Anatomy of a headline

One of my greatest challenges as a blogger is writing strong headlines. Fleshing out a strong, appealing, click-worthy headline can be a daunting task if you haven’t prepared yourself for it. There are some general rules to keep in mind as you are preparing a headline. I’ve managed to break down the practical anatomy of a headline into 6 distinct parts.

An appealing headline…

1) …is short

The goal of the headline isn’t to write the entire article in abridged format. I see a lot of excessively long headlines because people were trying to fit the “great American novel” into it. I’ve heard 3-7 words is the most effective range of sizes for headlines. Less and you can’t express the intent of the article and more is simply overkill.

2) …offers value

One of the very first things that a good headline should convey is the value that is in store for the reader when they click on the article to read it.

3) …addresses someone

It is about building a relationship with your reader from the moment they set eyes on your article. The better you are at making a reader “believe” you are addressing them directly the more likely they will stop and take notice. The trick is to make it personal using impersonal words like “you”.

4) …is honest

Readers will smell something fishy within the first two or three sentences if you drew them in with a dishonest headline. Unless your content is really strong you can pretty much kiss the reader goodbye, forever.

5) …speaks a common language

So often I see headlines that make no sense because it speaks another language. Figuratively, not literally. If a 7th grader can’t understand your headline, rewrite it.

6) …takes time to develop

I’ve read that some people suggest you should sit on an article for a few days before you try to write a headline for it. To me that seems a bit excessive, but you should spend some time on it and try out a few before you decide on one.

Ultimately the headline has to promise value both to the reader. If you’re reading this article there’s a really good chance you started doing so because of the title not because you just happen to be a nice guy (or gal). If the headline doesn’t promise value you wouldn’t stop to spend your time reading.

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