Arguably, headlines are the hardest part of writing – anything. And copywriting them doesn’t come easily. It is a learned skill that takes time to master.
However, as with most skills – say kung-fu chopping capabilities with a knife in the kitchen – copywriting great headlines will vastly improve your business. Why?
- You will get more conversions
- People will be more likely to share your content
- Analytics like bounce rate improve
Let’s look at a quick, easy three step process that will help you write awesome headlines:
1. Opening Line: State the issue.
Pain sells. Give your sales prospect a way to identify that they have a problem. These questions are usually the most simple part of a headline:
- Hate your job?
- Frustrated by the worst boss ever?
- Barely making enough to pay the bills?
- Feel like there just has to be more to life?
2. Headline: What’s the solution.
Now, follow through on how you can help your reader solve what ails them. This is where you promise what you can deliver on to take away the pain:
- Grab my resource: 10 Steps to an Awesome Career
- Career Fair This Sunday Only
- 3 Keys to Negotiate a Higher Salary
- Join my eCourse: Take Back Your Life
3. Description: Give an additional benefit.
This is almost too easy, right? Now you just need to come up with one more benefit that will seal the deal for the reader to give you what you want:
- Let’s find you a career you’ll love. My 10 step coaching plan will get you on track and help you take back your life.
- We’ve all had that boss. If it’s time to find a new one, come meet with over 100 companies in the tri-state area.
- Yes, you can earn more – as long as you know how to ask for what you want. Let me teach you the ins and outs of impressing your boss into coughing the dough.
- Fulfill your dreams no matter how old you are. I will empower you to see your way into a bright future.
And, of course, there are a few things people won’t tell you about copywriting headlines…so I guess I’ll have to:
Make sure you speak to your niche.
“But I want to help everyone”…well, if I had a nickle. Generic statements don’t work. You have to speak to a specific group of people about a problem. For example:
Website losing you sales? No one knows if it is or not. Saying, Are you getting at least 1,000 new website visitors a month? (Get our Guide to SEO, etc.)
Find yourself cheating on your diet? For a health coach, this is too generic. It’s best to say, Eating healthy but still feeling fat? (Check out my fat burning diet plan, etc.)
Not every headline works.
Copywriting headlines the right way doesn’t mean people will flock to buy from you; it just means you’ve got a good headstart.
If you find that after a few weeks, assuming you have hundreds of fans on social media, you get zero response and no new newsletter signups, back to the drawing board you go.
Tweak what you offer and how you say it. Consider hiring a copywriter to give you a second opinion.
Track your results, but don’t obsess.
Some blogs will perform better than others. So will some opt-in headlines. Take a look at how things are working for you, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t see many changes.
Just keep moving on with new content on a consistent basis. Marketing magic happens when you do something again and again and again – and that’s the true secret to copywriting great headlines.
Elspeth Misiaszek uses her writing and online marketing skills to help vegan businesses, coaches and entrepreneurs increase sales on their websites and blogs. Is it SEO? Get our FREE blogging resource today.