Go from failure to success with better blog headlines

Among the top quotes of the most well-known copywriters, you’ll find a reoccurring theme: headlines make all the difference. In fact, current authority Ted Nicholas states that ‘73% of the buying decision is made at the point of the headline.’ So how important are blog headlines exactly?

Consider the commonly demonstrated statistic that blogging is the number one way to increase web traffic, and the second best way to generate leads.

Now consider that the average person has a seven second attention span.

Have you begun to get an idea of the importance of business blogging headlines? Here’s how to make sure you aim for success with every post.

Doing your research

Inspiration for good copy can come from all kinds of places, but when it comes to targeted business headlines, Google Adwords is the best place to start. Fill in the field with your type of business, and select the option for new keywords and ad group ideas.

This will give you a list of the things your customers search for. Make a list of the examples you feel are most appropriate for your brand, and use these as the foundation for your attention-grabbing text.

Turning heads

Copywriting legend John Caples identified three main assets for constructing headlines that grab readers: curiosity, news, and self interest. You might think that intriguing the reader, or selecting trending topics, is the most effective approach. Actually, what Caples showed was that self-interest is by far the most effective way to get people to read on.

How do you find the right kind of self-interest headline? A lot of this comes down to a value proposition. Look at the headline for this blog, for example. ‘How to write better headlines’ is a straightforward and perfectly effective way of describing the topic, but adding the proposition of going from ‘failure to success’ makes the blog appear more imperative. Introducing warnings or ‘top tips’ into a headline does the same thing – you make the value clear.

Once you start playing around with these basic principles, you’ll find that finding the right headlines gets easier and easier. But, as always, practice makes perfect. If you’re interested in finding out more about how Media Street can help your business achieve its goals, get in touch with our professional team today.