A Top Headline Writing Trick Copywriting Gurus Love

Mar 13, 2009
22 Comments

What’s the most important part of your blog post?

If you didn’t say, “The headline,” think about what made you click through to read this from your reader or email.

You arrived here based on the power of the words in my headline. This could be the best video I’ve ever done in my life, but if the headline didn’t pull you in, would you be here watching it?

If you can’t see the video, watch it at Remarkablogger, Viddler, or YouTube.

Swipe Files

When your interest in copywriting grows, you will want to keep great examples of it around as a storehouse and “external memory” you can refer to for inspiration. When copywriters and marketers do this we call it a “swipe file.” Right now, my swipe file fits into a single three-ring binder with room to spare, and occupies about two gigs worth of hard drive space. But it’s growing.

As Picasso once famously said, “Great artists steal.” Copywriters “steal” headlines and other bits from previously successful copy all the time.

In fact, I swiped the headline for this post. If you watch the video, you’ll see from where.

By the way…

If you want to watch these videos before they get posted here, you can always subscribe to my YouTube channel or Viddler channel. And of course please do subscribe to Remarkablogger so you don’t miss posts like this one in the future.

  • I absolutely agree, being a content writer myself a concise, straight to the point headline is a great way to draw a reader in.

    You wouldn't buy a product without first reading the description on the packet.

    I don't really think that there is anything wrong with 'swiping' headlines from other writers, how else do you learn and progress. As long as you don't base your entire portfolio on other peoples writing. If you base your career around writing i believe that you need your own unique selling point or style.

    Definitely agree though that headlines are so important in copywriting!
  • I think I will pick up the Woman's World when I go shopping next! Thank you for being an inspiration to me today!

    Michelle
  • Ah, I learned the CASE method to succeed in business years ago and it has served me well.

    CASE: Copy And Steal Everything.

    Theft cannot be stressed enough. Stealing ideas and making them your own is CRUCIAL!
  • Tati
    Hi Michael, Great video about headlines My Daugther and I have a Parenting Blog and We see the big difference in the number of comments on the articles we post. thanks for your inspiration about magazines and other ways to get good headlines.
  • Its true michael, headline is the most important thing which attracts user. I had learned somewhere that users get attracted towards "top 10...", "best 10..." type of titles. Dont know exactly what it is called but i think its a type of bum marketing.
  • @Naresh - It is simply classic copywriting as it has been done for many, many years.
  • Thank you Michael - it's all starting to make sense! I really appreciate your reply.
  • I take pictures with my blackberry when I'm in the checkout line of all the different magazines. The front cover headlines are ridiculous with the attention they grab. It definitely is a great way to mind map new ideas for headlines for blog posts, newsletter articles, ect.

    Awesome video!
  • @Michael I believe Seth Godin would call the incongruent element an effective attempt at surprising the broca.

    It's a delicious moment for a copywriter to achieve this. More delicious of course for the reader who has know what the hey you're talking about!
  • Thank you for the inspiration. I'm always torn between writing for keywords to help people find my posts and writing headers as you describe in your video - I know which prompt me to write better posts though - it's good headers every time.
  • @Ananga - You can have both. The right keywords are important for SEO precisely because they are emotionally important to the searcher. The searcher used that keyword in a search query and when that same word appears in the headline (which is the page title, which becomes the big blue link in Google SERPs), that's how Google and the searcher know that SERP result is highly relevant. And words which are emotionally important to the searcher also trigger an emotional response in a persuasive headline which makes a promise.
  • A tip I'm putting into my copywriting toolbox for sure.

    What makes this doubly great is that I'm a hopeless magazine addict. (Maybe that is related to the fact I'm a copywriter ...???) Much like brainstorming blog post ideas, we see again that inspiration is everywhere. Moreover, if you have a quirky or curiosity piquing headline to start with crafting laser focused content becomes easy.

    PS: What colors will you be wearing this fashion season?

    Thanks for the great tip, Michael.

    Cheers.
  • @Karri - I've heard copywriting legend John Carlton talk about the importance of having a totally incongruent element to the headline juxtaposed with the other elements. For example, consider this headline:

    Amazing Secret Adds 50 Yards To Your Drives, Eliminates Hooks And Slices… And Can Slash Up To 10 Strokes From Your Game Almost Overnight!


    Not bad, right? Now, check out the actual headline, and note the unusual element that makes all the difference:

    Amazing Secret Discovered By One-Legged Golfer Adds 50 Yards To Your Drives, Eliminates Hooks and Slices… And Can Slash Up To 10 Strokes From Your Game Almost Overnight!


    Carlton calls that "the hook." And of course, it's all 100% true. The guy really did only have one leg.
  • That's brilliant. I really enjoy these video posts of yours - they're insightful, cover a single topic completely and fun for me to forward around to my friends.
  • Thanks for the great tip! Good magazine headlines always suck me in, but I never really made a conscious effort to write them for my blog. I think I'll head over to the library for a little magazine browsing and headline writing practice.
  • @Cindy - If you're headed to the library, you should check out some books on copywriting if there are any.
  • Its funny that you mentioned Cosmo because I have a love/hate relationship with them. Its so trashy, it is totally irrelevant to my life, yet those headlines will suck me in every time!
  • @April - That just goes to show you the power of the right words! When I see how everyone is affected this way, it motivates me to learn everything I can about copywriting. I feel much the same way as I did when I first discovered blogging back in '99.
  • That was a great video. Headlines are definitely important and there are many tricks went writing them. But this one is definitely one that I will be trying.
  • @Franklin - Awesome. Feel free to come back to this post and link-drop in the comments! :)
  • What a great point about the way a great headline does all the work for you and the way the article is so much easier to write after that. I love borrowing magazine style headlines for my clients, but I wonder--do you think this is something that can be overdone? I've noticed sometimes, when a blog seems to be all about the Big headlines, I stop clicking through just as I do with a blog where the headlines are never all that interesting.
  • @Jessica - Things can be done well or done poorly. A great headline makes a promise to the reader, and the article had better deliver on that promise, or the reader will feel ripped off. I don't see how it's possible to overdo great headlines and great content. A headline that over-promises is poorly written.

    As long as the headline makes the right promise to the right person, that person will never fail to be interested. Here's an extreme example I heard told by legendary copywriter Gary Halbert that illustrates this perfectly: If your target is a junkie, all you have to say is, "Want to score some junk?" You can't get a more extreme example of a desperate buyer hearing the right message. Tone it down, and you have a blogger who desperately needs more traffic, and your headline makes a promise of more traffic: "Traffic-Magnet Tricks the Pros Use to Flood their Blogs with Visitors Every Time." Is that a bold statement? Yup. So the post had better deliver the goods. Never lie in a headline, never over-promise. Always deliver.
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