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    The Power of A Good Headline: Presented By: Julianne Musante

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    The document discusses the importance of headlines and provides strategies for writing effective headlines. It notes that headlines are often the only part of a document that most people read and that they influence whether readers engage further. The document then outlines eight strategies for headlines, including using questions, curiosity, numbers, and facts. It also discusses power words that can be used in headlines to elicit different emotions. Lastly, it provides recommendations around using a headline analyzer and proper tagging.

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    The Power of A Good Headline: Presented By: Julianne Musante

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    pendejitus
    38 views23 pages
    The document discusses the importance of headlines and provides strategies for writing effective headlines. It notes that headlines are often the only part of a document that most people read and that they influence whether readers engage further. The document then outlines eight strategies for headlines, including using questions, curiosity, numbers, and facts. It also discusses power words that can be used in headlines to elicit different emotions. Lastly, it provides recommendations around using a headline analyzer and proper tagging.

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    The document discusses the importance of headlines and provides strategies for writing effective headlines. It notes that headlines are often the only part of a document that most people read and that they influence whether readers engage further. The document then outlines eight strategies for headlines, including using questions, curiosity, numbers, and facts. It also discusses power words that can be used in headlines to elicit different emotions. Lastly, it provides recommendations around using a headline analyzer and proper tagging.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    38 views23 pages

    The Power of A Good Headline: Presented By: Julianne Musante

    Uploaded by

    pendejitus
    The document discusses the importance of headlines and provides strategies for writing effective headlines. It notes that headlines are often the only part of a document that most people read and that they influence whether readers engage further. The document then outlines eight strategies for headlines, including using questions, curiosity, numbers, and facts. It also discusses power words that can be used in headlines to elicit different emotions. Lastly, it provides recommendations around using a headline analyzer and proper tagging.

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    The Power of a Good Headline

    Presented by: Julianne Musante


    Overview of Topics
    §  Why Headlines Are Important
    §  Elements That Make a Headline Pop
    §  Is Your Headline Good or Bad?
    §  8 Winning Headline Strategies
    §  Power Words
    §  Headline Analyzer
    §  Content & Tagging
    §  Questions
    Statistics Show...
    Ø  On average, 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, but only 2 out of 10 will
    read the rest.

    Ø  The better your headline, the better your odds of beating the averages and
    getting what you have to say read by a larger percentage of people.
    Why Are Headlines So Important?
    You could have the best post in the world, but if you do not have a good headline it is
    not going to reach its full potential.

    Ø  Headlines give the reader a good idea about the content in the post

    Ø  It is the first (possibly last) thing people see about the post

    Ø  Usually is one of the few elements visible on social sharing sites

    Ø  Is the best opportunity to market the article


    Elements That Make a Headline Effective

    Ø  Summarize a topic in the post: especially one that will catch the reader’s eye
    Ø  Choose a topic people are interested to learn about
    Ø  Numbers give the reader a definite outline of what to expect
    Ø  Be Current: Articles on recent events are going to generate interest
    Ø  What is in it for the reader? Tell the readers how they will benefit from your article
    Ø  Generate curiosity
    Ø  Use key words that emphasize benefits to the reader (i.e. free, easy)
    Is Your Headline Good or Bad?
    Give it the Breath Test.
    Ø  A great headline does not necessarily lie in subtracting or adding one or more
    word.
    Ø  Try saying your headline out loud. If you run out of breath reading a headline
    it is most likely too long and you might struggle to recall the contents of the
    headline.
    Ø  If your reader can’t process your headline in a single breath, they can’t process
    it in their heads.
    8 Winning Headline Strategies &
    The Psychology Behind Them
    1. The Element of Surprise

    Ø  Presenting something unexpected/breaking a pattern will help you to capture


    the attention of your audience.

    Ø  Surprise headlines are winning headlines because our brains love novelty. The
    brain’s pleasure centers are more turned on when we experience
    unpredictable pleasant things.
    2. Questions

    Ø  Questions are powerful because they prime our curiosity

    Ø  Just seeing a question mark starts to stimulate our brains

    Ø  Best question headlines ask something that the reader can relate to or would
    like to see answered

    Ø  Example: “Looking to Give Back to Your Community?”


    3. Curiosity
    Ø  Also known as information gap or curiosity gap

    Ø  To use this strategy you want to use something intriguing but incomplete
    information. Tell the reader enough to pique their interest but not enough to
    give the whole story away.

    Ø  For example: “Riveting Election - Results Are Finally In!”


    4. Negative Superlatives
    Ø  Words like best, biggest, greatest can be effective but so can negative phrases
    such as “worst”.
    Ø  In a study of 65,000 titles, Outbrain compared positive, negative and neutral
    headlines. Results show: positive headlines performed 29% worse and
    negative headlines performed 30% better.
    5. “How To”
    Ø  Try starting your headline with the words “How To”

    Ø  People seek secrets, tips, hints, laws, rules and systems

    Ø  Other variations on the “How To” strategy:

    §  “Introduction To”


    §  “The Beginners Guide”
    §  “In 5 Minutes”
    §  “DIY”
    6. Numbers
    Ø  Numbers work well in headlines because humans like predictability & dislike
    uncertainty
    Ø  For example: Top 5 Reasons to Move to Pleasantville

    7. Audience Referencing
    Ø  Basically means using the word “You” or implicating your audience directly
    with your headline
    Ø  When you are the precise target audience for a headline, your brain
    automatically says, “That’s for me!”
    8. Facts
    Ø  Specific, quantifiable, concrete facts – especially ones that form pictures in our
    minds are intensely interesting.
    Ø  Try using:

    §  Digits
    §  Names
    §  Descriptions
    §  Titles
    §  Examples
    §  Projections
    §  Results
    Power Words!
    Power words are words that will help spice up your headline and make
    your readers feel something.
    Fear Power Words:
    Fear is with out a doubt one of the most powerful emotions. The news
    often uses fear power words to keep you from changing the channel.

    Ø  Assault Ø  Beware

    Ø  Caution Ø  Danger

    Ø  Collapse Ø  Plummet


    Pep Talk Power Words:
    Positive power words that get your audience excited to read your post.

    Ø  Amazing Ø  Courage

    Ø  Blissful Ø  Devoted

    Ø  Breathtaking Ø  Sensational


    Safe Power Words:
    It is important to make your readers feel safe. They need to trust that
    your website is a good source for reliable information.

    Ø  Certified Ø  Research

    Ø  Official Ø  Secure

    Ø  Protected Ø  Results


    Curiosity Power Words:
    The truth is, we are all fascinated by the mysterious and forbidden.

    Ø  Banned Ø  Insider

    Ø  Behind the Scenes Ø  Strange

    Ø  Controversial Ø  Unauthorized


    Content, Content, Content
    Ø  Powerful headlines need to follow through with great content

    Ø  If you have a great headline and a post with very little content you will loose
    credibility with your readers

    Ø  You want to have AT LEAST one paragraph of content

    Ø  Linking to a pdf with no text content is not good for business
    To Tag or Not to Tag?
    Ø  When is doubt…tag, tag, tag!

    Ø  They are quick and simple to do, and if used on all your content they will help you achieve
    higher results in the search engines.

    Ø  Make the tags relevant to the content of your news post.

    Ø  Use a combination of short words, long words and phrases.

    Ø  Try to think like someone who is searching for your content would when creating your tags.
    Blog Post Headline Analyzer
    Brought to you by: CoSchedule

    Ø  What it is and why use it:

    §  It will score your overall headline quality.


    §  Will rate your headlines ability to result in social shares, increased
    traffic, & SEO value.
    §  Helps you make sure you have the right balance of common,
    uncommon, emotional, & power words.
    §  Also, it checks the length of your headline.
    §  It’s FREE!!!
    §  Check it out here: http://coschedule.com/headline-analyzer
    Any Questions?

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