How to Write Better Headlines

5 Reasons Why Headlines Matters

You want to write better headlines because the headline matters a lot!

You’ve heard that a goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds. It’s a myth, but as a marketer, you should be so lucky. Attention spans are shorter than ever, so a perfect headline is essential for standing out from the crowd and driving engagement.

“On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.” — David Ogilvy, advertising legend and founder of Ogilvy & Mather

Over my career, I’ve learned some things about better headlines. I’ve come to understand that the headline:

• Is the crucial first step to capturing your audience’s attention and enticing them to read your content.
• Serves as a bridge between your content and your audience—it determines whether your message sparks curiosity or fades into the noise of the digital landscape.

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• Sets the tone for the rest of your content, ensuring your message resonates with your target audience.

Pro Tip: a well-crafted headline can make or break the success of your blog post, article, or social media update.

Think of your headline as the first impression your content makes. It’s the gateway determining whether a reader will click through to your content or scroll past it. By understanding the importance of headlines, you can improve your content’s visibility, drive more traffic to your website, and drive more conversions.

Let’s dig in.

Align Messaging with the Buyer’s Needs and Journey to Write Better Headlines

But creating a great headline isn’t as simple as clever wordplay or inserting a popular keyword.

Like many things in marketing, crafting effective headlines requires balance. For instance, think about SEO. Effective search engine optimization depends on keywords, which is why it gets so much attention. The nuances of search intent don’t get as much attention, but it’s just as crucial.

Similarly, the customer avatar helps define the tone and message for your headline, but understanding what the consumer is looking for at each stage of their journey also matters.

In this post, we’ll explore the interplay between the customer avatar and the buyer’s journey and show you how to use this balancing act to write headlines that connect, engage, and ultimately convert.

The Avatar, Journey Map, and Marketing Funnel

Understanding the Avatar and the Buyer’s Journey

The Customer Avatar

A customer avatar represents your ideal customer. It has four parts: demographics, characteristics, their pain, and what they hope to gain. Think of it as your messaging north star. The avatar sets your tone and approach. It defines who your prime prospect is, the problems they need you to solve, and the transformation they hope to achieve.

“Your customer avatar is the foundation of your marketing strategy. Without a clear understanding of who your ideal customer is, you’re shooting in the dark.” — Amy Porterfield, online marketing expert and educator.

The Buyer’s Journey

The buyer’s journey outlines the stages a customer progresses through before purchasing: from unawareness to an initial awareness of a problem to researching solutions and, finally, to making a buying decision. Each stage requires different messaging.

“Understanding the buyer’s journey is crucial for delivering the right content at the right time.” — Brian Halligan, co-founder and CEO of HubSpot.

To maximize the impact of your headlines, you must align your avatar’s needs with their journey stage. Using a headline analyzer tool (more on this below) can enhance the quality of your headlines, ultimately leading to higher click-through rates and better rankings in search results.

While tools are useful, don’t rely on them to make your final decisions. Your deep understanding and empathy for your audience, combined with thorough testing, should always be the final arbiter.

Let’s break this down in actionable detail.

The Funnel Stages

Top of the Funnel (TOFU): Awareness Stage

At the Top of the Funnel (TOFU), the goal is to attract attention by addressing pain points and positioning your brand as a valuable resource. When they are ready, you need to be there with a headline that smacks them in the head. Don’t be afraid to poke the pain.

Use powerful words in headlines to capture attention quickly.

Establish your brand loudly and proudly as a trusted resource to encourage further exploration.

Mid-Funnel (MOFU): Consideration and Prospecting

In the Mid-Funnel (MOFU), your audience begins to evaluate options and decide whether to engage further. Build trust by showcasing expertise and credibility through case studies, tutorials, or comparisons.

Question headlines that resonate with their needs are effective for fostering engagement and nurturing relationships. Mid-funnel marketing creates trust by supporting prospects’ journeys and not pushing prospects too fast.

As you are thinking about the mid-funnel, recognize that there are two stages:

• Consideration: Here, prospects are actively researching solutions. Your headlines should lead to content that highlights your expertise and credibility with resources like case studies, tutorials, or in-depth comparisons.
• Prospecting: This stage is when prospects are trying to make a decision. Use benefit headlines to demonstrate that your solution is the best solution. The goal is to move them closer to a purchase decision by giving them the information they need to make an informed decision.

The mid-funnel stage is vital. Focus on building trust and nurturing relationships by providing valuable insights and encouraging engagement. Build a series of micro-transactions to support and move prospects closer to a decision.

Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU): Decision Stage

Prospects at this stage are ready to make a purchase. The focus is on addressing any remaining objections and encouraging immediate action. There is no need to beat around the bush. Headlines should highlight compelling offers and guarantees and invite leads to convert into customers.

Align headlines with the gain described in the Customer Avatar. Tailor your headlines to the transformation your target seeks. BOFU headlines sell the destination, not the journey.

Mapping Headlines to the Funnel Stages—Headline Writing Examples

By aligning your headlines with the Customer Avatar and these funnel stages, you’ll guide your prospects effectively through their journey.

Better Headlines Align with the Avatar’s Needs and Journey

1. TOFU: Awareness Stage with Catchy Headlines

Prospects here are problem-aware and seeking insights. Clickbait headlines can be used to get their attention, but be sure your payoff addresses their pain points and offers value-driven guidance. You want to leave a lasting impression and not be that guy.

TOFU headlines don’t go too deep. It’s about getting their attention. Don’t oversell.

TOFU Headline Examples

“Discover how you can [solve a problem] with your free [time duration] [consultation name].” Example: “Discover how you can save money on home renovations with your free 30-minute design consultation.”

“3,000+ [target audience] have used [specific strategy] to [achieve goal].” Example: “3,000+ Australians have used the ‘Will I Have Enough?’ Index to create their dream retirement plan. Learn how you can too.”

“Give me [time], and I’ll show you exactly how to [solve a problem or achieve a goal].” Example: “Give me 30 minutes, and I’ll show you how to reduce your energy bill by 20%.”

2. MOFU: Consideration and Prospecting with Compelling Headlines

At this stage, prospects are evaluating their options and seeking research and information. To earn their attention and get more clicks, write headlines that answer their questions and resonate with what they seek. If you captured their email address with your TOFU tactics, use the email subject lines; it is a headline, after all, to invite them along their journey.

MOFU Headline Examples

• Consideration Stage Headlines: Focus on highlighting expertise and benefits. Example: “Unlock the secrets to doubling your productivity with our comprehensive guide.”
• Prospecting Stage Headlines: Use headlines to nudge leads toward deeper engagement. Example: “Book your complimentary ring design consultation and start your journey to ‘Yes.’”

3. BOFU: Decision Stage with Headline Examples

In the lower funnel, prospects are ready to make a purchase. Don’t confuse them—don’t sell the journey—sell the transformation. Irresistible headlines emphasize guarantees, speed, and compelling offers.

BOFU Headline Examples

“Get your [thing you sell] in [timeframe], guaranteed—or your money back!” Example: “Get your corporate video shot, edited, and delivered in just three weeks—guaranteed or your money back!”

“We guarantee you’ll achieve [dream outcome], or we’ll work for free.” Example: “We guarantee you’ll grow sales by 20% in 90 days, or we’ll work for free.”

“Save up to [dollar amount] on [thing you sell] with [specific offer].” Example: “Save up to $1,000 on self-publishing your book during our 9th-anniversary sale!”

In this section, I gave you some templates with examples you can use to write better headlines by aligning them with the buyer’s journey and customer avatar. The section breaks down the marketing funnel into stages—Top of the Funnel (TOFU), Mid-Funnel (MOFU), and Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)—and provides headline examples tailored to each stage.

The next section offers practical strategies for crafting catchy headlines, such as using power words, keeping headlines concise, and incorporating numbers. Additionally, it warns against common mistakes like misleading or overly long headlines and stresses the balance between SEO optimization and engaging content.

Are you still with me?

Crafting Catchy Headlines

Writing engaging headlines requires a combination of creativity, strategy, and attention to detail. To write headlines that grab attention, you need to understand your target audience, their pain points, and what motivates them. Here are some tips for crafting catchy headlines:

By incorporating these strategies, you can craft headlines that get noticed and drive increased engagement and conversions.

Common Headline Writing Mistakes

While crafting great headlines is crucial, common mistakes can undermine your efforts. I’ve described the most common one here, so you don’t need to make the mistakes I’ve made.

One of the most prevalent mistakes is crafting misleading clickbait headlines that promise a thing but don’t deliver. This frustrates readers and can damage your credibility. It’s essential to ensure that your headline accurately reflects the content of your article or blog post.

Another common pitfall is creating overly long headlines. Do you remember the goldfish? Short attention spans mean concise headlines are more likely to capture attention and be easily understood. Long headlines risk being truncated in search results or social media feeds, losing their impact and clarity.

Long headlines are common when you write blog post headlines because they must serve two masters: the reader and the search engines. For SEO, they include keywords; for readers, they include the promise of what can be expected from reading the post. So, a blog post headline is typically quite long, but you need a short headline to invite a reader to visit the blog post when post preview cards are displayed on the blog archive page. To address this problem, we created the Short Title Block, now available in the WordPress plugin repository.

A lack of clarity in headlines can also be detrimental. Vague, unclear, or overly clever headlines will create confusion and won’t communicate your value proposition, leaving readers unsure of what they can expect to gain. Don’t make them think. You want them to take action. Your headline should clearly convey the benefit or insight readers will receive.

Additionally, while keywords are vital for SEO, overusing them can make your headlines sound spammy and unappealing. Balancing SEO optimization with natural, engaging content that resonates with your audience is crucial.

To review, here are some common headline writing mistakes to avoid:

• Misleading Headlines: Avoid misleading headlines that promise one thing but deliver another. This can lead to high bounce rates and damage your credibility. Always ensure that your headline accurately reflects the content of your article or blog post.
• Overly Long Headlines: Keep your headlines concise and to the point. Avoid overly long headlines that may be truncated in search results or social media feeds. A concise headline is more likely to be seen and easily understood.
• Lack of Clarity: Clever is not your friend. Don’t write vague or unclear headlines that fail to communicate the value proposition of your content. Your headline should convey what the reader can expect to gain from your content.
• Overuse of Keywords: While keywords are important for SEO, avoid overusing them in your headlines. Writing for search engines can make your headlines sound spammy and unappealing. Instead, write for people first. Focus on creating a natural and engaging headline that seamlessly incorporates keywords.

By being aware of these common mistakes, you’ll take steps to avoid them, and you will improve your headline writing skills. You will write great headlines that effectively engage readers and drive traffic to your website.

Resources to Help You Write Better Headlines

Effective headline writing requires tools that address various aspects of the process—from understanding your audience to testing and refining your messaging.

Here’s a curated list of resources to help you craft headlines that align with your marketing strategy and audience and drive conversions.

CoSchedule Headline Analyzer

CoSchedule offers a free headline analyzer tool to test and refine your headlines. CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer scores your headline on multiple factors like emotional impact, readability, SEO potential, and more. Using it will help you write great headlines.
Try CoSchedule Headline Analyzer.

Marketing Sage Advantage

Developed by Inn8ly, Marketing Sage Advantage is an all-in-one solution for creating detailed customer avatars and mapping buyer journeys. It gives a business owner the strategic guidance they need to tailor their headlines and content to reach their audience at each funnel stage.
Learn more about Marketing Sage Advantage.

AnswerThePublic

This tool helps you understand your audience’s questions and concerns, in their words, providing a treasure trove of headline ideas. By exploring what people are searching for, you can create powerful headlines that directly address their needs and interests using real consumer language.
Check out AnswerThePublic.

Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool helps you identify keywords and understand their search intent when creating SEO-driven headlines. Use it to find the right terms to include in your headlines and ensure your content aligns with where your audience is in their journey.
Explore Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

Copywriting Software

With the Hemingway Editor, you can simplify and sharpen your headlines. Grammarly is an alternative that does the same thing. Both tools highlight overly complex wording and suggest ways to make your headlines more direct and readable.
Try Hemingway Editor. Try Grammarly.

ChatGPT and Reddit

Chances are, you will find a subreddit or two that gathers your audience together. Use ChatGPT to analyze the threads and list the top questions. Then, ask it to list related subtopics. Ask for quotes to support each topic and subtopic. In a few minutes, you’ll have a database of information to outline your content marketing strategy and the resources you can use to write better headlines—headlines that your audience can relate to because they’re based on what your audience is saying.

By leveraging these diverse tools, you can create headlines that grab attention, align with search intent, resonate with your audience, and drive conversions. Each resource plays a unique role in enhancing your headline creation process.

Delivering the Right Message to the Right Person at the Right Time

Great headlines aren’t just a creative exercise—they’re how you grab attention, build curiosity, and encourage clicks. Think of them as your content’s handshake: they set the tone for the interaction and determine whether someone engages further. To do this, a headline must connect with the right audience and reflect where they are in their decision-making process.

Key Takeaways:

1. Start with Your Avatar: Your best headlines start with clearly understanding your audience. By developing a detailed customer avatar, you can focus on the 20% of customers who drive 80% of your revenue. Knowing their demographics, pain points, and motivations gives you the tools to craft personal and meaningful messages.
2. Align Headlines with the Journey: Once you understand your audience, match your headlines to where they are in their journey. Are they just realizing they have a problem (TOFU)? Curious about their options (MOFU)? Ready to act (BOFU)? Headlines tailored to each stage guide readers naturally toward the next step, increasing trust and engagement and leading to high-quality conversions.
3. Avoid Common Pitfalls: Misleading or overly clever headlines might get clicks but will lose trust. Instead, focus on headlines that are clear, concise, and aligned with your content. Use power words, ask questions, or include numbers to add credibility and grab attention.
4. Refine and Test for Impact: Tools like headline analyzers can help refine your work by scoring for readability, SEO, and emotional impact. But don’t let tools make the final decision—your understanding of your audience should always be the deciding factor.

Delivering the right message to the right person at the right time starts with knowing your audience and their journey. When your headlines are clear, relevant, and designed to meet your customers’ needs, you’ll not only earn clicks—you’ll build relationships that last.

Keep refining and testing, and watch your marketing thrive!

Author: James Hipkin

Since 2010, James Hipkin has built his clients’ businesses with digital marketing. Today, James is passionate about websites and helping the rest of us understand online marketing. His customers value his jargon-free, common-sense approach. “James explains the ins and outs of digital marketing in ways that make sense.”

Use this link to book a meeting time with James.