I admit that I’m not the best at coming up with killer headlines and there are days when I’ve written a blog post and really struggle to come up with a headline that I think will dramatically increase my shares/comments etc.
What I am good at though is research. Oh yes, luckily for me there are lots of awesome bloggers out there who have shared cheat sheets as well as tips n’tricks to help you create those killer headlines.
So without further ado let’s take a look at some of my favourite cheat sheets.
- Copyblogger’s Jon Morrow’s 52 Headline hacks report is a cheat sheet which consists of 55 pages for writing blog posts that go viral. I’m a huge fan of cheat sheets and Jon’s definitely delivers. Download it here
- It’s clear to see that I’m a huge fan of Copyblogger which was founded by Brian Clark. They have a fabulous 11 part series on how to Create Magnetic Headlines. Check out this must read series here
- Dan Sumner’s blog post – 57 Killer headlines that will make you a blogging superstar provides some great headlines. You can read it here.
- One of my favourite Social Media websites Social Media Examiner has a great blog post on how to create headlines that go viral with social media shares. Read it here and learn how you can create compelling headlines.
- Learn blog tips has a cool blog on 6 Exceptional Ways to Write Killer Headlines. He shares his tactics to write addictive headlines here.
- Bamidele Onibalusi of YoungPrePro How to Write Great Headlines That Bring Results.
- Priit Kallas’s 9 Simple Formulas to Create Killer Headlines help you write headlines that make people pay attention and read more
- Yell’s (remember the Yellow Pages?!) Writing killer headlines looks at ways to create an effective header.
- Rahul Kuntala 6 Exceptional Ways to Write Killer Headlines looks at tactics to write addictive headlines that will make your audience click. Check it out here.
- Josh Hay’s Top 10 Ideas for Testing Your Headlines is a must read as it not only covers how to create highly persuasive headlines but also some really useful ways you can test them.
- Lawrence Berstein’s 127 Winning Headlines PDF is a downloadable 15 page document. Whilst you do have to give your email address in order to receive it , it’s a must read packed full of useful resources to get your creative juices going and is perfect for any blogger. Download it here.
- Sue Neal’s Essential Copywriting Skills: How to Write Irresistible Headlines is a fantastic read. Also included in the post is a video by Jesse Forrest which has ideas for 5 great blockbuster headlines.
- Finally if you’re stuck for ideas on what topics to write about check out my blog posts 14 ideas to find great and inspiring blog topics , Blogging – how to awaken your creativity
[pullquote]On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar. – David Ogilvy[/pullquote]
Writing good headlines takes time and lots of practice (and patience). It’s also important to test which of your headlines give you better results (i.e. more traffic, more shares, more comments etc.) It doesn’t have to be complicated – it’s simply about knowing what works.
What do you think? How do you come up with great headlines? Please do leave a comment and share your favourite tips.
Lilach
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7 Responses to Woman gives birth to alien… Headlines that make you look
I’ve had my best luck using questions as blog headlines that then serve as Tweets (coupled with a link to the blog posting). The blog posting then provides the answer or creates a space for others to provide their answers and discuss them.
Twitter: jackdrsm
Hi Lilach
As always your a mind if information, you must spend hours doing research and we get the benefit, thank you very much.
I’m really going to study these links, I know some are a few years old, but they are still current with todays internet.
Mike C. Smith ( recently posted..The Power to Believe – The Strangest Secret
Twitter: mikesdesk
This is definitely a useful post. I myself was fooled with the heading – a woman give birth to an alien? whohh…:)
Well, I was reading some books and articles in which I found information about headlines and their productivity, they helped me greatly. But still I agree with you that it’s not very easy and we should pay much attention on writing them
Julia Spencer’s recent post.. Effective Tips for Sharing Content on Facebook
The first thought when I saw the headline was that the woman gave birth to an “illegal alien”. In such an instance, the headline would have been amazing. I just published a blog post called “Does Google think it’s God?” I wonder if I should have named it “Is Google really God’s secret identity?”
Twitter: amabaie
Hi Lilach! I see this is an older post, but I’m glad you mentioned it in the Mastermind blogging group on Facebook! I’m definitely going to bookmark this one and download those resources!
It’s interesting timing, because I’m just getting back into blogging consistently and have been focusing on my titles for the last several posts. Apparently it has been working, because at least one person specifically told me she planned to read one particular post (when I mentioned it on Facebook) specifically because of the title (“Is the Best Healer a Wounded Healer?”)
Thanks!
K’Lee Banks recently posted..Is the Best Healer a Wounded Healer?
Twitter: kleebanks
Hi Lilach,
Thanks very much for including my post in this awesome list of resources. I’m familiar with some but not all of the others you mention, and I’ll certainly be bookmarking this for future reference and checking out those other links.
In my view, you can never have too many headline ‘cheat sheets’ – I often spend ages coming up with a headline for my posts, but always think it’s time well spent, for all the reasons you outline here. Amongst other things, I use a thesaurus to come up with different ideas and I also treat it as a team sport, sometimes roping my husband in for his opinions and ideas – two heads are often better than one
One question I always ask myself is “Would I click on that?”
Thanks for a really useful article – great stuff!
Sue
Sue Neal recently posted..Is This How You REALLY Learn About Blogging?
Twitter: write_clever