Writing an eye-catching headline

• Keep it short, preferably under 10 words

• Be as specific as possible

• Use simple, unambiguous words

• Try to make the reader curious by using intriguing and emotive words

• Entice the reader by asking a question or making a bold statement

• Address the reader directly by using the pronoun “you”

• Headlines with numbers work well (e.g. “5 tips for…” or “The top 8…”)

• Headlines that suggest a benefit or reward are also effective (e.g. “How to…” or “Why you should…”)

• Be honest – don’t let your headline mislead the reader about the content of your article

 

The lead, or first line of your text, is vital because most readers decide whether

they will read the rest of the text based on it and the headline alone. There is a

copywriting idiom that states that the purpose of the headline is to get the first

line read, the purpose of the first line is to get the second line read, and so on.

Captions for your images are also important, since they help readers to scan the

page for interesting information. The caption should be quite short, describe your

image and indicate its relevance to the text.

• Bad headline: Great new offer! (Unspecific, uninteresting, sounds like a marketing ploy.)

• Bad headline: Your business could be made more successful if you follow these steps (Indirect phrasing, long-winded without providing much indication of what the article is about.)

• Good headline: Double your Twitter followers in 3 steps (Clear, direct, promises useful advice in an easily digestible quantity.)

• Good headline: Are you at risk from online identity theft? (Direct and intriguing, creates a concern in the reader’s mind, sparks curiosity.)

 

 

Have a clear call to action. A call to action is a statement that tells the readers

exactly what you want them to do – should they buy your product? Share your

article? Follow you on Twitter? The only effective way to get people to do what

you want is to tell them directly. Your call to action will be related to the goal of

your marketing campaign and to how you measure conversion (more on this in

chapter 8). If you want to grow your online social community, the desired action

will be to engage with your social networking profiles. If you want to increase

sales, you may want visitors to download your brochure or free sample.

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Create value. There are hundreds of billions of articles on hundreds of millions of

websites on the web – what will make people read yours? Don’t get caught up

with trying to write well for the web and forget to make your content meaningful

and valuable to your audience. Consider what the users of your product may want

to know about, how you can make their lives easier or how you can entertain

them. Provide enough information so that anyone who wants to buy your service

or product can find what they need; web users can be quite cynical and will want

to consult a lot of information before they make a decision and hand over their money.

It is good to consider taking one of two approaches: either become the niche

expert in your field by writing about industry-relevant details and news (have a

look at www.carblog.co.za, a blog for people interested in automotive news), or

become a generalist teacher, somebody who educates outsiders or novices about

the industry (for example, www.goodadvice.co.za writes blog articles that teach

laypeople about finance concepts). Have a close look at how both blogs approach

aspects like jargon, assumed knowledge, familiarity with basic principles and levels

of specific detail.