“On the 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.”
Those are the words of famed copywriter and the Father of Advertising David Ogilvy.
He said this back in the 60’s. This was when people saw a fraction of the headlines they do today.
Think about how many headlines you see everyday. There’s an endless stream on social media, on the viral news sites you visit, and the hundreds of email you get everyday.
You know the reason why you see those viral click bait stories are at the top of your Facebook feed? It’s because they get a high click through rate. The News Feed algorithm factors in stories that people interact with, whether it’s a click, comment, or a like.
This over-saturation means headlines (and content) are even more crucial. Simply pushing whatever headlines first comes to mind won’t cut it. You have to compete for people’s attention. This takes effort.
So what’s the best way to create a click worthy headline?
Depends on who you ask.
The pros typically brainstorm a few dozen headlines and write them out in a doc. From there they’ll narrow it down to the best ones and pick the one they think will get the most eyeballs. Ogilvy once wrote 37 headlines for a Sears Roebuck ad. That’s a lot, but you’d be surprised how many headline variations you can create for one piece of copy.
And this is just the headline. Forget about the actual content. Creating a solid headline is a lot of work, following through with solid content is another battle.
Today’s infographic comes from Quick Sprout. It provides tips for how writers and copywriters can create better headlines.
About the Author: Zach Bulygo (Twitter) likes marketing, finance, and learning about different businesses.
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