Craft Headlines That Can’t Be Ignored
Want To Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines Today? Copy My 7-Step Blueprint Now
Unlocking the Secrets of Engaging Headlines
Are you here because of the headline? Were you so intrigued, it deserved your click?
Being relatively unknown online, it’s crucial for me to craft headlines that grab your attention.
Otherwise, my article wouldn't be distributed far and wide.
A good headline is the first step to driving clicks, engagement and views.
For example, look at the Headline below and tell me you wouldn’t want to click on it.
Thanks to the headline and of course, Sean’s goodwill, this single article made him more than $8,500. Image below👇🏾
Think of a headline like an advertisement for your article.
But I’m sure you already know. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this.
Without further ado, let me walk you through my 7-step blueprint for writing attention-grabbing headlines.
My Toolkit
When I started my writing journey, I felt unethical to use tools for crafting any part of my article.
But 7 months into a daily writing habit, I’ve learned to embrace them and make them part of my arsenal.
For me, embracing technology that adds value is my new reality.
Here’s how I use the tools
Step 1: Crafting a Vague Headline
My day begins by imagining a vague headline or by dwelling on an idea I want to write about.
The first thing I do is craft a vague headline.
Below you’ll find versions of today’s headline. I’ve outlined a few. Usually, I go over 30–35 headlines over 15–30 minutes.
1. The 7-Step Blueprint I Use to Write Headlines People Click. Make It Yours Now.
2. Learn to Write Headlines that People Click. Make My 7-Step Blueprint Yours.
3. Learn to write Attention-grabbing headlines today. Copy My 7-step blueprint.
4. My 7-Step Blueprint for Writing Headlines That People Can’t Resist But Click!
5. 7-Step Blueprint for Writing Irresistible Headlines That People Can’t Help But Click!
6. My 7-Step Blueprint for Writing Headlines That People Can’t Resist Clicking
7. How to write Attention-grabbing headlines. My 7-step blueprint.
8. How to write Attention-grabbing headlines today. Copy My 7 step blueprint
9. The 7-Step Blueprint I Use to Write Headlines People Click. Make It Yours Now.
10. Crave Attention-Grabbing Headlines? Adopt My Proven 7-Step Blueprint Today!
11. 7 Steps to Write a Killer Headline for Your Articles.
12. Start writing Attention-grabbing headlines today. Copy My 7 step blueprint now
13. How to write Attention-grabbing headlines. My 7-step blueprint
Did you notice the subtle difference in each one of them? These differences make or break your headlines. Study your headlines with as much detail as possible.
With today’s headline, adding words like now and today — add a bit of urgency. Making it a lot more intriguing.
Next, to finalize the headline, I drop them into a headline analysis tool such as Sharethrough or Coschedule.
I aim to score 70+ for my headlines on both these tools. The higher the better. Between the two, I prefer Coschedule.
Step 2: ChatGPT
Thanks to my daily practice, these days, I hit high scores on my headlines faster than before. However, I still have bad days. On days I’m unable to hit the 70/100 score, I prompt ChatGPT to give me variations of the tool.
Below is a sample
Once I have new options, I break, play and tweak my headlines while inserting them into the headline analysis tool.
This helps me write headlines that score high and are intriguing enough for readers to click.
Step 3: Power Words
The human emotional response to certain words is peculiar. These words help humans increase conversions, drive emotions and take action.
I love this page created by AppSumo. It lists 400+ power words to help you craft impactful words. Depending on the emotion you are looking to invoke in your reader, you can quickly scan and find words to help you craft a beautiful headline.
Step 4: Beautifying Your Headline
I always use TitleCaseConverter to convert my titles so they read well when a reader lands on them.
Instead of trying to figure out which words need to be upper case or lower case, I simply insert the headline into the tool and within a second it converts the title into the right format.
This brings us to the end of my toolkit.
Next, let’s look at the other 3 steps I consider best practices.
Practising the Craft
The next 3 steps I try and practice daily. This helps me sharpen my skills to craft better headlines.
Step 5: The Power of “YOU”
“YOU” are the reader.
“YOU” hold the most power.
Without “YOU” there’s no me.
“YOU” love to talk about… ahem… “YOU”. There’s no one “YOU” are more invested in but “YOUrself”.
This is the reason “YOU’ll” see all my headlines using the word “YOU”.
This is the tactic I’ve decided to use till I improve my ability to write better headlines.
It immediately grabs attention and it makes “YOU” the reader feel as though I’m talking directly to “YOU”.
So, use this tactic and see if it works for “YOU”.
Ironically, I’ve not used the word “YOU” in today’s headline.
Step 6: 10 Headlines/Ideas A Day Keeps the Jitters Away
In his book Choose Yourself, James Altucher refers to the daily practice of writing 10 ideas or headlines as ‘Making My Brain Sweat’.
This single practice has helped me craft better headlines. I’m never short of ideas and it is an exercise my brain loves to avoid.
Thus, one of the most important reasons for me to do it all the more is to make my brain sweat.
Step 7: Lessons from David Ogilvy
David Ogilvy, AKA the father of advertising, mentioned in his book to never add a full stop at the end of your headline because it breaks the flow of the reader.
He also suggested to always have the image on top of the headline. A practice followed by magazines, newspapers, etc. for almost a century.
Your image also plays an important role in bringing it all together. Usually, having a human element, a human face tends to generate a lot more clicks than random images.
With that, I’ve shared my entire secret sauce of how I go about creating a headline and how you can too.
If you’re starting, coming up with good headlines will indeed be a challenge. But it’s nothing you can’t overcome with a little practice.
Like your writing, spend 15 minutes and you can hone the skill to write intriguing headlines.
I continue to learn and evolve daily, with my appreciation and understanding of headlines growing steadily.
I hope I’ve provided you with some direction on how to write attention-grabbing headlines.
I’d love to hear your process if you have one.
Whenever you’re ready.
If you’d like to elevate your writing and capture your audience’s attention as I am, I encourage you to check out the Ultimate Headline Toolkit*.
It will help you craft compelling headlines and increase your readership.
*If you buy this toolkit, I’d receive a small affiliate commission for no additional cost to you.