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Whether it’s an email, an ad, or a blog post, your headline copy must be creative, catchy, and converting. After all, the heading to your text holds a lot of power.
If it’s magnetic, people will read the body. If it doesn’t hook them, they’ll leave. In the words of David Ogilvy, “On the average, five times as many people read the headlines than the body copy.”
This makes writing headlines the most exhilarating and pressurizing part of copywriting simultaneously. Explains why some people think it’s best to write their headline copy at the end and stick to formulas while creating one as well.
In this post, let’s dive into writing engaging headlines. To give you a quick look, this piece will cover:
Your headline copy is the title you give to your written content.
This can be the heading of a webpage, an article, or any piece of copywriting. Your headline is the first thing a reader sees not only because it’s the first line, at the top of the page, but also because it’s often in a bigger, bold font.
Typically, people confuse a headline for a header. But there’s a fundamental difference between the two.
A header, unlike a headline, comes multiple times inside a text. It divides a copy into sections and is a title to a particular section, not the entire piece as a headline is.
Related: 26 Blog Title Examples That Get High Organic Search CTRs
It’s easy to write a headline for a website. What’s difficult is writing a headline that makes the reader stop, stay, and scroll down.
If your headline copy doesn’t manage to do this, you’ll lose money. You can say that the few words that go into the website’s title can make or break sales for you.
So, how do you write an effective headline for a website?
Here’s how:
Related: 23 Copywriting Tips for Improving the Effectiveness of Your Website
Here’s a look at what you can include in your headline:
PRO TIP: Not sure what you should include on your homepage? Orbit Media created this homepage design checklist with 20 elements every high-converting homepage needs to have.
A catchy headline makes people take action.
With a captivating headline, you can make readers share your post on social, attract more traffic to your website, and even make more sales.
Without it, even the most profound and knowledgeable post or email will fail to have readers onboard.
To make your titles catchy, follow these tips, and copy headline examples:
You know what they say; curiosity kills the cat. When you write titles that make your readers curious, they tend to read what you’ve written.
One way to inspire curiosity is by telling your audience a secret. So, here’s what your headline should look like if you want to make readers curious:
✔ X Secrets to Winning Over New Clients
✔ X Little Known Ways to Spark Romance in Your Relationship
To arouse curiosity, you can also use questions in your headline that are relevant to your niche. For instance, if your blog talks about SEO, you can write such headlines:
✔ Should You Write for Your Target Audience or for the Search Engines?
✔ How Many Keywords Should You Include in Your Blog Posts in 2020?
✔ Will Google Penalize Your Website After This Latest Update?
What’s something that your audience wants to learn from you?
Package your resourceful material under a headline that promises it will teach them something valuable. If you’re using the educator’s approach, you can write either a classic ‘how to’ or ‘guide’ headline.
Here are some examples:
✔ How to Write Conversational Articles That Covert
✔ How to Live on a Tight Budget in London
If you’ve written a guide, then your headline can look like this:
✔ A Compact Guide to Writing Headlines That Increase Sales
✔ The Noob’s Guide to Understanding SEO in 2020
In case you’ve written a listicle, you can use a number and an adjective in your headline to make it impactful.
If you’ve conducted a study or compiled experts’ opinions on something in your niche, you can promise your audience that you’ve something solid for them. Moreover, if your post is data-driven or scientific, your headlines can be similar to these examples:
✔ The Psychology Behind Love and How You Can Attract It
✔ Study Reveals Walnuts Can Lower Your Cardiovascular Disease Risk by X%
✔ X Social Media Stats You Should Know In 2020
If you’ve written an expert roundup or made a more specific list, your headline can state:
✔ X Expert Tips for Boosting Organic Social Growth
✔ Everything X Content Marketers Are Doing to Get Work Done from Home
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Now that we’re done with the basics let’s walk you through 23 copy headline examples that you can learn from.
Alongside them, the experts we reached out to have also given reasons behind what makes these headlines so apt.
Here’s a list of some of the best copy headline examples:
Let’s get started, shall we?
Amanda Slegar of Lone Fir Creative describes Asana’s homepage headline as “perfect.”
Slegar explains what makes the headline so on point: “It is written for a leader in an organization that is working in their business and not on it, but who wants to shift their focus to ideas and away from implementation.
Oftentimes brands get caught up in using the priceless headline real estate to advertise a new product or discount, but in reality, it should be used to tell your user what you will help them do.”
Another copy headline that you can learn from is that of Quickmail’s homepage.
“I like the QuickMail home page. The initial headline clearly tells you WHAT you get with the platform – better email automation. Once the headline pulls you in, there are great testimonial quotes from customers,” notes Bruce Harpham of SaaS Marketing Services.
Related: 6 Strategies Marketers Use to Write High-Converting Email Copy
“Crazy Egg has one of the best homepage headlines I’ve seen. Theirs is ‘Make Your Website Better. Instantly,’” points out Nikola Roza of SEO for the Poor and Determined. “They’ve had this headline for years, and I’m sure they keep it because it works.”
Roza highlights what exactly makes Crazy Egg’s headline copy work: “First, it tells the reader they can improve their site, which is something every webmaster wants. Second, with ‘Instantly’, they promise a quick, if not instantaneous solution.
Third, their headline is reinforced with some social proof below where they say ‘over 300 000 websites use CrazyEgg to see what’s working, fix what isn’t, and test new ideas.’ And they offer a free 30-day trial right underneath that social proof. Very clever!”
Jason Wong of Doelashes shares Morphe’s headline as an example.
Wong says, “Morphe is always killing it with their headlines. They are an authoritative site on makeup, and they know it.
Morphe was made popular by the constant announcements of social media influencers. Morphe then leverages this platform and uses influencers as their headlines with new makeup. People watch and follow trends that influencers have so, why not put the most popular influencer as your headline and grab all of the influencer’s audience to sell products.”
That’s one unique way to write headlines, isn’t it? Wong further elaborates, “The reason this works is that trends fade very fast, so, by updating and putting the most influential influencer on your homepage, you will always stay in a competitive zone among your industry.”
Luke Fitzgerald of Ding points in the directions of Ding’s homepage headline that reads, ’We deliver mobile top-up to millions worldwide.’ Fitzgerald talks about the reason behind why the website’s headline stands out, saying, “it’s concise, easy to understand and does exactly what it says on the tin!”
Another copy headline example that speaks to its customers is that of Weight Watchers. Jack Paxton of HYAX says that it “has a headline that is very much to the point. People that visit this website are looking to better themselves. WW’s direct approach is exactly what their target audience needs to take action.”
The headline is ‘Free to join, free month, plus a free kickstart kit.’ Paxton opines that “this offer makes use of the ‘power of free,’ a strategy that is meant to grab a person’s attention. This headline immediately offers visitors value in the form of free membership for a month and a kickstarter kit.”
Matteo Duò of Kinsta puts forward lifehacker.com’s headline as a great copy headline example. It reads, ‘Do everything better.’ Duò describes the headline as “short and sweet, to the point. I love it!”
Slyecom’s Pir Fahad Momin shares, “There’s a reason marketers talk about the best headlines and calls to action more than anything else. It’s because the best headlines and CTAs contribute more heavily to conversions than most entrepreneurs think.”
That being said, Momin thinks that the “DIESEL Clothing Brand has the best homepage headline that says ‘Customize your unique-pair and make them unforgettable. SHOP NOW.’ It sounds like a decent headline when you read it, and plus, it includes CTA.”
Maciej Biegajewski from LiveWebinar opines, “I absolutely love Ahrefs headline. ‘With Ahrefs, you don’t have to be an SEO pro to rank higher and get more traffic.’”
Biegajewski speaks about what makes Ahref’s headline a favorite: “It’s straight to the point and also reaches those for whom SEO is not ‘the main task of a day,’ but they need to incorporate it in their strategies. Since the headline takes the whole ‘above the fold’ part, you can’t miss it when entering Ahrefs site.”
It looks like Netflix does everything right as Supriya Agnihotri of SurveySensum calls its headline “on-point.” Agnihotri remarks, “Netflix highlights its product variations for its website visitors. The use of ‘& more’ sparks visitors’ interest by keeping up with the surprise element.”
Mia Liang of Upgrow pinpoints: “Apple always has some of the best homepage headlines. They are always so clean and simple while still including everything a headline needs to have. They provoke action while not being forceful.”
“We believe we have the best homepage headline in our industry (single-family real estate) for our market (Kentucky). Google has awarded #1 for multiple keyword searches, and we have 10% traffic conversion,” says Luke Smith from We Buy Property In Kentucky itself.
Smith notes, “We capture our customer’s attention from the start and tell them what we do, and how we can help them. We buy houses, and we buy them directly from the homeowner without all the regular hassles. Our headline communicates this in a visually appealing way. It’s short, simple, and effective.”
Ashwin Sokke of WOW Skin Science also credits the company’s homepage headline itself. Sokke observes, “The WOW Skin Science homepage headline is very simple and straight to the point. It states 6 reasons why our customers love our brand. It lists our vision and most attractive attributes of our products in the most clear and concise way.
Consumers don’t have to search anywhere else to have a reason to love and buy our products. We don’t believe in gimmicky headlines and over the top marketing. Our brand’s vision and mission is strong enough to stand on its own without all the fluff.”
“’ Say goodbye to dirty sheets and towels.’ is the headline of our website at Miracle Brand. It is straight to the point and catches the customer’s attention,” says Brandon Monaghan from Miracle Brand.
Monaghan further adds, “The headline is followed by ‘Made with antibacterial silver. No more odors… 3x less laundry.’ This statement reinforces our headline, making the selling point even stronger and clearer. We want our product and the main selling point to shine without overcrowding the message. No additional information is necessary.”
Caroline Lee of CocoSign calls Betterment’s headline copy a “personal favorite.” Lee gushes, “The headline says, ‘We see what your money can be.’ We all need financial services to manage our money, to know the ways that can multiply our money, and to find our investment prospects.
The homepage says it all. You don’t have to scratch your mind a lot to find out the capabilities of Betterment. Also, the home page gives a quick overview of its achievements. So, you can find out how trustworthy they are. The design is sleek and uncomplicated.”
Clearly, Tumblr has its unique conversational manner of connecting to users. Its headline: ‘Follow the blogs you’ve been hearing about. Share the things that you love.’ makes for one of the best copy headline examples too.
Kris Brooks of Pixel Perfect HTML says that Tumbr’s headline “is solid because it accomplishes two things. First, it taps into the human desire to be in-the-know. Second, it invokes that each one too powerful feeling of narcissism. Ultimately, it talks clearly about ‘what’s in it for me?’”
Chris Kaiser of Click A Tree praises the site’s headline, ‘Click to plant a real tree.’ Kaiser explains, “It works because a) it explains exactly what we do and b) hints at how simple it is. Plus, we get the curiosity bonus of How can you plant a real tree with a click?”
Tiffany Shan of Film Recommend applauds Colibri’s headline, ‘If you weren’t a designer before, now you will be’ which is followed by ‘WordPress page builder that gives you design superpowers’ and then ‘*This site was created using Colibri.’
Shan pinpoints, “This site has a few homepage headlines that work together to really sell their product. It gives me confidence that their tool will help me with design in an easy to understand way. Further leverage is created by telling us that they used the tool to create their own site.”
Kevin Vandijk of Tree Online adds Ellevest’s headline ‘Invest like a Woman Because Money Is Power’ to this list.
Vandijk explains, “It works because the statement is bold, intriguing, simple, provoking, challenging and catchy. No matter your gender, this headline, accompanied by a crisp design and the right use of colors, really stands out. It makes you curious about what their services are and makes you want to share it with others.”
Curiosity is not the only element of this headline that catches visitor’s attention though. It also “plays on your emotions,” as Vandijk puts it.
Some questions the headline makes readers ask are: “Is it only for women? What do women have that men may lack when it comes to investing? What strategies do they use? The bottom line, it brings about so many questions that make you want to learn more – that’s the role of an effective headline.”
Love Devani’s Michelle Devan compliments Mink’s homepage headline, ‘It’s all coming together.’ Devan outlines that this headline copy works because it is “simple, direct, and compelling, which is important for a product that handles financial information.”
“I would say that Airbnb has the best website headline because it already contains all the keywords needed to get one’s attention,” tells Scot J Chrisman of The Media House.
Chrisman continues, “Their headline works because people already know what they can look for on the website given all the keywords in it. And also, the meaning of the sentence is not just about booking or renting spaces, but it also attacks the readers personally by using the word home and local.”
In the headline game, Hulu wins as many marks as Netflix. Jace Benny of JaceBenny.com says, “The best homepage headline for me is the one of Hulu which goes: Watch thousands of shows and movies, with plans starting at $5.99/month.
This works because it answers all questions. What? Shows and movies. How many? Thousands. How much? Starting at $5.99/month. For me, the best headlines leave customers not asking for the basic questions. It answers them all.”
Dennis Bell of Byblos Coffee gives another headline example.
Bell comments, “The website that has the best homepage headline is Dropbox Business. The headline works well as it provides visitors with everything they need, all in one place. The website and homepage are simple. The homepage has a large, relevant image and a ‘Start your free trial’ CTA button. It embraces whitespace and limits its use of copy and visuals, making visitors focus on the CTA.”
Bell praises how DropBox Business’s headline depicts clearly what the website is about: “Dropbox business is more than just secure storage, and it’s a smart way to optimize your existing workflow. There’s no need to figure out what Dropbox really does that attract a visitor’s attention longer.”
Here’s hoping all these expert headline copy examples helped you understand exactly what makes a headline effective. To recap, keep your headlines short, crisp, and to the point. You want your visitors to know exactly what they’re getting by just looking at your headline.
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Masooma is a freelance writer for SaaS and a lover to-do lists. When she's not writing, she usually has her head buried in a business book or fantasy novel.
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