Who Else Wants To Write Great Headlines?
Writing a great headline requires magic… or at least that’s what some people believe. Good writing is merely technique mixed with talent. Good writing is a highly sought after skill, and it pays well.
Joe Sugarman is a legend in the world of copywriting. His number one rule is that every single sentence almost forces the reader to read the next sentence. Your headline should promise a benefit to the reader. Your article should support that promise.
Appealing to your reader’s emotions is crucial. You must understand their wants, needs and desires and create emotional and passionate copy. A great heading is punchy and short and quickly conveys your article’s main premise.
You don’t have to be funny or creative. In fact, it’s actually better if you’re not. Your headline should almost never be clever or cute… you’ll rarely pull the reader that way. (One of my funniest was Roasted Penguin Tastes So Good It Would Make Gandhi Slap His Kids! It was cute; it was clever; and it failed miserably.)
Writing headlines is an art; youll want to spend a lot of time crafting this component. Not everyone is successful in crafting attractive and eye-catching headlines. This means if you can master the ability, youll be light-years ahead of the competition.
It’s like crafting a great song… the words and music work in harmony. Good copy is no different. Make your titles sing. Make them harmonious with the story and satisfy the appeal of the reader.
Good headlines should be active. Make them short and say only what they need to say to cover the topic. They should convey the number one benefit to the reader. The copy that follows should be plain and simple paragraphs that support that benefit, as well as giving more.
The purpose of a great title is to get someones attention… like a great pickup line in a bar. It won’t get you the girl but it might buy a bit more time to sell them on you.
You can make a headline funny if you want, but this generally works best offline. People are just not searching for clever headlines; they’re searching for information. So create clear, concise, lines rich with the keywords they’re using. These are much better. Plus, you get rewarded by Google with higher rankings because you’re relevant. And higher rankings is what you’re after, right?
