I read so many articles on the web to create great headlines that I wrote one too. Tell yourself. Every day, millions of content are published on the Internet, so it's difficult to stand out from the crowd.
You can have the most effective content in the world. If your title doesn't grab the attention or curiosity of people on the internet, no one will ever click on your content.
Therefore, you absolutely have to write a good headline, otherwise, you will have done it all for nothing.
According to a study by Copy blogger (an influential blog in the USA), 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 in 10 people will click on it.
For a long time, I struggled to write headlines that grabbed attention. But I had to learn when I first started blogging and advertising.
The problem is, most of the articles I've read on writing headlines are based on ready-made "formulas", so limiting my creativity.
Instead, I figured out what makes a good title.
Here is the question I was asking myself: what are the elements that make you decide to click?
I didn't have too much trouble finding an answer to my question. There are already quite a few articles on this subject!
Write a good title = Make "optical"?
As a big football fan, I had already noticed that sites like Foot Mercato or Eurosport were masters in writing “public” titles.
Look, I just had to go to the Foot Mercato Facebook page, and that's what I came across first!
People's news sites like BuzzFeed or Public are also very strong in this part of the title that makes you click.
Let's be serious. I will not teach you how to write “public” titles like these!
I'm going to show you the psychology behind these kinds of titles and how to use them to your advantage, regardless of whether you are:
- Blogger
- YouTuber
- Community Manager
- Copywriter
- Advertiser
- This article will help you, I'm sure.
The next article I'm going to publish (next week) will go into more depth on writing dedicated ad headlines. Most of you have subscribed to my email list for just one thing: getting your Facebook ads right.
So it seems fair to me to write you an article entirely dedicated to headlines for advertisements. Before that, let's look at what makes a good headline.
The psychology behind a hard-hitting headline
What I'm about to share with you doesn't get out of my hat. It's all in this excellent article on Buffer's blog.
The article is in English, a little too theoretical, and unfortunately contains few examples. Quite the opposite of this article, which will be filled with examples so that you can apply each of the ideas presented.
1) surprise
Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of The Sticky Ideas book, listed surprise as one of the 6 Sticky Ideas Principles.
Indeed, presenting something unexpected helps capture a reader's attention. Surprise captures your attention and interest holds it.
These kinds of headlines are found in my emails more often, I noticed. A blogger (whose name I will not mention) seems to have made it his specialty.
In his article, Buffer explains that Barack Obama used surprise many times in the subject of his emails during his presidential campaign.
For example, the subjects of his emails were like "Hey" or "Wow" or "Join me for lunch?" ".
And it looks like it worked out well!?
For a blog post, I could have used: "This is not a perfect blog post (but it could have been)".
As you can see, this is not an ideal title.
The best is to use it (in moderation) in the subject line of your emails.
2) Questions
It's no coincidence that titles with a question work so well.
This is because the questions pique our curiosity. Indeed, the fact of seeing a matter mark stimulates our brain.
Ideally, think about the questions your audience might ask themselves, then write a title with that question and answer it in your content.
It's that simple. Be careful, avoid using questions where you can answer yes or no. For example, "Do you have a blog? ", does not work.
Here are a few examples of titles that ask you questions you dream of knowing the answers to! They come from the Marketing School podcast, which is also in my TOP 10 marketing podcasts to listen to!
In my case, I could write on this title. I know my audience is asking these questions:
- Is Facebook Advertising Right For Your Business?
- How much does a Facebook ad cost?
- How to do A / B tests on Facebook Ads?
- Is it necessary to post content every day?
- Do we have to be present on all social networks?
- In fact, I'm already answering questions like these on my podcast!
3) curiosity
Curiosity is a bad thing, and you must take advantage of it! This kind of title plays on a psychological bias called the “curiosity gap” (I couldn't find the French translation).
Here you are playing on the disparity between what your reader knows and does not know. What happens then? Your brain wants to bridge the gap between what we know and what we don't know. And you click …
Be careful, you must have at least an initial knowledge of a particular subject. This is because we are just not curious about things that we do not know at all.
For example, if I write a headline "How I Double My Click Rate on My Facebook Ads", only people with knowledge of Facebook advertising are likely to click.
As soon as we know a little about something, the slightest lack of information arouses our curiosity and we want to know more. And we inevitably click ...
Curiosity is terribly important and I advise you to add a dose of curiosity to each of your titles. This is precisely what the popular news sites are playing on: our curiosity.
Do not neglect it.
Let's see some examples.
Here is the title of an article that might have caught my attention if I lived in the USA: "Why US Talent Shortages Are At A 10-Year High"
On Facebook, I advise you to use the hook (text above the image) to stress your message.
This is what Business Insider did in this Facebook post: “It's shocking. 54% of companies say there is a talent shortage - the highest in a decade ”.
If I were a young blogger who wants to "make a living from his blog", I would really want to click after reading this headline:
I think you have understood the principle.
Your article should arouse the curiosity of your reader without revealing all the contents of your article.
For example, the title "Sell to affiliate: €1038 with a single blog post" does not tell me everything. It gives me the result, but not the method.
Again, you need to know your audience inside out to write a headline that will make them want to click for more.
Here are some more examples:
- Can you lose weight without exercising?
- Why you shouldn't buy your primary residence.
- It's not the money, it's you!
- Community Managers: Are You Making These Mistakes on Social Media?
- 3x more subscribers to my email list in a week. Here is how I did it.
- Use curiosity as much as you can, but be careful not to fall into the "public".
Your content should always live up to your title promise!
4) negativity
Superlatives - words like better, bigger, stronger - can be very effective for your headlines. It turns out that it's actually the negative superlatives - words like worst - that work the best.
Buffer mentions in his article a study conducted by Outbrain, which aimed to compare titles with positive superlatives, negative superlatives, and no superlatives.
The result is eventual.
Titles with positive superlatives performed the least well (29% worse than titles without superlatives) while negative superlatives performed best (30% better than titles without superlatives).
Personally, I rarely use negative headlines, but occasionally it always serves to use them if it clicks!
How to do it?
For example, you can mention the word "error".
Like this title: "The 3 mistakes to avoid when starting a business"
Classic!
Obviously, you can use another structure than this:
In the first person: 7 mistakes I wish I hadn't made in my sales webinar. With a question: Did you make any of these 7 mistakes during your sales webinar? With the imperative: Above all, don't make these 7 mistakes during your sales webinar! Other examples:
- E-commerce: 97% will never succeed!
- These 10 foods destroy your health.
- This error cost me 154,879 €, here's how to avoid it.
- Okay, I'll stop. You understand the principle.
5) The "comment" titles
Ah, the “how” titles. You were expecting it; I know it.
They are the most popular on the web and the easiest to write.
Seriously, if your headline starts with "How", it's really hard to miss it.
Why?
Because “how” headlines state a problem your audience wants to solve. So having the word "how" in your title - which implies solving it - makes the person likely to click on it.
On the surface, these titles are easy to write, but there are still a few things you need to know to improve your titles.
Like I told you, the essence of a “how-to” headline is to solve a problem, but do you know what your audience is really interested in?
It is the result or the benefit.
It must be clear.
Like this :
- You can also use adjectives or specificity to make your title more interesting.
- Watch how to turn an average headline into an outstanding headline.
- A medium title: How to write a blog post.
- A good headline: How to write a successful blog post.
- Outstanding Headline: How to Write a Successful Blog Post in 45 Minutes.
And here are some formulas to use for your next titles:
- Comment [Goal / Result]: How to get 50 targeted followers per day on Instagram.
- Comment [aim / Result] + [Adverb]: How to build your email list quickly.
- How to [Solve a Problem] AND [aim / Result]: How to stop procrastinating and improve your productivity.
- Comment [Goal / Result] without [Negative Action]: How to get more likes on Facebook without buying fans.
- Comment [Goal / Result] in [Duration]: How I lost 13 kilos in 6 months.
- How to be [Desired Quality/aim]: How to be a better marketer.
- Ideally, try to include numbers and adjectives.
I talk about it right after!
6) numbers
According to Buffer, numbers work very well in headlines simply because the human brain is receptive to numbers.
Many studies have shown that headlines with numbers generate 73% more shares on social media.
There are two types of headlines that use the power of numbers and work well:
- The lists. Ex.: 11 tips to read faster.
- Titles with specific numbers. Ex.: How to increase your reading speed by 47%. Pro tip:
- Titles with odd numbers perform much better than titles with even numbers.
- per the Content promoting Institute, the brain believes odd numbers over even numbers.
- Even better, the number 7 seems to be very popular.
- Ideally, use "7" rather than "seven" in your title.
- I just went for a walk on the BuzzFeed site and this trend seems to be confirmed ...
- Never hesitate to include numbers in your titles.
- They will simply be more shared.
Here are some examples :
- How to get 50 new subscribers to your newsletter per week.
- 12 reasons you can't lose weight.
- 5 Ways To Generate More Sales For Your Ecommerce With Facebook Advertising.
You can even reuse the formulas I gave you for your “how-to” titles. Look :
- 7 Simple Steps To Build Your Email List Fast.
- 3 tips to stop procrastination and increase your productivity.
- 7) Mention the most important person
What do you think your audience is most interested in?
Herself!
We are interested first in our little person (not everyone will agree with me).
Many advertisers know this, which is why they promote their ideal customers in their advertisements.
This strategy is simple. You just need to mention your audience in your title using "you", "your" or directly involve them in your title.
I already gave an example earlier in this article, look:
Community Managers: Are You Making These Mistakes on Social Media?
I speak directly to community managers. They are more likely to click than if I had just written, "Are you making these mistakes on social media?" ".
Shubham Sharma understood very well that it is his audience is the star of his YouTube channel. Look at the titles of his YouTube videos:
It is no more complicated.
Make the bulk of your headlines, including your audience.
Here are some more examples:
Entrepreneurs: stop accepting money! Are You Making These Mistakes With Your Facebook Ads?
8) Specificity
And finally, be specific in your titles.
This is also one of the 6 principles of the book "These ideas that stick": make your ideas concrete - using facts rather than general statements.
For this you can use:
Numbers. The more specific you are, the better. Prefer 47% to 50% for example. Names. use well-known names in your titles. Example: "Here are the 6 exercises that Usain Bolt does to run faster". Descriptions. Metaphors.
Neil Patel, a global digital marketing benchmark, constantly uses ultra-specific headlines for his blog posts.
Look at this one.
Or this one.
These are the titles that I prefer to write.
They play on curiosity, without sounding like “public” titles.
Buffer even wrote in his article that titles that are very specific - like the two examples I just showed you - are taking precedence over titles that play on the "curiosity gap". what we don't know).
Indeed, a few years ago, titles that should arouse our curiosity were working well because people were not used to them, but now everyone understood that the point of these titles is to make us click. And sometimes the content just doesn't measure up. Their effectiveness is therefore reduced.
The ultimate formula for writing an irresistible headline
Finally, here's a great infographic that I found on the Quick sprout blog that sums up the essentials that make up a good headline, of which here is the result.
The ultimate formula for writing a great headline:
Number or Trigger Word + Adjective + Key Word + Promise.
Here are two sample titles for this article with the Quick sprout formula:
8 surprising strategies for writing an interesting headline: How to finally create interesting titles: the ultimate guide.
Here are the most important points:
- 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 in 10 people will click it.
- Your title must be short: maximum 65 characters.
- The ideal size for a title is 6 words.
- Use the words "You" and "Your" in your headlines to include your audience.
- Use interesting adjectives (ie effortless, amazing, unique, surprising, essential, etc.).
- Use negativity in the words you choose. The words "No", "Without" and "Stop" trigger virality.
- Use numbers (the bigger the number, the better) and favor numbers over words (7 instead of "seven").
Conclusion
If there' one factor you would like to remember, it's this:
- The title should be thought of for the person to click.
- It must therefore attract enough attention for the Internet user to stop on it.
- The best way to get attention is to use curiosity.
- The 8 strategies that I have presented to you can be used very well together.
For example, you could write a “how-to” headline with specific numbers and add a dose of curiosity at the same time!
Finally, keep in mind that your audience has problems and wants to solve them. That's why your headline should always reflect the result or profit.
Your turn now!