How to write better headlines and get more clicks? (For Marketers, Content and Copywriters)

Clicks are down as it is with AIOs (AI Overviews) coming into the picture. And with LLMs also stealing most of our traffic share from SERPs, the battle to stand out is getting even harder.

So, how do you get atleast the remaining people who rely on Google search to click on your website or any other piece of content you put out there?

You don’t need to be a grammar whiz to do it. You just need to know what your potential customer wants, and you need to communicate it in such a way that it resonates with visitors.

As Jeremy Moser of uSERp says, “So if you take a distinct angle that aligns with search intent, you’ll outperform anyone simply rehashing what’s already out there………… The key is finding the angle that doesn’t already exist in that SERP but still satisfied user intent.

My go-to SEO Content Formula for page 1 rankings, consistently: Search Intent + Diverse Topical…

Explore Jeremy’s post here.

In this newsletter, we’ll go over a simple 3-step process to help you write clickable headlines and get the most out of it.

1. Study the competition
2. Address a need
3. Apply the headline formula

1. Study the competition

There’s no better way than studying the competition. Your competitor’s aren’t just sitting around. They’re working hard and A/B testing different variations of pages almost every week.

By spying on their content and seeing what they’re putting out there, you’re working smart.

Your research time is now halved, thanks to them! All their research, their experimentations, you’re stealing them for yourself.

Ofcourse, you aren’t going to copy them blindly, now are you?

Go over to Google, type in your keyword and see what pops up.

Check both the ads and the organic search results. That should give you an idea of what’s working and what isn’t. You can then take the best out of them and write down 4–5 variations of your own.

But let’s say you want to write them from scratch on your own, then keep reading.

2. Address a Need

With the attention spans declining since social media and AI came into the picture, it is getting challenging to grab the attention of netizens.

Your headline nees to address a need, or interrupt a pattern. If a headline doesn’t evoke curiosity, a need, or any sort of emotion, it is less likely to get clicks.

What sort of need do we portray here?

Well, there are 2 types of needs you can address, and use them not just for headlines, but for any other piece of content as well. (Email subject lines, Landing page hero text)

1. Emotional Needs
2. Logical Needs

Emotional need: speaks to a customer’s sentiment on a particular topic. (Eg., Status, fears, wish)

Logical need: speaks to a utility-based desire. (Eg., Savings, productivity)

Let’s look at a few examples of headlines targetting these needs.

Emotional Needs Examples:

• “Feel More Confident Every Day” — appeals to the emotional desire for self-assurance and status.
• “You’ve Worked Hard All Week — Now Indulge Yourself” — taps into the emotional need for feeling pampered and justified entitlements.
• “Is Your Child Emotionally Intelligent? Take This Test and Find Out” — connects to parental feelings of wanting to be a good parent.

Logical Needs Examples:

• “How to Save 30% on Your Monthly Bills” — appeals to the logical desire for savings and financial utility.
• “Boost Your Productivity with These 5 Simple Tools” — meets the utility-based need for enhanced efficiency.
• “The SecureWidget Alert System Keeps Tireless Watch Over Your Family” — addresses the logical need for safety and protection.

All these are examples of good headlines that address either the emotional aspect or the logical. When you address both in the headline, it’ll do pretty well.

Now that you know what to address in a headline to create a hook, let’s breakdown the headline formula in the next step.

3. Apply the headline formula

The formula is…. well,

Let me tell you something very important.

There is ‘No’ one-use formula and forget. Every piece of content requires it own variation of a headline.

But every headline needs one of, or all of the following 3 key elements to ensure it gets the clicks you intend for it to get.

1. The Hook (attention)
2. The benefit (the value/solution/promise)
3. The specificity

When your headline has one or all three of this, its bound to be more clickable instantly.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into these elements.

1. The hook

The hook is something that draws your reader’s eyes toward it. It is a pattern interrupter. You can do this by highlighting a reader’s need, or by expressing a problem they’re going through. We discussed about the two types of needs earlier.

For example, if I search for ‘headlines to get more clicks’, see what pops up.

OptinMonster says, “Stop the Scroll! 90 Headine Examples That Demand Attention.

The last part of the headline is cut-off, but is still piquing my interest as a marketer.

The hook is there — Stop the Scroll.

The Benefit is there — 90 Headline Exampless

Get How to Content’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

The specificity is not there — Another SERP result however, says “3 ways to write powerful headlines that bring more clicks.”

Specific terms here are: 3 ways, ‘powerful’ headlines, and ‘bring more clicks’.

Let’s look a bit more in detail on the benefits aspect of a headline.

2. The benefit

Like we saw earlier, the benefit is what gets your audience invested either emotionally or logically.

If you can do this well, you’ll have no trouble inviting your visitors to click on your piece of content.

Let’s say you work as a copywriter for an insurance company and you’re looking for inspiration to write Google Ads.

You can spy on your competitors’s ads, and make your headline equally furnished and benefit-driven.

Here’s what I can take from the competition if I search for the term ‘health insurance’ on Google.

Every headline comes with a description below it. (Meta-description)

The headline starts with our target keyword, ‘health insurance”, and it ends with a logical benefit; ₹10/day. That’s amazing. Who wouldn’t want that? And that comes up to about ₹300/month.

That’s quite affordable for a ₹5 lakh coverage.

And the description supports other logical benefits like cashless hospitalization and pre & post hospitalization. (Utility-based benefits, comes under logical-based needs)

Let’s look at another competitor.

These competitors also start with the main keyword. But the bottom headline could have performed better if it consisted of a benefit.

Logical needs noted here:

• Rs. 26
• Section 80D ( Tax deduction benefits)
• Day Care Procedures

Emotional needs noted here:

• Protect your health and finances
• Lower the cost of medical emergencies

Thanks to the descriptions, you can keep headlines specific to a need or a benefit, never having to communicate everything on a single headline.

A good meta description is equally important in helping a healdine standout and perform.

3. The specificity

Specificity is what turns a good headline into a credible one.

Most headlines fail not because they lack creativity, but because they are too vague.

Think about it- “Improve your content marketing” sounds nice… but it doesn’t say anything.

Improve it how? In how much time? For whom?

Specificity answers these silent questions in your reader’s mind.

Instead of saying this:

Write better headlines

You could say (Add specificity):

Write better headlines that increase clicks by 37%

Or instead of:

Get more leads with content

Try:

How SaaS brands generate 120+ qualified leads a month using content.

Notice what changed?

The headline is clearer. ( longer, but clear)

Specificity can come in many forms:

• Numbers (90 headlines, ₹10/day, 7 days)
• Timeframes (in 30 days, in 5 minutes)
• Audience (for marketers, for founders, for beginners)

Specificity builds trust. It signals that you’re not guessing-you’ve done this before.

Sometimes, even a small tweak does the job.

Instead of:

A guide to content marketing

Try:

A beginner’s guide to content marketing for B2B SaaS.

Now the reader knows:

• This is for beginners
• This is for B2B SaaS
• This is not generic advice

When you combine specificity with a hook and a benefit, your headline stops competing for attention and starts earning it.

That’s when people don’t just scroll past.

They click.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.