8. Don't forget about the newsletters in your niche. Do a search for any of the above ideas and replace the word magazines with newsletters. There are many paid and free newsletters that have some really great headlines and article topics.
9. Next, you can look at the Google AdWords ads that you'll find on the right side of the page of any Google search. These are paid ads so you know people are putting their best into the headlines. Be careful with these ads though. Many people don't know what they are doing. Watch the top AdWords ads over a span of several days, if not several weeks. If you find an ad being repeated over time it's probably getting a lot of clicks.
10. Google AdWords ads are another source of some really good inspiration if you click on the ad and look at the headlines they are using in their sales letters, on the website, landing page, menu items, etc. AdWords ads are placed in order of popularity from top to bottom by Google so you know the top ads are the ones people are clicking on the most. Be careful here because it is possible to buy the top position by paying more. On the other hand, if an ad stays at the top for a long period of time, it must be working or they would get tired of paying the big bucks for something that doesn't sell.
11. The last but certainly not the least source of good ideas are the social networking sites. Look at sites like Digg.com, propeller and others to see what people are rating as the best. Look for which ones get the most views, the 'likes' and other ways of expressing popularity. You'll find some great ideas there!
Hope that helps get your wheels turning and you find some great inspiration to write article headlines that get the click.
Thursday 29 March 2012
Sunday 25 March 2012
How to Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines that No Reader Can Resist!
One of the most important aspects of any article is the headline. You could write the best article ever, and without a great headline many people will simply pass over it. The headline, or title, is the part of the article that grabs a reader's interest and entices them to keep reading. Here are some tips that can help you write amazing headlines for any article:
Headlines should be kept short and sweet. Nothing turns a reader off more quickly than a headline that's too long. Avoid rambling and condense what you want to say into one or two sentences. Don't worry about complete sentences when writing headlines. Often the best headlines are fragments of sentences that would usually never be considered grammatically correct!
Don't be afraid of punctuation. Dashes, commas, colons, exclamation points and question marks can be used when writing headlines. However, there is no need to always use them, nor do you need to put a period at the end of a headline. Punctuation in headlines is mostly used for emphasis.
Use words that pack a wallop. Go for words and phrases that invoke emotion in the reader. Adjectives like amazing, great, fantastic, remarkable and the like can work well in a headline. Promise the reader something with your headline. Entice their curiosity. Let them know that you've got information that they need.
One way to do this is by asking a question in your headline and answering it with your article. Let's take this article for example. You could go for something like this:
Do You Want to Write Attention Getting Headlines? Read on!
Or, you can be direct with your headline and tell the reader exactly what they'll be learning with your article. Such as the title used for this article: How to Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines that No Reader Can Resist! This is an example of a straightforward headline that's simple and to the point.
Another strategy is promising the reader secret information. For example, the title of this article could be Secrets to Writing Attention-Grabbing Headlines. Let's review some attention-grabbing headlines for another article subject so you can get an idea of the different kinds of headlines you can try. Let's say the subject is working from home:
--> How to Find the Perfect Work at Home Job
--> Want to Work at Home? Here's How!
--> Secrets to Finding the Ideal Work at Home Job
--> Working from Home - How You Can Make the Dream a Reality
These are all effective headlines that are concise yet attention-getting. Using these examples, you can come up with amazing headlines for any article topic. Try to put yourself in the reader's shoes and create headlines that will capture the imagination and interest of your target audience.
Even if you're not a professional writer, you can create a headline like one! With the right combination of attention grabbing words and punctuation, you can craft amazing titles that draw readers in and keep them coming back to read more!
Headlines should be kept short and sweet. Nothing turns a reader off more quickly than a headline that's too long. Avoid rambling and condense what you want to say into one or two sentences. Don't worry about complete sentences when writing headlines. Often the best headlines are fragments of sentences that would usually never be considered grammatically correct!
Don't be afraid of punctuation. Dashes, commas, colons, exclamation points and question marks can be used when writing headlines. However, there is no need to always use them, nor do you need to put a period at the end of a headline. Punctuation in headlines is mostly used for emphasis.
Use words that pack a wallop. Go for words and phrases that invoke emotion in the reader. Adjectives like amazing, great, fantastic, remarkable and the like can work well in a headline. Promise the reader something with your headline. Entice their curiosity. Let them know that you've got information that they need.
One way to do this is by asking a question in your headline and answering it with your article. Let's take this article for example. You could go for something like this:
Do You Want to Write Attention Getting Headlines? Read on!
Or, you can be direct with your headline and tell the reader exactly what they'll be learning with your article. Such as the title used for this article: How to Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines that No Reader Can Resist! This is an example of a straightforward headline that's simple and to the point.
Another strategy is promising the reader secret information. For example, the title of this article could be Secrets to Writing Attention-Grabbing Headlines. Let's review some attention-grabbing headlines for another article subject so you can get an idea of the different kinds of headlines you can try. Let's say the subject is working from home:
--> How to Find the Perfect Work at Home Job
--> Want to Work at Home? Here's How!
--> Secrets to Finding the Ideal Work at Home Job
--> Working from Home - How You Can Make the Dream a Reality
These are all effective headlines that are concise yet attention-getting. Using these examples, you can come up with amazing headlines for any article topic. Try to put yourself in the reader's shoes and create headlines that will capture the imagination and interest of your target audience.
Even if you're not a professional writer, you can create a headline like one! With the right combination of attention grabbing words and punctuation, you can craft amazing titles that draw readers in and keep them coming back to read more!
Thursday 22 March 2012
How To Write Headlines And Bullet Points For Your Sales Letters Without Thinking
I want you to get really good at writing sales letters and other webpages and I don't want you to get stuck. That's why I am going to share with you an easy way to come up with any headline and any bullet point without thinking by applying a very simple formula that you can use for any offer on any webpage, and have your site set up in a fraction of the time.
The first way I like to think about writing a headline or a bullet point is to think of three problems and three solutions. For example, if you were offering a time management course and the problem the people were having is that they were overwhelmed, they were tired and they were running out of time. Those are the three problems and three solutions could be to simplify their life to increase their energy and to work faster than they can get more out of the day.
And, we could incorporate that in the headline and it's almost now written itself. If you're overwhelmed, tired, and you're running out of time then you need this training to get more energy, work faster, and do something else that will help them out. Three problems and then three solutions to those problems writes the majority of your headline or your bullet points for you.
The next thing to keep in mind about headlines and bullet points is that we're focusing on the "wow" factor; on the big result, outcome, boost, or improvement. We're not going for what it actually is, we're going for what it does and that means that instead of talking about the really cool worksheets or step-by-step formulas that we're offering. Let's focus on what people get once they're done.
Maybe they will get 10 hours of work every day compressed into one hour. Maybe they will live long; maybe they'll be happier but those are the things to keep in mind when writing your headlines and your bullet points. It's fine to mention that the components of your course but your headlines and your bullet points will become a lot more exciting if you focus on what comes after they take your training.
And finally, if you're really stuck. My fill in the blank template for writing bullet points is why and then some kind of emotional reason and how, and then some kind of emotional outcome. And, that could be something as, "Why saying goodbye to email forever. Why saying goodbye to email forever will improve your life drastically and how you can take those steps in three days or less!"
We're saying why this thing is important and then how it does this but we're making sure to add emotional words such as say goodbye to or improve then we're not listing things out. We're actually making this fun and exciting and connecting with our readers. Write headlines and bullet points by thinking of three problems and three solutions by focusing on what results comes out of that training, and then use the why and how technique.
The first way I like to think about writing a headline or a bullet point is to think of three problems and three solutions. For example, if you were offering a time management course and the problem the people were having is that they were overwhelmed, they were tired and they were running out of time. Those are the three problems and three solutions could be to simplify their life to increase their energy and to work faster than they can get more out of the day.
And, we could incorporate that in the headline and it's almost now written itself. If you're overwhelmed, tired, and you're running out of time then you need this training to get more energy, work faster, and do something else that will help them out. Three problems and then three solutions to those problems writes the majority of your headline or your bullet points for you.
The next thing to keep in mind about headlines and bullet points is that we're focusing on the "wow" factor; on the big result, outcome, boost, or improvement. We're not going for what it actually is, we're going for what it does and that means that instead of talking about the really cool worksheets or step-by-step formulas that we're offering. Let's focus on what people get once they're done.
Maybe they will get 10 hours of work every day compressed into one hour. Maybe they will live long; maybe they'll be happier but those are the things to keep in mind when writing your headlines and your bullet points. It's fine to mention that the components of your course but your headlines and your bullet points will become a lot more exciting if you focus on what comes after they take your training.
And finally, if you're really stuck. My fill in the blank template for writing bullet points is why and then some kind of emotional reason and how, and then some kind of emotional outcome. And, that could be something as, "Why saying goodbye to email forever. Why saying goodbye to email forever will improve your life drastically and how you can take those steps in three days or less!"
We're saying why this thing is important and then how it does this but we're making sure to add emotional words such as say goodbye to or improve then we're not listing things out. We're actually making this fun and exciting and connecting with our readers. Write headlines and bullet points by thinking of three problems and three solutions by focusing on what results comes out of that training, and then use the why and how technique.
Saturday 17 March 2012
Advertisers - Learn How to Write Better Headlines
If you want people to buy your products you have to advertise. Unfortunately, there's no getting around that fact. Like it or not, advertising is a necessary evil.
The key to print advertising is the right people seeing your ad and responding. However, your ad has a far greater chance of succeeding if your headline is strong.
How important is a strong headline? If your headline is weak, no one will read your ad and it will fail. It's as simple as that.
"The Father of Advertising," legendary copywriter David Olgivy once said, "Five times as many people read your headlines as do your actual copy." Whether or not he's right about the actual percentage isn't important. What is important is that your headline is the first thing people see, so you'd better get it right.
So what exactly does getting it right mean? What makes a good headline?
Before you can write a good headline, you first have to understand what the job of a headline is. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention - period. Now there are a number of ways that you can do this. I personally like to direct my headlines toward a specific audience. I find that to be the most effective method.
However, for this method to work, you have to understand your target market. You have to know your audience. Now being the owner of a marketing blog, I know for a fact that advertisers are always interested in writing better headlines. How do I know this? Market research.
Always, Always, Always research your market! That can be your edge over your competition. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. My target audience for this article are advertisers interested in learning how to write better headlines. So in my headline I focused on my target audience, "advertisers" and what my audience wants, "to write better headlines." Hence the headline:
"Advertisers: Learn How To Write Better Headlines"
Now only testing will tell for sure. But my experience tells me that's a strong headline and would be successful.
Now I simplified the writing process here for the sake of brevity. But you'll more than likely have to write dozens of headlines for each of your ads before you come up with something you like - something that's going to be effective. It's all part of the process.
For me personally, my best headlines are usually the ones that sort of just pop into my head. But generally speaking, you're better off writing a bunch of headlines, until you end up with your strongest one.
So how will you determine which is your strongest headline? Show your headlines to your friends and family. Get their opinions. Also, if you're a member of a small business forum, show your headlines to forum members to get their feedback.
Ready to see me write another headline? Let's do it. Suppose I owned a pet grooming shop. Now since I already did my market research, I know that most pet owners like to pamper their pets. So I'm sure that I would get a pet owners attention with a headline like this:
"Pet Owners: We'll Pamper Your Pet Like It Belonged To Oprah!"
Now let's discuss the fundamentals for a second. My target audience for this ad are pet owners. So in my headline I targeted my audience by using the words, "pet owners" and I gave my audience what they want by using the word "pamper."
Let me explain what else I did. I used the name of a famous celebrity in my headline, which is always guaranteed to get attention. Remember what I said earlier. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention.
But I also did something else. I brought emotion into the mix. In my headline, I told readers that my pet grooming shop would "treat their pets like royalty!" And while I didn't use those exact words, the implication is there.
That headline has strong emotional appeal. After all, what loving pet owner doesn't want their pet treated special, right? By the way, emotional appeals are very powerful in headlines. So use them as often as possible.
So are you starting to understand this headline writing thing yet? Well, let's write one more to make sure.
Suppose I owned a pizza shop. Again, start with the fundamentals. My target for this ad is a general audience. After all, nearly everyone eats pizza. But despite that fact, I'm still going to target my audience by using the word, "pizza" in my headline
Now this one's a little trickier because pizza ads are a dime a dozen. So I need to do something to make my headline different - to stand out. I've decided to give my headline instant credibility by using a feature that is unique to my pizza shop. Here's the headline I came up with:
"Jackson's Pizza: Voted the City's Best Pizza For 10 Straight Years!"
Do you know what the reaction of most people reading that headline would be?
"Wow...voted the city's best pizza for 10 straight years! It must be good!"
This headline also has strong emotional appeal. Why? Because everyone likes to be associated with a winner. It's human nature.
Wrapping everything up, I'm going to summarize what it takes to write effective headlines into 5 simple steps:
1. You must know and understand your target audience. Research your market!
2. Target your headline to that audience.
3. Give your audience what they want.
4. Your headline must get the readers attention. Be creative.
5. Use emotional appeal whenever possible. Again, be creative.
One last thing. when writing headlines don't try to trick or mislead people. Get people's attention, yes. Be creative, yes. But above all be honest!
The key to print advertising is the right people seeing your ad and responding. However, your ad has a far greater chance of succeeding if your headline is strong.
How important is a strong headline? If your headline is weak, no one will read your ad and it will fail. It's as simple as that.
"The Father of Advertising," legendary copywriter David Olgivy once said, "Five times as many people read your headlines as do your actual copy." Whether or not he's right about the actual percentage isn't important. What is important is that your headline is the first thing people see, so you'd better get it right.
So what exactly does getting it right mean? What makes a good headline?
Before you can write a good headline, you first have to understand what the job of a headline is. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention - period. Now there are a number of ways that you can do this. I personally like to direct my headlines toward a specific audience. I find that to be the most effective method.
However, for this method to work, you have to understand your target market. You have to know your audience. Now being the owner of a marketing blog, I know for a fact that advertisers are always interested in writing better headlines. How do I know this? Market research.
Always, Always, Always research your market! That can be your edge over your competition. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. My target audience for this article are advertisers interested in learning how to write better headlines. So in my headline I focused on my target audience, "advertisers" and what my audience wants, "to write better headlines." Hence the headline:
"Advertisers: Learn How To Write Better Headlines"
Now only testing will tell for sure. But my experience tells me that's a strong headline and would be successful.
Now I simplified the writing process here for the sake of brevity. But you'll more than likely have to write dozens of headlines for each of your ads before you come up with something you like - something that's going to be effective. It's all part of the process.
For me personally, my best headlines are usually the ones that sort of just pop into my head. But generally speaking, you're better off writing a bunch of headlines, until you end up with your strongest one.
So how will you determine which is your strongest headline? Show your headlines to your friends and family. Get their opinions. Also, if you're a member of a small business forum, show your headlines to forum members to get their feedback.
Ready to see me write another headline? Let's do it. Suppose I owned a pet grooming shop. Now since I already did my market research, I know that most pet owners like to pamper their pets. So I'm sure that I would get a pet owners attention with a headline like this:
"Pet Owners: We'll Pamper Your Pet Like It Belonged To Oprah!"
Now let's discuss the fundamentals for a second. My target audience for this ad are pet owners. So in my headline I targeted my audience by using the words, "pet owners" and I gave my audience what they want by using the word "pamper."
Let me explain what else I did. I used the name of a famous celebrity in my headline, which is always guaranteed to get attention. Remember what I said earlier. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention.
But I also did something else. I brought emotion into the mix. In my headline, I told readers that my pet grooming shop would "treat their pets like royalty!" And while I didn't use those exact words, the implication is there.
That headline has strong emotional appeal. After all, what loving pet owner doesn't want their pet treated special, right? By the way, emotional appeals are very powerful in headlines. So use them as often as possible.
So are you starting to understand this headline writing thing yet? Well, let's write one more to make sure.
Suppose I owned a pizza shop. Again, start with the fundamentals. My target for this ad is a general audience. After all, nearly everyone eats pizza. But despite that fact, I'm still going to target my audience by using the word, "pizza" in my headline
Now this one's a little trickier because pizza ads are a dime a dozen. So I need to do something to make my headline different - to stand out. I've decided to give my headline instant credibility by using a feature that is unique to my pizza shop. Here's the headline I came up with:
"Jackson's Pizza: Voted the City's Best Pizza For 10 Straight Years!"
Do you know what the reaction of most people reading that headline would be?
"Wow...voted the city's best pizza for 10 straight years! It must be good!"
This headline also has strong emotional appeal. Why? Because everyone likes to be associated with a winner. It's human nature.
Wrapping everything up, I'm going to summarize what it takes to write effective headlines into 5 simple steps:
1. You must know and understand your target audience. Research your market!
2. Target your headline to that audience.
3. Give your audience what they want.
4. Your headline must get the readers attention. Be creative.
5. Use emotional appeal whenever possible. Again, be creative.
One last thing. when writing headlines don't try to trick or mislead people. Get people's attention, yes. Be creative, yes. But above all be honest!
Wednesday 14 March 2012
How to Create Winning Headlines
Let's talk about everything you need to know about writing headlines and sub-headlines that can entice people to keep reading your offer. When you follow these steps correctly this method of sales copywriting should ensure people to like everything you say. Clever marketing is great marketing!
1.Use the color red for your headline. The color red usually symbolizes an alert or something very important. Or, you can use black or text with yellow highlight in the background if red won't suit your sales copy's idea or layout. However, it is advisable to use red or off-red as the color of your headline, and this color can be used with almost any theme color with good results.
2.Your headline font must be much bigger than the usual font used for your sales letter. The idea is for your large red headline to grab your web site visitor's attention to read it and continue reading. So it is very important that your headline stands out from the rest of your sales copy. Usually, the headline size 2 to 3 times bigger than your standard font.
3.Describe a benefit or a summary of your great offer in the headline. and the benefit should speak to your prospect only, not to YOU or someone else. Make sure that it ultimately has to do with your prospect and how it could benefit him or her.
4.You could introduce a character in your headline. It will make your sales copy more interesting to read and in most cases, could relate to your prospects. For example: Discover How A 22 Year Old girl Is Making THREE Times More In Income Than both her parents On The Internet! This headline is best aimed at young people who want to know how to make money online. Or: How A 27 Year Old Unemployed man broke free from Bankruptcy And Became Financially FREE...How YOU Can Do It, Too!
This headline is best aimed at people who are unemployed or bankrupt and how they can improve their financial situation, regardless of how old they are or how old they think they are. This would depend on what type of product or service you have to offer, the more you can relate it to the majority of your web site visitors, the better chance you'll have to hook your readers to read your sales letter, and then hopefully go on to make a purchase from you.
5.Your sub headline serves as a little hook after your main headline to make your visitors continue reading. The sub headline usually explores another benefit for your reader to continue, which is not mentioned in the headline. The sub headline is smaller than the main headline in font size usually by 1, and could be a different color too like black. Using black for your sub headline works well with your red main headline .You want to make your visitors feel that they need to read every line of your sales letter. Make it as easy as possible to read it, which brings us on to...
6.Do not use excessive words in your headline. As a general rule, use from 15 to 25 words for your headline, and about 3 to 5 lines. Don't make your headline hard to read by using too many words, otherwise your reader would just get lazy immediately and leave your web site, without ever knowing how great your offer really was.
The headlines are the first few important steps you need for a great money making web site offer.
1.Use the color red for your headline. The color red usually symbolizes an alert or something very important. Or, you can use black or text with yellow highlight in the background if red won't suit your sales copy's idea or layout. However, it is advisable to use red or off-red as the color of your headline, and this color can be used with almost any theme color with good results.
2.Your headline font must be much bigger than the usual font used for your sales letter. The idea is for your large red headline to grab your web site visitor's attention to read it and continue reading. So it is very important that your headline stands out from the rest of your sales copy. Usually, the headline size 2 to 3 times bigger than your standard font.
3.Describe a benefit or a summary of your great offer in the headline. and the benefit should speak to your prospect only, not to YOU or someone else. Make sure that it ultimately has to do with your prospect and how it could benefit him or her.
4.You could introduce a character in your headline. It will make your sales copy more interesting to read and in most cases, could relate to your prospects. For example: Discover How A 22 Year Old girl Is Making THREE Times More In Income Than both her parents On The Internet! This headline is best aimed at young people who want to know how to make money online. Or: How A 27 Year Old Unemployed man broke free from Bankruptcy And Became Financially FREE...How YOU Can Do It, Too!
This headline is best aimed at people who are unemployed or bankrupt and how they can improve their financial situation, regardless of how old they are or how old they think they are. This would depend on what type of product or service you have to offer, the more you can relate it to the majority of your web site visitors, the better chance you'll have to hook your readers to read your sales letter, and then hopefully go on to make a purchase from you.
5.Your sub headline serves as a little hook after your main headline to make your visitors continue reading. The sub headline usually explores another benefit for your reader to continue, which is not mentioned in the headline. The sub headline is smaller than the main headline in font size usually by 1, and could be a different color too like black. Using black for your sub headline works well with your red main headline .You want to make your visitors feel that they need to read every line of your sales letter. Make it as easy as possible to read it, which brings us on to...
6.Do not use excessive words in your headline. As a general rule, use from 15 to 25 words for your headline, and about 3 to 5 lines. Don't make your headline hard to read by using too many words, otherwise your reader would just get lazy immediately and leave your web site, without ever knowing how great your offer really was.
The headlines are the first few important steps you need for a great money making web site offer.
Friday 9 March 2012
Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy
Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don't get your readers' attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. But headlines (and sub-headlines) play a vital part in the copywriting process for other reasons, too.
Whether we, as copywriters, like it or not, the fact is most people will not read all the copy word for word. Headlines can help fill in the blanks in several ways so "skimmers" still get the gist of the information included in the copy.
Headlines Outline the Benefits
Using headlines and sub-heads that state benefits about your product/service can be a powerful strategy. Using wireless home networking for example, you might create headlines and sub-heads that read:
Work From Anywhere In Your Home
No More Jumbled Cables Strung Everywhere
Have Multiple Computers Online At The Same Time
Make All The Computer Users In Your Home Happy
Even if the customer didn't read the copy included in between these heads and sub-heads, they would still be made aware of all the benefits of having a wireless home network.
Headlines Give An Overview
Depending on the type of copy you're writing, headlines can help to urge your customers to read further. In fact, in long-form copy, headlines should create their own sub-set of copy. If you read just the headlines, they should make sense all by themselves. For example, copy about a new book on how to start your own business might use the following headlines.
New Book Takes You Step-by-Step Through Starting Your Own Business
An introduction would go here as well as copy designed to gain the attention of the reader.
Starting A Business Is Easier Than Ever
Continue with the copy here.
The Little Known Secrets In This Book Will Show You How
More copy here.
See? As you read through the headlines and sub-headlines they make sense even without any copy. This serves to give an overview of the information to those customers who may not read every word of the copy you've written. If they read just the headlines and sub-heads, they'll still understand what you're offering.
Headlines Can Raise Curiosity
Make a statement that's so unusual it doesn't make sense. Create "cliff-hangers" with your headlines and only give so much information before stopping. When you use these and other interest builders, you can encourage customers to read further into your copy just to satisfy their curiosity. Using natural gardening products as our example, the headlines and sub-heads often look like this:
My Roses Are Bursting With Blossoms Since I Stopped Watering Them
My Prize-Winning Tulips Would Wither Up and Die If It Weren't for...
Which Annual Blooms Twice As Big When You Give It A Beer/Shampoo Cocktail?
These statements make you think. They start the reader wondering so that he/she continues to read on to get the rest of the story.
When creating headlines in your copy, think about how they all work together. Instead of just plopping bolded words in between paragraphs, create a plan revolving around progressive headlines that can lead your readers to buy.
Whether we, as copywriters, like it or not, the fact is most people will not read all the copy word for word. Headlines can help fill in the blanks in several ways so "skimmers" still get the gist of the information included in the copy.
Headlines Outline the Benefits
Using headlines and sub-heads that state benefits about your product/service can be a powerful strategy. Using wireless home networking for example, you might create headlines and sub-heads that read:
Work From Anywhere In Your Home
No More Jumbled Cables Strung Everywhere
Have Multiple Computers Online At The Same Time
Make All The Computer Users In Your Home Happy
Even if the customer didn't read the copy included in between these heads and sub-heads, they would still be made aware of all the benefits of having a wireless home network.
Headlines Give An Overview
Depending on the type of copy you're writing, headlines can help to urge your customers to read further. In fact, in long-form copy, headlines should create their own sub-set of copy. If you read just the headlines, they should make sense all by themselves. For example, copy about a new book on how to start your own business might use the following headlines.
New Book Takes You Step-by-Step Through Starting Your Own Business
An introduction would go here as well as copy designed to gain the attention of the reader.
Starting A Business Is Easier Than Ever
Continue with the copy here.
The Little Known Secrets In This Book Will Show You How
More copy here.
See? As you read through the headlines and sub-headlines they make sense even without any copy. This serves to give an overview of the information to those customers who may not read every word of the copy you've written. If they read just the headlines and sub-heads, they'll still understand what you're offering.
Headlines Can Raise Curiosity
Make a statement that's so unusual it doesn't make sense. Create "cliff-hangers" with your headlines and only give so much information before stopping. When you use these and other interest builders, you can encourage customers to read further into your copy just to satisfy their curiosity. Using natural gardening products as our example, the headlines and sub-heads often look like this:
My Roses Are Bursting With Blossoms Since I Stopped Watering Them
My Prize-Winning Tulips Would Wither Up and Die If It Weren't for...
Which Annual Blooms Twice As Big When You Give It A Beer/Shampoo Cocktail?
These statements make you think. They start the reader wondering so that he/she continues to read on to get the rest of the story.
When creating headlines in your copy, think about how they all work together. Instead of just plopping bolded words in between paragraphs, create a plan revolving around progressive headlines that can lead your readers to buy.
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Day 4 - How to Write Killer Headlines - The Basics
A headline can make or break a sales letter, website page, newsletter, email, email newsletter, blog post or twitter post. In fact, everything you write should have a killer headline.
Headlines are the gatekeeper of an article or ad. If it's good, people will read on. If it isn't, then your email or sales letter hits the recycling bin or gets the delete button treatment.
Just as the purpose of every sale is to get a second sale, the purpose of every sentence is to get your reader to read the second sentence.
The first sentence doesn't start in the body of the text. It starts with the headline.
Still need convincing?
If you're still not sure about the importance of headlines, check out these snippets from the experts:
According to David Ogilvy, founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency and author of Confessions of an Advertising Man:
"On the average, 5 times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money."
Google: "Recent research suggests that users decide to stay or leave your site in 8 seconds or less -- in that short amount of time, headlines are the one piece of copy that users will actually read."
There are a number of basics that you need to get right when writing headlines.
1. Identify who Your Audience Is
Your headline should change depending on whether or not your audience is freezing, cold or warm. By this I mean, will your audience be reading your article/letter/ad/ for the first time? Will they know who you are, will they know your product name?
You can tailor headlines to suit your audience's knowledge of you and your product. This will lead to more people reading your articles. Decide whether you are writing to sell or writing to engage.
2. Write for People First
You will read many articles extolling the virtues of headlines and keywords for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO helps raise your profile on the search engines. (We'll talk about this in a later article). Some exponents argue that writing for SEO is different than writing for reading's sake. My experience has shown that writing for people first will help with both SEO and click-through.
If you write as if you're talking to the person, chances are you're going to write a killer heading..and copy.
3. Ask yourself 'What's in it for me?'
If you want to lure people into your copy, then you need to ask yourself the question through the reader's eyes - "what's in it for me?". If you can't answer this, then you need to start again. No matter what way you structure your headline, it has to answer that important question.
4. Keep it Short
The average or ideal length for a headline is five words. Shorter headlines give a better punch or a better sizzle to your message. If you are battling with more words, then simply make a sub-heading out of them or make use of punctuation.
5. Make it Real
Under no circumstance should you write the best headline ever, but not have the copy to back it up. Or worse still, the product or service doesn't match up with the headline's benefits. Your headline has to support the copy just as the copy supports the headline.
The best headline in the world won't stop a bad story from ruining your reputation.
6. Keep it Simple
I've seen numerous witty and clever headlines. Some work, a lot don't. My advice is to keep it simple. Don't be clever for clever's sake.
7. Start Over
Once you've written your headline, ask yourself if you're happy with it. If you are, start over again. If you're not, start over again. You should spend as much time on your headline as you do on your copy. Do not stop until you are proud of your headline.
Day 4 - Homework
Today, I'm relying on 6 questions that Clayton Makepeace, one of the world's acclaimed copy-writers said in teleconference on 20th December 2006.
Take a recent headline and ask yourself:
1. Does your headline touch a nerve?
2. Does it make a unique claim or statement?
3. Does it provoke curiosity?
4. Is it credible?
5. It is specific?
6. Does it have a news element?
7. Does it offer a compelling benefit for reading?
Headlines are the gatekeeper of an article or ad. If it's good, people will read on. If it isn't, then your email or sales letter hits the recycling bin or gets the delete button treatment.
Just as the purpose of every sale is to get a second sale, the purpose of every sentence is to get your reader to read the second sentence.
The first sentence doesn't start in the body of the text. It starts with the headline.
Still need convincing?
If you're still not sure about the importance of headlines, check out these snippets from the experts:
According to David Ogilvy, founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency and author of Confessions of an Advertising Man:
"On the average, 5 times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90% of your money."
Google: "Recent research suggests that users decide to stay or leave your site in 8 seconds or less -- in that short amount of time, headlines are the one piece of copy that users will actually read."
There are a number of basics that you need to get right when writing headlines.
1. Identify who Your Audience Is
Your headline should change depending on whether or not your audience is freezing, cold or warm. By this I mean, will your audience be reading your article/letter/ad/ for the first time? Will they know who you are, will they know your product name?
You can tailor headlines to suit your audience's knowledge of you and your product. This will lead to more people reading your articles. Decide whether you are writing to sell or writing to engage.
2. Write for People First
You will read many articles extolling the virtues of headlines and keywords for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO helps raise your profile on the search engines. (We'll talk about this in a later article). Some exponents argue that writing for SEO is different than writing for reading's sake. My experience has shown that writing for people first will help with both SEO and click-through.
If you write as if you're talking to the person, chances are you're going to write a killer heading..and copy.
3. Ask yourself 'What's in it for me?'
If you want to lure people into your copy, then you need to ask yourself the question through the reader's eyes - "what's in it for me?". If you can't answer this, then you need to start again. No matter what way you structure your headline, it has to answer that important question.
4. Keep it Short
The average or ideal length for a headline is five words. Shorter headlines give a better punch or a better sizzle to your message. If you are battling with more words, then simply make a sub-heading out of them or make use of punctuation.
5. Make it Real
Under no circumstance should you write the best headline ever, but not have the copy to back it up. Or worse still, the product or service doesn't match up with the headline's benefits. Your headline has to support the copy just as the copy supports the headline.
The best headline in the world won't stop a bad story from ruining your reputation.
6. Keep it Simple
I've seen numerous witty and clever headlines. Some work, a lot don't. My advice is to keep it simple. Don't be clever for clever's sake.
7. Start Over
Once you've written your headline, ask yourself if you're happy with it. If you are, start over again. If you're not, start over again. You should spend as much time on your headline as you do on your copy. Do not stop until you are proud of your headline.
Day 4 - Homework
Today, I'm relying on 6 questions that Clayton Makepeace, one of the world's acclaimed copy-writers said in teleconference on 20th December 2006.
Take a recent headline and ask yourself:
1. Does your headline touch a nerve?
2. Does it make a unique claim or statement?
3. Does it provoke curiosity?
4. Is it credible?
5. It is specific?
6. Does it have a news element?
7. Does it offer a compelling benefit for reading?
Thursday 1 March 2012
Not-So-Secret Tips to Copywriting Great Headlines and Subject Lines
There's an 80/20 rule for everything, including copywriting headlines. Read anything about copywriting and you'll discover that the headline, or subject line, of your email, article, brochure or letter is where you need to spend 80% of your writing time. That's right: only 20% left to copywrite your article or brochure.
It does depend on what you're writing, of course. When you're writing tenders and proposals there's rarely time to spare for a catchy headline, whereas writing headlines or subject lines for your letters, articles, emails and brochures gives you time to play.
Like most things in life, there are a few good tricks to help you write a great headline or subject line.
The most easily accessible ones are:
"How to..." suggests we'll learn something useful without much effort.
"The Secrets of..", or "Revealed..." which hint at something a little mysterious that we really need to know.
"Discover the..." means we'll find something useful.
5, 7 or 10: we're all used to Top 10s. Five and 7 are great too and more credible than even numbers outside of 10. But when you're writing about large numbers, it's more persuasive to use the precise figure than a rounded figure.
Don't forget, you can combine these to copywrite more attention-grabbing headlines and subject lines. For example:
Discover how to...
How my aunt saved $46,729 on her tax bill
7 deadly copywriting sins...how to avoid...
Copywriting secrets revealed
Discover the 7 secrets of copywriting
Revealed: the 7 secrets of copywriting
How apostrophes can get you arrested
Top 10 tender mistakes
Why are these so useful? Because they work. They're simple, straight to the point, attract attention and make your reader curious about what's coming next. In my article Is This the World's Most Attractive Headline?, I've written about other attention-grabbing words for headlines. Put them together and you get:
Discover 7 easy ways to write for a living
Revealed: 5 simple tricks for younger looking skin
How to get the haircut of your dreams - for free!
Faster, better copywriting in 5 easy steps
Save $2,397 a year with this foolproof money-saving tool
Another useful headline trick is to ask a dramatic question. My free guide, Do You Make These Mistakes in English, is very popular because people wonder what mistakes they might be making.
It does depend on what you're writing, of course. When you're writing tenders and proposals there's rarely time to spare for a catchy headline, whereas writing headlines or subject lines for your letters, articles, emails and brochures gives you time to play.
Like most things in life, there are a few good tricks to help you write a great headline or subject line.
The most easily accessible ones are:
"How to..." suggests we'll learn something useful without much effort.
"The Secrets of..", or "Revealed..." which hint at something a little mysterious that we really need to know.
"Discover the..." means we'll find something useful.
5, 7 or 10: we're all used to Top 10s. Five and 7 are great too and more credible than even numbers outside of 10. But when you're writing about large numbers, it's more persuasive to use the precise figure than a rounded figure.
Don't forget, you can combine these to copywrite more attention-grabbing headlines and subject lines. For example:
Discover how to...
How my aunt saved $46,729 on her tax bill
7 deadly copywriting sins...how to avoid...
Copywriting secrets revealed
Discover the 7 secrets of copywriting
Revealed: the 7 secrets of copywriting
How apostrophes can get you arrested
Top 10 tender mistakes
Why are these so useful? Because they work. They're simple, straight to the point, attract attention and make your reader curious about what's coming next. In my article Is This the World's Most Attractive Headline?, I've written about other attention-grabbing words for headlines. Put them together and you get:
Discover 7 easy ways to write for a living
Revealed: 5 simple tricks for younger looking skin
How to get the haircut of your dreams - for free!
Faster, better copywriting in 5 easy steps
Save $2,397 a year with this foolproof money-saving tool
Another useful headline trick is to ask a dramatic question. My free guide, Do You Make These Mistakes in English, is very popular because people wonder what mistakes they might be making.
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