Top headlines are a great way to introduce your content to readers. Whether it’s a blog post, newsletter article or social media update, your headline should grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read or click on the story. Headlines should be infused with voice and style and creativity. They should be so powerful they create a gut reaction, like curiosity, surprise or empathy. They should also use power words that add a dose of persuasion, like emotional or sensory words to prompt the reader to engage with your copy: see it, hear it, smell it.
A great trick to come up with strong headlines is to stand in line at the supermarket and observe which tabloid headlines pull on your eyeballs or heartstrings. Make a note of the ones that do and try to figure out why. This will give you a good idea of what works and why it works, and help you become a better headline writer.
One thing to keep in mind when writing headlines is that the first few words will be part of your url, or Uniform Resource Locator, so they need to be search engine friendly to get some “Google Juice.” One way to do this is by using your target keyword at the beginning of your headline (giving it keyphrase prominence), followed by a few words to connect with human readers.
Also remember that the more thumb-stopping words you can get into your headline, the higher your email open rates will be. This is especially important for LinkedIn ads and promoted content posts, where your headline will only be visible to a portion of your audience.