How To Write Awesome Headlines That Your Audience Will Love

How To Write Awesome Headlines That Your Audience Will Love Pop quiz: Whats the first thing you read when you look at a piece of content on social media? Think you know it? The answer is the headline. The headline is the first thing you will read on any piece of content, and it will be the deciding factor whether or not you continue reading. In this post, Ill teach you techniques to writing memorable headlines your audience cannot  resist. Are you ready!? Lets take a look. How To Write Awesome Social Media Headlines That Your Audience Will LoveWhy Spend Time Writing Good Headlines? No matter how fantastic, informative, and downright awesome the content you wrote is, none of that will matter if you dont have a good headline. You know that saying Dont judge a book by its cover? Lets be honest, we all look at the book cover to decide if we want to read it or not. The same goes for headlines. Recommended Reading: How to Write Emotional Headlines That Get More Shares If you dont have a headline that gives an overview or benefit of the content, no one is going to click on it. When writing a headline you have to ask yourself, Whats in it for my readers? Would you click on a piece of content with that headline? If the answer is no, then you need to spend some time crafting a better one. Need a Few Tools for Writing Better Social Media Headlines? Start writing better headlines, optimized for social media. Download these three free templates: A tear sheet of emotional power words that encourage clicks and shares. A Social Media Headline A/B Test Template to help you optimize your headlines using our Headline Analyzer. A Catchy Blog Title sheet with 500 power + emotion words, plus 100 headline writing templates to hone your craft. How To Write An Effective Headline That Connects With Your Audience The headline accounts for up to 50% of your blog post’s effectiveness. You're overall goal for writing a headline is to get someone to click on it. In order for someone to click on it, they have to connect with the headline in someway. There are several different headline categories, such as: Question Benefit How-To List Post Generic Let's take a deeper look into these 5 types of headlines. Take a look into five types of #social #media #headlines:1. Question A question headline is exactly how it sounds; it asks a question. This question has to relate to the content it's linked to. If you wrote about Facebook engagement, then your question headline would sound something like "Are You Struggling To Engage With Your Facebook Audience?" The person reading this will make the connection that they need help with Facebook engagement and click on the link to find the answer. The goal of a question headline is to leave the reading wondering the answer.  Be careful when using question headlines. At least tease the answer to the question in your introduction to keep readers interested. 2. Benefit A benefit headline offers a quick snippet of what the reader will obtain after reading the content. The benefit headline has to give the reader (you guessed it) a benefit. If you wrote about email marketing, then your benefit headline would sound something like "15 Tactics For Increasing Your Email Subscribers by 137%." The person reading this will know that after reading this post they can increase their email subscribers. Studies have shown that headlines with numbers tend to generate 73% more social shares and engagement.  The higher the number, the higher the engagement. Would you rather read a post that has 5 ways to increase Facebook engagement, or 21 ways? Studies also found that using odd numbers have a higher chance of engagement compared to even numbers. Do your headlines convey clear benefits to your readers?3. How To A how-to headline offers the reader actionable steps to do something better. The how-to headline has to provide insights to what the 'how to' is. If you wrote a post about Instagram followers, then your how to headline would sound something like "How To Skyrocket Your Instagram Followers With These 15 Tactics." The person reading this can connect that they need more Instagram followers, and this post will help skyrocket that. You’ve probably seen a lot of â€Å"how to† headlines. That’s because†¦ well, they work. When your audience searches for information, it could be because they want to know how to do something better. That’s where you can step in and provide helpful content to position your business as a source of relevant and useful information. 4. List Post A list post headline  provides a round-up of content or information around a given topic. The list post headline has to include a piece from the content it's linked to. If you wrote a post about marketing calendars, then your headline would sound something like "10  Steps To Fill Your Marketing Calendar With Brilliant Ideas." There are different ways to write a list post: 10 Ways ... 10 Things ... 10 Steps ... 10 Tips ... Top 10 Most ... Top 10 Reasons ... The #1 Reason ... List posts work and the possibilities are endless.  BuzzSumo teamed up with OkDork to share data that basically says list posts get the most social shares after infographics. These headlines give your readers the chance to skim your subheads to see if they’d like to dive in further. 5. Generic A generic headline is well ... generic. This is something you  don't want. You don't want to have a headline that's already been written by 10 other people. Even if you are covering the same topic, your headline should be unique and provide an emotional connection with your audience. Don't write a headline that's already been done by 10 other people.A generic headline looks something like "Write Better Headlines Today." How are you going to write better headlines? This approach offers no inside look at what the reader can expect by clicking. Avoid generic headlines whenever you can. List post, how to, benefit and question headlines have a better opportunity to get social shares, traffic, and overall SEO value. Recommended Reading: Here are the 101 Catchy Blog Title Formulas That Will Boost Traffic By 438% Good vs. Bad Headlines for Social Media Now that we know what kind of headlines work, you're ready to start writing headlines! Okay...not quite yet. Keep in mind the headline you're writing  is something that  you  would be interested in. If you won't click it, no one else will. Here's some examples of good vs. bad headlines: How To Write Good Headlines. (Bad! Provides no benefit or inside look.) How To Write Headlines That Drive Traffic, Shares, And Search Results. (Good! Provides the reader with a benefit.) Do You Know How To Write Good Headlines? (Bad! Very vague, close-ended question.) Are You Struggling To Write Memorable Headlines? (Good!  Connects with the audience.) This headline from Social Media Examiner tells the reader exactly what to expect when clicking on the post. A perfect example of a "how to" headline. Remember to always provide the  best  benefit and  ask the  right  question! Avoid boring, vague headlines. This headline below is vague and doesn't tell the reader what they will be reading about. Is a "how to" guide? Is it going to show examples of user-friendly design? Do I connect with this headline? A generic and vague headline is something to avoid along with clickbait headlines. Clickbait headlines are manipulative and deceiving. You want to write a headline to connect with your audience, not just to increase your page views. A clickbait headline looks something like "When You Read These 19 Shocking Food Facts, You'll Never Want To Eat Again." I know that headline sounds ridiculous, but it's really out there. Bottom line, avoid clickbait and generic headlines at all costs. Instead, opt for a headline that will connect with your audience on an emotional level. The best way to do this, is to choose your words wisely.