For your content to perform well, you’ll need a killer headline.
Copywriters will tell you that 50% of the time you spend writing a piece of content should be spent on the headline.
That’s how powerful headlines are for your content.
So why is it that headlines are so important?
About 80% of people that come across your content will read your headline. However, only 20% will actually click and read your content.
This statistic shows how critical it is to write headlines that make visitors want to see more.
Studies have shown that once a headline grabs your attention, your brain will draw on previous knowledge related to that headline topic.
Depending on how the headline is phrased, your mindset is affected because of this existing knowledge before you even read or watch the content.
Maybe that knowledge comes from a trending topic in the news, a previous article you read or a conversation you had with a friend.
Regardless of where that knowledge comes from you will go into each piece of content with preconceived ideas based on the headline.
The most important reason your headline exists is to get someone to read or watch more of your content.
Often, this is where most content creators struggle (Your’s truly included).
In fact, coming up with the perfect headline is downright painful sometimes.
But there is an easier way to come up with attention-grabbing headlines and that’s by starting with a headline template.
Let’s look at some of the different types of headline templates.
Types of Headlines
Negative Headlines
Did you ever notice that you remember negative experiences more clearly than positive ones?
Our brains are wired to react more strongly to a negative situation.
We have more vivid memories of traumatic experiences.
We click on negative news items more often than positive ones.
It’s the reason why traffic backs up on the opposite side of the interstate from where there is an accident.
People love to analyze and share negative information. Let’s face it we enjoy judging. Whether it’s judging a person, place or thing. We love to judge. We love to point out the negative.
It’s human nature. Negative news sells.
Here are some example of negative headline templates:
[Number] Ways To Prevent [Bad Thing]
9 Ways To Prevent Writer’s Block
[Number] Things To Do To Prevent [Something]
5 Things To Prevent Losing Money With Your Website
How To Feel Better About [Something Bad]
How To Feel Better About Your Facebook Ad Results
Worried About [Something]? Do This Now
Worried About Lead Generation? Do This Now
The Shocking Reasons Why [Bad Thing]
The Shocking Reasons Why Your Business Will Fail
Keyword Headlines
Keywords, keywords, keywords.
To ensure that your audience is finding your content you need to be including words in your headline that they are searching for.
Including your target keyword in the headline is the most effective way to get your content found and to rank higher in Google for that keyword.
The higher you rank, the more likely you are to be found.
Here are some examples of keyword headlines:
[Keyword]: Everything You Need To Know
Membership Sites: Everything You Need To Know
What Is [Keyword] and [Question]?
What Is Content Marketing and Why Should You Be Using It?
Create More [Keyword] With Our Proven [Something]
Create More Leads and Sales With Our Proven Funnel Strategy
What Everybody Ought to Know About [Keyword]
What Everybody Ought to Know About Residual Income
The Secret of [Keyword]
The Secret of Recurring Revenue for Content Creators
[Trending Topic or Keyword]: What Does This Mean For [Your Audience]?
Cryptocurrency Is Crashing: What Does This Mean For Small Business Owners?
List Headlines
Everyone loves a list. List are super handy.
The bigger the list the better (for headlines, not so much for groceries or to dos).
Create a useful list of just about anything and you’ll have people clicking to read that list.
Here are some examples of list headline templates:
[Blank] Ways to [Blank].
9 Ways to Build a Residual Revenue Stream
[Number] Rules to Follow When [Doing Something]
13 Rules to Follow When Building a Membership Site
[Number] Things You Didn’t Know About [Something]
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Membership Sites
[Number] Things Nobody Tells You About [Something]
17 Things Nobody Tells You About Membership Sites
Question Headlines
Why do people go to Google and search? Many times they do it to answer a question.
If your headline poses a question and someone wants the answer? BOOM. Your content is getting read.
Here are some examples of the question headline:
Who Else Wants [Do Something]?
Who Else Wants To Create Financial Freedom For Their Family
Do You Recognize the [number] Early Warning Signs of [Blank]?
Do You Recognize the 3 Early Warning Signs of a Market Collapse?
Do You Make These Mistakes with [Blank]?
Do You Make These Mistakes with Your Content Marketing?
Why Should I Stop [Doing Something]?
Why Should I Stop Paying For Website Traffic?
Time Headlines
lUsing time in your headline is a great way to get more eyeballs on your content.
Tell someone how long something will take them. Being able to do it in a short period of time is what most people are looking for.
Also, you can use a sense of urgency. FOMO or fear of missing out is a powerful tool in headlines and marketing.
Here are some examples of time headlines:
Here’s a Quick Way to [Do Something]
Here’s a Quick Way to Set Up Your Facebook Advertising
Give Me [Time Period] and I’ll Give You [blank]
Give me 3 Weeks and I’ll Give You a Membership Site
Learn Exactly How I [Did Something] In [Short Period of Time]
Learn Exactly How I Generated 700 Leads for FREE in Just 4 Weeks
You Can [Do Something] In Just [Number] Days With [Blank]
You Can Lose 10 Pounds In Just 10 Days With Our Proven Weight Loss System
Ending Soon: [Time Sensitive Event]
Ending Soon: Get the Top Content Marketing Course Before the Cart Closes Forever
Time is Running Out: [Time Sensitive Event]
Time is Running Out: Get the Top Content Marketing Course Before the Cart Closes Forever
Offer Ends Soon: [Time Sensitive Event]
Offer Ends Soon: Get the Top Content Marketing Course Before the Cart Closes Forever
Last Chance: [Time Sensitive Event]
Last Chance: Get the Top Content Marketing Course Before the Cart Closes Forever
Sales Page Headlines
When you are trying to sell, the number one thing you need to do is provoke emotion from your audience.
You can play on emotions like insecurity, anger, love or happiness to name a few.
Fear is probably the most powerful emotion, especially for selling. We all have fears. I think business owners deal with more fear than most.
Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is a big one for sales copy. No one wants to miss out on something important to them.
Consider how your audience is feeling right now. How might you provoke an emotion?
Here are some examples of sales page headlines.
Struggling to [Difficulty]? You’ll Love This [Solution]
Struggling to Get Leads For Your Business? You’ll Love This Lead Generation Hack
[Something] Got You Down? We Have The Solution
Credit Card Debt Got You Down? We Have The Solution
Warning: [Blank]
Warning: You May Be Missing Out On a 5-Figure Business with Your Content
Additional Page Headlines
Here are some more of my other favorite headline templates.
IF [This] THEN [That]
IF You Have a Smartphone THEN You Can Create Professional Marketing Videos
Little-Known Ways to [Blank]
Little-Known Ways to Generate Recurring Revenue
Get Rid of [Problem] Once and For All
Get Rid of Writer’s Block Once and For All
Now You Can Have [Benefit] and [Benefit]
Now You Can Have A Slim Waistline and Fit Into Those Jeans You Love
[Do something] like [Famous Person or Business]
Get Ripped Like Chris Hemsworth
Have a [or] Build a [Blank] You Can Be Proud Of
Build a Content Strategy You Can Be Proud Of
If You Don’t [Blank] Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later
If You Don’t Add This Daily Habit To Your Routine Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later
The Lazy [Type of Person’s] Way to [Blank]
The Lazy Marketer’s Way to Get More Done
See How Easily You Can [Desired Result]
See How Easily You Can Build Wealth Through Residual Income
You Don’t Have to Be [Something] to [Desired Result]
You Don’t Have to Be Tech Guru to Build a Membership Sit
How [Blank] Made Me [Blank].
How a Membership Site Made Me Quit My Job
If You’re [Blank], You Can [Blank].
If You’re a Content Marketer, You Can Build a Recurring Revenue Stream
The Best [Blank], To Do [Something].
The Best Content Management System, To Build Your Membership Site
Get [Number]X More [Something] With Our [Something]
Get 20X More Sales With Our Proven Funnel System
Join Over [Number] [Group] Already [Doing Something]
Join Over 300 Satisfied Customers Already Using the Crushing Membership System
Here Is A Method That Is Helping [Person] to [Do Something]
Here Is A Method That Is Helping Content Marketers to Generate Recurring Revenue
Win More [Something] With Our [Product or Service]
Win More Clients With Our Proven Lead Nurturing Strategy
Why Pick [Your Brand] Over [Competitor Brand]
Why Pick the Kartra Platform Over Kajabi
How [Person] [Did Something]. And How You Can Too!
How Gary Vaynerchuk Generated Sales. And How You Can Too!
Revealed: The Secret To [Something]
Revealed: The Secret To Generating 50 Leads Per Day!
The Stupid Simple Method To [Do Something]
The Stupid Simple Method To Generate Leads on LinkedIn
Do You Have a Problem With [Something]? Try This!
Do You Have a Problem With Lead Generation? Try This!
What Everyone Ought To Know About [Something]
What Everyone Ought To Know About Facebook Ads
Thank Me Later – 3 Reasons To Stop Thinking About [Thing]
Thank Me Later – 3 Reasons To Stop Thinking About Your Website Traffic
Get Ahead Your Competition Instantly by [Blank]
Get Ahead Your Competition Instantly by Using This Simple Content Marketing Trick
Everything You Wanted to Know About [Blank] and Were Afraid To Ask
Everything You Wanted to Know About Facebook Ads and Were Afraid To Ask
Which One of These [Blank] Problems Do You Have?
Which One of These Website Problems Do You Have?
To People Who Want To [Do Something] But Can’t Get Started
To People Who Want To Kill It With LinkedIn Ads But Can’t Get Started
[Number] Rules About [Something] That Are Meant To Be Broken
3 Rules About Content Marketing That Are Meant To Be Broken
Answered: Your Most Burning Questions About [Something]
Answered: Your Most Burning Questions About Facebook Groups
How To Quit [Something] In [Number] Days
How To Quit Procrastinating In 5 Days
So let’s review
A big part of what we discussed in this article draws on your knowledge of your audience.
What prior knowledge will your audience have? What will they tap into when they read your headline?
Consider how your audience is feeling right now. What emotion can you play on with your headline?
Take some time to understand the readers and viewers that you are targeting.
Headlines don’t have to take hours to create. Start with a great template and you’ll be saving some serious time with your content creation.
I hope you found value with today’s post.
If you did, please leave a comment and share with your fellow digital marketers.
To Your Success!
Steve Stark
steve@starkwebdesign.com
262-378-0234
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