A lot of information comes across my desk (or laptop) concerning search engine optimization, blog post writing and web development. This particular statistic really resonated with me. I think it is an invaluable technique easily implemented when we write.
Content Marketing: Focus 80% of your content strategy on this one thing: Your Headlines
“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.”
The article’s author credits Upworthy – a site about “awesome, fun, interesting videos and graphics about stuff that matters” with honing the technique of effective headline writing. Upworthy CEO and co-founder Eli Pariser “says his writers try 25 headlines before publishing.
“A good headline can be the difference between 1,000 people and 1,000,000 people reading something.” And, the results?
In just 11 months they built a huge audience – 8.7 million unique visitors per month (as of November 2012).
Their growth is impressive and they give the credit to their headlines: “It’s the easiest way to dramatically increase the virality of what you do and I guarantee you’re not spending enough time on it,” Peter Koechley, cofounder of Upworthy, said. “
The article continues with these examples which are hard to paraphrase, so I’m copying it to give you the full benefit.
Article
Upworthy mainly curates and rewrites news. They have very little original content. Take for example, some content that was already on the web – published under the headline, “The Cost of Kale: How Foodie Trends Can Hurt Low-Income Families.”
Upworthy came along with a new headline and the article went on to get over 4,718 likes on Facebook, 2,622 shares, and 3,909 comments. The article had just 34 comments. That’s the power of an effective headline.
How to Write 25 Headlines Fast
Hopefully – at this point – we all agree that headlines are important, but maybe you’re struggling with the idea of cranking out 25 headlines for every piece of content you write. If so, here’s how you can do it (while also ensuring at least 4-5 of the headlines are winners.
Let’s start with an example:
The above headline is from a product in the survival/preparedness niche. Let’s explore how to make it better.
To get a lot of headline ideas fast, use “The 4 U’s” (learned from AWAI). The 4 U’s are:
- Urgency – Does the headline give them a reason to STOP and read your content NOW?
- Useful – Does the headline portray they’ll learn something of value from reading the content?
- Unique – Does the headline depict the content as unique or something new?
- Ultra-specific – Is the headline something that only makes sense on this particular piece of content?
URGENT
So, looking at the example above, is it urgent? Using power words like “attention” and “urgent” help portray urgency but … there is no true urgency. Adding a deadline would help, like this:
Attention: Tomorrow Is Too Late to Read This Urgent Message To All Families
To Protect Your Family Plant and Grow These 5 Things Before Summer
New Parents: Read This Now to Protect Your Family Immediately
Keep in mind, these are just examples. The actual urgency is probably within the product and could have been plucked out with a little research and time.
USEFUL
Does the headline above seem useful? I don’t think so. We could make it more useful by promising to teach them something in the content, like this:
Attention: Urgent Message Reveals How To Protect Your Family
The Trick You Should Start Using Now to Keep Your Family Safe
Revealed – 4 Ways to Protect Your Family From Any Disaster
Once again – these are just examples. You’ll want to try others to see what works best for your readers and customers.
UNIQUE
To make the headline more unique, we could add a few stats, tell a specific story, or drill down to one point. Here are a few examples:
Attention: This Urgent Message To All Families Will Save Your Life
How One Family Saved $1,954 Preparing for Disaster
Dr. Neil B. Write Dishes Out Advice That Will Save Your Family From Disaster
ULTRA-SPECIFIC
Up next, we have ultra-specific: while the example headline does target families, it could be more specific:
Attention: Urgent Message To All Families in Texas
Urgent: Download This 3-Page Report For Families Living in Dallas, Texas
Urgent 2-Minute Message For Texas Families Vacationing in Hawaii This Summer
See how that’s done? We can quickly make the headline more compelling just by changing a few words.