How to write 5 kinds of kick-ass, awesome, catchy headlines
Let’s get real: if you’re googling how to make a catchy headline, or creating an awesome headline, chances are you’ve heard a million times that it has to be under 75 characters (because of Google), that it needs a keyword (because of SEO), and that it has to be interesting and direct (because of people).
But the thing is, when you’re looking as to how exactly to create your catchy headlines all that advice means absolute shit. The fact is that if you’re stuck while trying to make an awesome headline those 75 characters make you feel like you’re Homer’s illiterate brother trying to write the Odyssey, keywords can suck it, and people can go buy Kanye West’s records if they want something catchy for all you care.
Relax a little, watch some Netflix for 30 minutes (max) and make some tea while we see what we can do. I will be honest, there’s not a secret formula to creating great blog titles to accompany your awesome content. But there are some characteristics that all amazing headlines share and you already know them: The perfect blog title will look short, sexy and clear. Like Kylie Minogue.
Creating a catchy headline it’s just a commong blogging best practices. Let’s see how you can construct an awesome headline around those parameters while taking into account what you have and your objective:
- The “I need external validation” headline
Do you have social proof? Or is your blog full of testimonials and public affection? Put that on display with your headline. People feel comfort in knowing that others before them have tried something before and have gotten great results.
What you’ll need: At least one good review from a client, or a sizeable number of people that you can parade around as proof that whatever you’re talking about works.
When do you need this? Primarily when you want to create empathy, by showcasing there’s actual humans in your tale. You can also benefit from this when you’re offering something relatively new that people aren’t used to seeing yet. If they know others have liked it, they won’t be so suspicious of trying it out themselves.
What does that look like:
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People love secrets and finding hidden gems that are normally out of reach. A good headline strategy is to use some enticing piece of information and exploit it so that your audience feels intrigued.
What you’ll need: Real insiders information. Sure, you can title your boring and super predictable article on McDonald’s fake chicken something like “The super secret ingredient you’d never guess it’s hiding on your McChicken”, and then proceed to tell them it’s just the boring old rat tail we all know and love, but you’ll lose all credibility.
When do you need this? When you have a particularly deep (Your own immature penis joke goes here) article on a common subject matter that’s been explored to death. You dug up extra special information that no one will get to unless you let them know right in your awesome headline.
What does that look like:
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- The “I was edgy in high school” headline (or “I wished I worked at Buzzfeed”)
This is the article you use when you want to be purposely disruptive. It looks kind of clickbaity but not quite, usually you’ll include words like “Insane”, “Incredible”, and “Mind blowing”.
What you’ll need: A thesaurus and a deep desire to find new and exciting synonyms for “Awesome”.
When do you need this? In all seriousness, so long as your Buyer’s Persona is a millennial -Or at least millennial-ish- this probably covers what you should do with most of your headlines. You have a great subject matter and you need an equally awesome headline.
What does that look like:
Check out our insanely awesome title generator (His name is Fluffy face. He’s our intern)
- The “I made a list!” headline
Listicles are popular. They are absolutely everywhere and people just love that they keep the subjects short and to the point. Let them know in the headline what they can expect inside.
What you’ll need: A listicle.
When do you need this? When your content is not usually listicles and you want your audience to know this time it’s something different. Or just any time you do a listicle.
What does that look like:
33 Things you’re doing wrong with your morning coffee and how to make it better
- The blatant optimization headline
You have a mission and you don’t care if others know it: you want to rank high on Google. So your headline is carefully crafted around your keywords, is less than 75 characters and has power words all around them.
What you’ll need: The short tail keywords of your article, lots of patience and something like CoSchedule Free Headline Analyzer, Inbound Title Generator, or Tweak Your Biz Title Generator
When do you need this? When your main concern is having a good rank on search engines. This is especially true when you have a specific content offer that you’ll want to promote.
What does that look like:
How to optimize your blog titles to get more viewers. And a better ranking!
So, there you have it, as long as you have a clear objective of what you want to achieve with your blog post and you don’t have any hidden desire to deceive your audience, creating an awesome and catchy title is not going to take more than a few minutes. You can create a preemptive brainstorming sessions if you want to be extra sure. And if you get stuck, you can always come and complain about it in the comments, we promise we’ll read them, laugh at you and then gladly help you make it better.
Originally published at blog.thesocialus.com.
