Picture this; sitting over the keyboard, fingers poised, a shadowy figure stares at the computer screen with intent. That unknown person could well be you, a blogger, a writer, or a journalist or a wordsmith of any kind. That is secondary. What is primary is this; if you are anything like me, you will struggle to come up with catch headlines of any kind. It’s why when I write an article or a post, I simply keep my title as “Title goes here” so that I can put in something, anything, at the end. I am no intellectual giant, but I’m not a mental midget either. And yet, my mental muscles strain to create anything resembling one of those catchy headlines we all love.
And so, when all else fails, I turn for inspiration to elsewhere. Books, magazines, TV shows, songs, ads…this one time I just stared out of a window and sought inspiration from the world at large. True story. Sometimes, I even Google collections of catchy headlines that (I hope) will spark my imagination. Admittedly, I even turn to The Onion sometimes. They’re brilliant with some of their headlines, they really are. But whatever medium I use to browse through headlines, I find that the best ones always get to me and plant a thought inside my head that takes root and grows, in a different context to the original headline of course.
Headlines are just so important because it’s what hooks readers on to the idea or business you’re trying to sell. I believe that the opening lines are also of great importance, but they work in tandem with a great headline. The most catchy headlines will always depend on the writer understanding what works with his target audience and then taking a somewhat original approach to coming up with his own headline. I say “somewhat” because it’s very hard to come up with a headline that is absolutely unique and path-breaking in every way.
Try to understand why a headline you wrote worked or failed. There is no easy way around this, but once you do get this down to an art, the rewards are there to be had. Even a well-written headline can fall flat if not penned for its target audience. The rewards will be seen by way of readership, traffic or sales. However you choose to measure it, the key is to always understand what headlines to use.
And so, when all else fails, I turn for inspiration to elsewhere. Books, magazines, TV shows, songs, ads…this one time I just stared out of a window and sought inspiration from the world at large. True story. Sometimes, I even Google collections of catchy headlines that (I hope) will spark my imagination. Admittedly, I even turn to The Onion sometimes. They’re brilliant with some of their headlines, they really are. But whatever medium I use to browse through headlines, I find that the best ones always get to me and plant a thought inside my head that takes root and grows, in a different context to the original headline of course.
Headlines are just so important because it’s what hooks readers on to the idea or business you’re trying to sell. I believe that the opening lines are also of great importance, but they work in tandem with a great headline. The most catchy headlines will always depend on the writer understanding what works with his target audience and then taking a somewhat original approach to coming up with his own headline. I say “somewhat” because it’s very hard to come up with a headline that is absolutely unique and path-breaking in every way.
Try to understand why a headline you wrote worked or failed. There is no easy way around this, but once you do get this down to an art, the rewards are there to be had. Even a well-written headline can fall flat if not penned for its target audience. The rewards will be seen by way of readership, traffic or sales. However you choose to measure it, the key is to always understand what headlines to use.
