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Dr William Boothe - Five Tips for Writing Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines

DR WILLIAM BOOTHEIf you made it this far, the headline for this story has caught your attention. Hot headlines are a hit with readers because they stick out, grab attention and urge them to read the rest of the story.

We're all experiencing information overload and have made it a habit to skim pages. According to David Ogilvy, a successful advertising writer, "Five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy." Sounds like we need to treat those headlines like trying to get our foot in the door. Dr William Boothe

It doesn't matter if you're writing a sales letter, Web page content, email, or an article. Pulling together a handful of powerful words and putting them ahead of the content is more likely to grab eyeballs than just going right into the story, letter, or content.

DR WILLIAM BOOTHEDespite our success with newsletters, we continue to learn how to add more punch when writing headlines. Here are the tips we have learned and try to apply:

  • "What does the reader get from this'" The answer to your question can be the baseline for the headline. From there, modify it to ensure it has easily understood and expressive words. This addresses the "What's in it for me'" question. You can almost never go wrong with headlines that convey reader benefit.
  • Keep It Short and Simple (KISS). It continues to hold true even with headlines. If it is too long, the reader isn't going to be able to swallow it with one gulp and will move on before figuring it out.