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How
to Write Headlines that Beg to be Read
by
Dina
Giolitto
Today's
discussion is about web article headlines. Some experts
refer to these as article titles. No matter what you
call them, the line that introduces your article should ALWAYS
compel people to read more. Imagine your web headline in the
lineup of hundreds of other headlines on a page. YOUR headline
should be like that overeager kid from your old fourth grade
class, waving his hand in the air going, "Oooh! Ooh! Pick
ME."
Web
headlines don't mince words: generally, what you see is what
you get. If they do play the occasional guessing game, the
riddle is usually answered in the first line or first paragraph
of the actual article. In the same way that good headlines
compel your audience to read, they should compel you to write.
Craft a list of solid web headlines BEFORE you write a word
of copy, and you'll be pleasantly suprised at how easily the
content just flows.
Perfect
your headline writing skills: try your hand at these five
popular styles of attention-getting headlines.
Headline
1. The question on everybody's mind:
Do
You Really Need an E-zine?
Pose
a question in the headline, answer it in the article. It's
a simple formula that almost anyone can follow with ease.
Here's the easiest way to learn what people want to know:
ask them. Put out a survey and invite readers to share their
most pressing questions in your industry. Even if just 10
people respond, that's enough headline and article-writing
fodder to keep you busy for the next month.
Headline
2. The unexpected outcome:
Many
Happy Returns: Find Out Why Today's Dissatisfied Customers
Are the Key to Tomorrow's Success
A
great writer can always find that silver lining in the dark
clouds of despair, turn that frown upside-down, or deliver
the unexpected "twist ending" to the story. Set this up in
your headlines. If you have trouble, start with an issue.
"I want to address customer care." Next think of a common
challenge business owners face: returns. Finally, apply the
positive spin: "I get upset when customers return items they
bought from me, but it helps me define and correct what I
did wrong the first time so I never make that mistake again."
Make this the basis of your article and sum it up in a line,
which will become your headline.
Headline
3. The straw man:
10
Reasons NOT to Revamp Your Web Copy (and Why They Couldn't
Be More Wrong!)
Students
of logical and rhetorical analysis learn how to tear down
an argument point by point, as in the straw man argument.
Do this in your article: write five positive statements that
are the OPPOSITE of the point you intend to prove, and then
defeat them with the alternate view one at a time. This may
seem like a backward way of working, but argument always gets
attention and it's often the missing ingredient needed to
spice up your content and get people clicking.
Headline
4. The controversy:
Top
7 Misleading Statements Made by Today's Most Prominent Web
Marketers
Feeling
especially daring? Put a somewhat controversial statement
out there and see who takes the bait. The headline above will
no doubt paint you as the black sheep of internet marketing,
but if you were the same color sheep as everyone else you
wouldn't have much to brag about, would you. Admittedly, controversy
has the potential to make you some enemies if you aren't super
careful about what you say. But if you construct the article
copy without name-calling or finger-pointing, you can draw
some positive attention without alienating yourself from fellow
colleagues in the process.
Headline
5. Informational (How-to, 5, 7 or 11 Reasons, Top 7 Ways,
etc.):
How
to Make Your Ezine Mailing MORE Professional in LESS Time
Top
5 Ways to Put More Ooph in Your Copy and Dramatically Increase
Sales
While
this type of headline (informative and instructional) remains
popular, it's also in competition with the millions of other
headlines out there just like it. Therefore, it's going to
take some extra punching-up to get the informational headline
on par with some of the previously mentioned headline treatments.
Pay close attention to the end benefit. Is it something that
the reader desperately wants for his own business? (More profit,
more sales, less headaches, increased ROI?) Make sure the
second benefit is there to create a sense of desire. Without
it, you're just another marketer telling your readers, "How
to Write Great Headlines!" (and why would anyone care to know
that? ;)
The
more articles you write, the better you'll get at creating
headlines that are impossible to ignore. Go out there and
study headlines written by other marketers. Keep a creative
brainstorm file where you store headline concepts for future
use. Take note of headlines of yours that worked especially
well; analyze why, and use that tactic again to create more
headlines. With practice and a little good luck, your headline
well will never run dry again.
Copyright
2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.
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