20 FREE irresistible headline templates to increase your traffic

How to build an email list or 10 tips to increase your subscribers by 533% in the next year

How to run a Facebook Group or Our Guide to Building a Successful Facebook Group

Psychology says most people would prefer the second option, and that’s due to various factors that I will share with you now.

Headlines are the most crucial part of your content as your headline determines A. whether your content reaches your target audience and B. if your target audience chooses to read it.

If you go to Google and type in pretty much any topic, you will see thousands and thousands of results, all competing for your audience’s attention, and if your headline doesn’t stand out, it will easily be missed.

Now, there are many more factors that determine where and how you rank on Google. They are for another blog (or several blogs, to be precise), but for the sake of this blog, we’ll assume you are ranking relatively high, and the main decider for your audience is the headline that appeals to them most.

So, without further ado, let’s look at some headline formulas that are really going to increase your clicks…

So, my first title for this post was “Increase your clicks with killer headlines” – I knew what it meant, but someone new to blogging or content creation may not and will skip past it.

As tempting as it is to use creative wordplay that means something to you, think about your target audience. Put yourself in their position. If you were looking for advice on the subject you are writing about, what would you search for?

Whenever I advise on content creation, the main point will always be; remember who you are talking to!

Data suggests that using numbers in headlines increases traffic by 36%. Using numbers such as Top 10 or Top 5 promises that an article will be quick and easy to read, essential in today’s fast-paced world – everyone wants to learn everything immediately!

Facts in your headlines show that you have done your research, giving the reader increased confidence in your article. Although if you are going to use titles such as increase your views by …% or increase your earnings by …%, ensure you have the data in your article to back it up. Otherwise, you risk losing engagement, receiving negative feedback and even incurring the wrath of the Google algorithm.

Informal research by Canva suggests that using numbers in your content can double the number of shares you receive.

A recent study showed that headlines using closed questions increased click-throughs by 255%!

If someone reads your blog, it’s often because they have a question they want to answer (possibly what brought you here).

Closed questions also leave less for readers to think about when deciding; they either want the answer or don’t. How much time do you spend deciding whether to click on an article? Probably a couple of seconds at most? Having a simple closed question makes this decision more straightforward. Furthermore, it can often give the reader FOMO (fear of missing out) – as an example, if I had enough data to know the answer, I could have used a title such as “Do you want to increase your web traffic by 145%? Here are four tips to show you how.” The FOMO then kicks in, and readers often think, “will I miss out on increasing my traffic by X% if I don’t read this”. They are also likely to share the article with their connections if they find it useful.

In the time-tested book Cashvertising, Dr Eric Whitman concluded there are 17 desires of human beings (some we are born with, some we learn through society). These are:

• Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension
• Enjoyment of food and beverages
• Freedom from fear, pain, and danger
• Sexual companionship
• Comfortable living conditions
• To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses
• Care and protection of loved ones
• Social approval
• To be informed
• Curiosity
• Cleanliness of body and surroundings
• Efficiency
• Convenience
• Dependability/quality
• Expression of beauty and style
• Economy/profit
• Bargains

It’s because of these desires that power words work. They tap into the basic desires of human beings. Using these power words and your blog’s specific topic will trigger a response where readers can not help but take action and click.

There are three types of power words: seductive, emotional and sensory.

Free, Because, Now, New, How-To

These are power words that invoke an action, compelling your readers to click. Similarly to being seduced, they overpower logical reasoning.

Using copy that invokes strong emotional responses, either positive or negative, increases the number of views an article gets. One of the strongest emotions used in headlines and content all over the internet is curiosity; if you can write a headline that piques interest, no matter how logical the reader believes they are, they will click.

Think of those videos online; Buzzfeed and LadBible are excellent examples. You watch one, and it is almost impossible not to keep clicking from one to another to another before you realise you have lost an hour. They are not particularly great videos, but they are great examples of invoking curiosity.

These are words that help the reader create an image in their head. Think about a headline for McDonald’s. They don’t just write “New burger available”. They will use sensory words to describe the taste, the smell, the size, and flavour. It is just a new burger available, but you know which one you will pay the most attention to.

Let’s take a look at some headline templates here…

1. How to <<….>> that will help you <<….>>
2. The five most important things I did to create <<….>>
3. 10 ways to get even more from <<….>> to <<….>>
4. Here’s how to solve <<….>> without having to <<….>>
5. Why <<….>> will make you a better <<….>>
6. What <<….>> will teach you about <<….>>
7. The 3 most common mistakes I see when <<….>> making when trying to <<….>>
8. How to increase your <<….>> in 5 easy steps
9. Will <<….>> help you <<….>>?
10. How we/I increased our <<….>> by <<….>> in <<….>>
11. Here’s how to solve <<….>> without having to <<….>>
12. 10 tips for <<….>> your <<….>> will love
13. Why <<….>> is better than <<….>>
14. Our FREE guide to <<….>>
15. Read the 5 ways you can <<….>> right now
16. Achieving <<….>> shouldn’t feel so hard, here’s what to do instead
17. 5 Unknown mistakes that could be damaging your <<….>>
18. 5 Places you didn’t know you could <<….>> your <<….>>
19. 7 Reasons why <<….>>
20. The real reason you’re struggling with <<….>>

Remember, creating perfect headlines is a continuous process. I certainly haven’t perfected it. What I recommend doing is regularly reviewing your individual’s blog performance. Go back through your blogs and see which ones performed well and which did not so much, have a look at the content but also the headlines, as this can be a great way to gain an insight into what makes your target audience tick (or click)

Another tip, screenshot headlines you see that you like. Keep them somewhere you can refer back to for inspiration when creating your headlines.

I hope this guide has given you some helpful advice about creating headlines. I always love to receive feedback (good and bad), so please feel free to comment.

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Read Next: The 7 Deadly Sins of Marketing (And How to Avoid Them)

As a content and copywriter, helping businesses attract and nurture their ideal clients to grow their sales is what lights me up. Drop me a message today if you need help identifying your perfect client, messaging, or communicating your offer.

I hope you have found this helpful; you can also download my FREE guide to Make Your Copy POP! which is a handy desktop guide packed with quick and easy tips to write like a pro.

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