Your headline is the first impression you make on a potential reader. Whether you are found via Google search or Pinterest, you have just seconds to make an impression that tells your reader that they NEED to click through to read more.
Luckily, crafting the perfect headline, isn’t hard. It all comes down to 4 integral parts and a little bit of science.
How to Craft the Perfect Headline that Begs to Be Clicked!
Part 1: The Keywords
Keywords should be part of any blogging strategy. And SEO is just as important for Pinterest as it is for organic search. Crafting your headline should start with your keyword- the best keyword- for your topic.
Take some time to do keyword research. You can choose from a few free tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner or Serps.com’s Keyword Research Tool.
Once you have your keyword in mind, it becomes the root of your headline.
Part 2: Power Words
There are certain power words that are scientifically proven to get more clicks when they are included as part of a headline. These adjectives are used to make a promise to your reader and they work hard to elicit an emotional response.
Powerful Rationales, such as: Reasons, Ways, Tips, Secrets, Strategies, etc.
Powerful Adjectives, such as: amazing, mind-blowing, surprising, can’t miss, incredible, best, effortless, etc.
Part 3: Specific Target
Next you have to get super specific. Who are you talking to? What exactly are you going to teach them or show them?
Specific Audiences, such as: for Beginners, for New Moms, All Parents, for Business Owners, etc.
Specific Promises, such as: 7 Ways, 13 Secrets, from Scratch, in 30 minutes, for less than $100, etc.
Part 4: Create Urgency or a Call to Action
Finally, what words can you add that tells your reader that they need to read what you have to say right now?
You can add urgency with words such as: you don’t want to miss, you can’t live without, must have today, etc.
Or add in a urgent CTA, such as: [Learn My Tricks], Find Out Today, Don’t Wait Another Minute, etc
The Science
Now comes the science behind crating the perfect headline. There are certain ways of organizing information that the human brain responds to more than others.
The number 1 way? Numbers. There is a reason list posts do so well across the board. Having a headline that starts with a number automatically alerts your brain to the fact that the information you are about to read is organized in a logical way.
These lists allow readers to scan more effectively, which we all know is important with the limited time (and attention spans) we all have these days.
So whenever possible use numbers (the digits not the number word) to organize your information in your articles. Surprisingly odd numbers seem to perform better than even, and smaller numbers are less likely to overwhelm your audience.
And finally, if you are more scientifically minded, you can follow a formula to craft your perfect headline each and every time.
One simple formula goes a little like this:
[ Number/ Powerful Words] + [Adjective] + [Keyword] + [ Specific Promise/Urgency/ Target]
So that would look like this:
7 Sure-Fire Ways to Earn Money from Home as a SAHM
5 Scientifically Proven Strategies to Improve Your Sales Conversions Today!
How to Drastically Reduce Your Debt in Less Than 30 days
Another formula looks like this:
Get Rid of [Keyword Problem] Once and For All + [Optional Power Words/Adjective]
That formula would produce headlines like these:
Get Rid of Squash Bugs Once and For All- Naturally!
How to Get Rid of Belly Fat Once and For All- Without Going Hungry!
5 Science-Backed Strategies to Get Rid of Your Anxiety Forever!
There are dozens of headline formulas buzzing around the internet- here’s a post that talks about 51 Headline Formulas to get your creative juices flowing. Play around with words and create multiple headlines for each article you write- then just choose the one that seems most compelling! (And then make a couple different Pin images with your runner up headlines as well!)
You can also run your headlines through a program like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer to see how they rate.
But at the end of the day if your headline is compelling, elicit an emotional response, and address a specific problem or pain point for your reader then you will succeed in crafting the perfect headline that begs to be clicked!
