The latest Twitter statistics show that Twitters growth last year was over 1,300% with the latest numbers revealed by Twitter at their Chirp conference for developers in April showing
- Total number of users at 105 million (12 months ago that number was 8 million)
- Twitter received 180 million unique visitors a month to its website.
Twitter is a great way to promote and market your content and the challenge with Twitter for business marketers is that you only have 140 characters to get your message across and your link clicked on. The most important element to make that happen is a great headline to make people click on that link. So in essence Twitter has brought back the art of the headline which has never gone away but Twitter has highlighted its importance.
So what are the important elements in creating and writing a “great headline” and why is it so important?
Why is a headline important?
- Tests have shown that you can increase your conversion rate on a website or a link by 73% by the use of a compelling headline.
- Did you know that on average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will go on to read the rest of the copy. This is the secret to the power of the headline, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece
- Another test revealed that a good headline performed 259% better than the worst headline.
This means that up to nearly 3 times as many people would read your web page or view your video just through having spent some time ensuring that the headline is optimized.
So what are the basic requirements for writing that headline that will get people clicking and reading, viewing your content and copy whether that be video, presentation or text.
One way to start is to use a formula so here are 6 headline types and examples from Authority Blogger to get you started:
1. Get What You Want (In Health, Wealth, Relationships, Time and Lifestyle)
Example: “The Secret To Getting More Money For Your Property!”
2. Crystal Ball and History
Example: “10 Predictions on the Future of Social Media”
3. Problems and Fears
Example “Get Rid of Your Debt Once and For All”
4. Fact, Fiction, Truth and Lies
Example: “Little Known Ways To Make Money On The Stock Exchange”
5. How To, Tricks Of The Trade
Example: “How To Plan The Ultimate Holiday”
6. Best and Worst
Example: “The 10 Worst Mistakes Made by Bloggers
For more from the Authority Blogger blog here are 102 Proven Headline Formulas
Another very effective headline strategy is to use is ‘list’ headlines and these are some examples that I have used.
- 50 Ways To Optimize Your Blog
- 30 Things You Should Not Share On Social Media
- The 7 Secrets to Ford’s Social Media Marketing Success
You will notice that it is a ‘list’ format and includes numbers. A mega list headline is a large list such as the 50 Ways To Optimize Your Blog or the 102 Proven Headline Formulas and can be very effective. I have experimented with these types of headlines and they have produced some of my best blog traffic results.
Learning to get the basics of headline writing will make a big difference to your website and blog traffic especially when used in your online marketing such as email and Twitter.
So how are your headline copywriting skills?
More resources on the science and the art of the headline.
These sites were rated by the Marketing Experiments blog for usefulness and clarity.
* = Decent | ** = Good | *** = Excellent | **** = Indispensable
- Testing Web Page Headlines ***
- How to Write a Clever Headline ***
- The Headline is Where the Action Is ***
- 11 Words or Less **
- Powerful Sender and Subject Lines **
- How to Write Great Titles and Headlines for the Web **
- The 10 Commandments of Internet Writing **
- Writing Headlines and Blurbs for the Internet **
- Headline Mistakes **
- How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines **
- How to Write Great Headlines **
- Writing Good Headlines Will Grow Your Traffic **
- Headlines Make a Difference **
- Why Headline Writing is Important **
Another resource that I have found extremely useful is one of the worlds best copywriting blogs Copyblogger.com and one post I have found particularly valuable is Writing Headlines That Get Results