You can have the best content, case study or landing page ever designed but if your headline is a dud no one will ever even see it.
That’s why the first 15 words will have a much greater effect on your success or failure than the 15,000 that follow.
Here are 10 extremely effective headlines that you can use for just about any niche in a blog post, landing page, email or advertisement.
1. [Blank]: What You Really Need to Know
When you see this headline you can’t help but wonder what you don’t already know about a subject. We are all curious by nature so use it to your advantage.
Examples:
- Social Media: What You Really Need to Know
- Low Carb Diets: What You Really Need to Know
- Online Dating: What You Really Need to Know
2. Warning: [Blank] Will [Blank]
Warning is one word sure to get a person’s attention. It’s usually something you don’t want to ignore or else something bad could happen.
Examples:
- Warning: This Post Will Change Your Life
- Warning: 5 Things Not To Say On a First Date
- Warning: One Sign That Your Marketing Strategy Is Failing
3. The Shocking Truth About [Blank]
People like to gossip and the juicier the story the more they’ll talk about it. This headline pulls people in because everyone wants to know about someone or something’s dirty little secrets.
Examples:
- The Shocking Truth About SEO
- The Shocking Truth About Michael Stelzner
- The Shocking Truth About Affiliate Marketing
4. Stop/Start [Blank]
A new year is coming as I write this and every year people make resolutions about what they’ll start doing or stop doing. Sometimes a direct, straight to the point headline is all that is needed.
Examples:
- Stop Smoking Now
- Start an Online Business and Make More Money
- Start Exercising and Lose Weight
5. What [Blank] Can Teach Us About [Blank]
Here, you want to find something or someone successful and outline what makes them successful and how it can be applied to whatever it is you’re talking about. It can be a celebrity, business or even a product. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be successful either. You can take something that failed and find lessons that you can learn from.
Examples:
- What the US Navy SEALs Can Teach Us About Planning
- 7 Things Santa Can Teach Us About Book Marketing
- 4 Things the NFL Can Teach Us About How to Succeed in Business
6. 7 Mistakes That You’re Probably Making
No one likes to make mistakes. What’s worse is not even realizing it. Even when people think they haven’t made any mistakes it makes them feel good to continue reading and know that they’re doing something right.
Examples:
- Five Weight Loss Mistakes That You’re Probably Making
- Top 10 Mistakes That You’re Probably Making
- The Biggest Marketing Mistakes You’re Making Right Now
7. The Ultimate Guide to [Blank]
This headline is strong and authoritative. It implies something comprehensive that will cover all you need to know about a subject. If someone wants to know about something this is what they need to read.
Examples:
- The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing
- The Ultimate Guide to Online Dating
- The Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords
8. How to [Blank]
This headline is my default when I don’t know what to write about. People always want to learn how to do something so I just ask myself what would the reader want to learn how to do. It usually works out as a very effective headline as well.
Examples:
- How to Create a Facebook Fanpage
- How to Split Test a Landing Page
- How to Increase Your Conversion Rates
9. [X] Steps to [Blank]
Similar to the ‘How to’ headline, this works well because it lets the reader know they will be shown how to do something and in exactly how many steps. It implies instant gratification if they continue reading.
Examples:
- 5 Steps to Get Your Ex Back
- 7 Steps to Get More Readers to Your Blog
- 9 Steps to Start Your Business
10. Who Else Wants to [Blank]
This is a classic headline that conveys social proof to the reader. First, it means someone has already accomplished what is being discussed. Second, it implies that the reader too can accomplish the same thing if they continue reading.
Examples:
- Who Else Wants to Have More Clients
- Who Else Wants to Have 10,000 Fans
- Who Else Wants to Make a Million Dollars
I hope you liked these headlines. If you have any headlines of your own or comments about the ten above I’d love to hear from you. Just leave a comment below.
Great ideas! Not only are these great ideas for headlines but they make a great list for topic starters. I’ve saved this post in my idea file to use the next time I’m struggling to figure out what to write about.
Howie,
Totally agreed, can’t insist more on the importance of catching headlines for blog post’s and landing pages.
First impression does count. No matter how impressive your blog post content is, it is really hard to attract some eye balls without using catchy and interesting headlines.
Howie,
Terrific post! I especially liked that you used the most “likeable” number…7. People seem to like this number, and you just nailed it the whole way through.
Also intrigued by your use of Michael Stelzner’s name. 🙂
The only thing I would point out is that in setting up our titles, we need to remember to be well-rounded for our readers. So, where one post might relate to football, another to health, we need to remember the other potential demographics not to favor only certain readers.
Awesome!
~Keri
I thought using his name might spark some conversation. Guess it worked! Also, a lot of high profile bloggers will have Google Alerts setup for their names so maybe he stopped by too?
Well done Howie! You just nailed your topic. This is very helpful, not only for newcomers!
Great List Howie! I actually have a list of around 120+ now I think.. LOL! Adding your headlines to my list.. 🙂
The title is what always takes me the longest to think of. Your list employs a lot of the principles that authors Heath and Heath talk about in Made to Stick. Great post.
Nice work Howie.
Having some tried and tested formulas like these as training wheels whilst we learn how to write magnetic headlines is brilliant.
I’m putting together A list like this myself – for those who are new to copywriting or don’t have a lot of time to spend developing headlines, templates are a sure-fire way to increase clicks and readers.
The thing is, although simple – they work.
Affiliate marketing is also making a name for being the biggest scam in Human history. Most of these types of affiliate marketing schemes lead ordinary people into believing they will become rich by learning how to market online.
Warning – this is not true!
Wow! This is the best post I’ve read all week.
So informative and helpful. I get stuck when writing blog headlines, I usually like to go for ‘clever’ headlines, but these are simple yet very powerful.
Have saved them to my computer for future use.
I appreciate your piece of work, thankyou for all the informative posts .