4 Simple Steps to Create Headlines People Will Read

How do you write headlines people will read?

Whether you’re writing blog posts, titles for your website pages or sales headlines for your landing page, you want to write headlines people will read. The reason should be simple – if your headlines don’t connect with them, they won’t ready the rest of your copy.

Well, my friends over at QuickSprout created an excellent infographic to help you create headlines people will read. Think of this as your formula for writing great headlines.

I want to point out a few things that will help you in creating headlines people will read:

• The perfect length for a headline is 6 words.
• Headlines are scanned and most people take in only the first and last 3 words.
• Focus your headlines on the reader’s needs – and treat it like a conversation.
• For blog posts, using numbers make your headlines more interesting and more sharable.
• And remember that headlines fail because they’re either not specific enough, they’re not simple enough or they don’t match the article content.

So here’s your formula for writing headlines people will read:

NUMBER/TRIGGER WORD + ADJECTIVE + KEYWORD + PROMISE

Here’s the before and afters from the infographic:

Before formula: How to Bathe an Elephant
After formula: 18 Unbelievable Ways You Can Bathe an Elephant Indoors

Before formula: How to Sell Your House
After formula: How You Can Effortlessly Sell Your Home In Less Than 24 Hours

So, how many of these elements do you regularly use in your headlines?

 

infographic source: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/07/03/the-formula-for-a-perfect-headline