The digital world has changed the way marketers and advertisers write. For better or worse, it has changed. We now have to bend to the will of SEO and the almighty Google.
Headlines have gotten stale and boring. It’s time that we start making it a priority to write compelling headlines. Here are five suggestions for better headline creation:
- Don’t go halfway with content. If the headline is “Creative Do’s and Don’ts” it better have a few of both and be insightful. Deliver the content that the reader expects based on the headline. Go above and beyond if possible but don’t promise the moon and fall short.
- Being clever or mysterious in a headline insults the reader and the content that has been produced. Don’t trick people into reading content. For example, “Be a Copywriting Genius…” is a poor headline for this article. Also… ellipses are annoying in headlines. Keep them in the body.
- Keywords don’t have to be exact anymore. Search engines are smarter and as long as there is quality content it should show in searches. The headline doesn’t have to be “Digital Has Changed Headlines – Here Are 5 Ways to Write Better Headlines”. It can simply be “5 Ways to a Better Headline”
- Lists headlines work. Use them – but don’t abuse them. Remember that content should meet or exceed expectations. For example, please read the headline for this article.
- Headlines should inform the reader about the content of the article. If the article is about a regional music festival then try to include that information, “Winona Minnesota Hosts 3rd Annual Music Festival”.
Now that Google has improved search engine capabilities, it’s time to take headlines back.
For a more in-depth review of how to write better headlines visit the link below.