26 science-backed tips to write headlines that convert.

Writing powerful, memorable headlines is an art. It is an art I’m learning about each day in my business.

Today, I will share with you a comprehensive yet concise guide about writing powerful headlines that convert. Here’s what you’ll learn:

1. The purpose of your headline.

2. The structure of your headline.

3. The content of your headline.

All in less than 5 minutes!

Let’s dive in, shall we?

How to define your headline?

Before you start writing a single line of your headline, you must know what purpose your headline serves. To put it another way, we are trying to understand: what is the nature of any headline? What are the “rules” (so to speak) you need to keep in mind while writing your headline?

There are 11 rules you must keep in mind before writing any headline:

1. The primary purpose of a headline is to get the first sentence read.

2. A good headline is actionable and relates to a broader piece of content.

3. A good headline is a concise abstract of its associated content.

4. A good headline offers readers a reward for reading.

5. A good heading invokes self-interest and curiosity on the part of the reader.

6. A good headline triggers a strong, actionable emotion the reader already has about the subject at hand.

7. A good headline presents a proposition that instantly gets your prospect nodding his or her head.

8. A good headline is never accusatory.

9. A good headline makes an irresistible offer.

10. A good headline tells a story.

11. A good headline is never generic.

How to shape your headline

Think of the structure as the skeleton of your headline. It is what holds the headline together. It is what defines the headline and gives it shape. Most marketers don’t put nearly as much time into figuring out the structure of the headline - they go straight into writing mode. Don’t do this.

Here are 5 rules to keep in mind as you give shape to your headline:

1. Make sure the first 11 characters of your headline contains action words such as "transform"," increase", or "optimize".

2. Keep your headline between 6-8 words.

3. Make your headline pass the highway test: Can a person speeding through on the highway at 65 mph read my headline on the passing billboard?

4. End your headline with a lure - a hook to make them read the sub-headline.

5. The middle part of the headline is where the magic is made.

How to write your headline

Finally, we come to the part about how to write your headline. Here are 10 rules you must keep in mind while writing your headline.

1. Be specific and make immediate sense. Reduce cognitive load.

2. Tell readers something useful, interesting or funny.

3. Omit non-essential words.

4. Use objective statistics and numbers where you can.

5. Ask yourself this: Could your headline benefit from the inclusion of a proposed transaction?

6. Use the customer language itself.

7. Use your product name in the headline copy.

8. Mention any of these three things in your headline : (a) Problem (b) Solution or (c) Benefit.

9. Don't use negative words in the headline.

10. Write in the active voice.

Before I leave you, keep in mind that none of these “rules” are actually rules. Neither are they prescriptions. Think of it like a map. And you know what they say about maps right?

“The map is not the territory”.

These are only guiding principles to show you the way - not rigid rules that are never meant to be broken. It’s easy to think that we have all the answers - most marketing websites do claim to be so. But be wary. Take everything you read with a grain of salt.

That said, this guide did take me a while to create. If you found this valuable, please consider subscribing to Market Curve where I write weekly essays on marketing and consumer psychology to help businesses increase therir revenue.

Amor Fati.