Let me start by asking … “What did you think of the headline?” Well it must have been pretty enticing for you to be reading this article. True. Course it was! The key to writing a successful article is to first have someone actually read the article and you can only achieve that if your headline in enticing. If your article headline is boring or does not stand out then no one is going to want to read your article.

There are in fact three aspects of your article headline that you need to consider and they are –

1. The Headline Must Be Enticing

2. The Headline Must Be Descriptive

3. The Headline Must Be Believable

Aspect 1 – The Headline Must Be Enticing

Let me ask … “What was it that made that headline enticing to you?” Think about it really carefully. If we dissect this headline there are two components to it that would have attracted you. The first component was the fact that we are talking about a Headline that reaps $300,000 plus the added element of Cash.

The second element that would have attracted you as an article writer is that is says, “Outstanding Headline Reaps”. This particular headline I created was market focused because every professional article writer wants to write headlines for their articles that are going to get readers in and make them money.

When you are writing your own headlines, write five or six different versions of your headlines and get a few friends to pick which headline they are most likely to pickup and read. Further to that, the key to successful headline writing is to actually look at what other writers are using for their headlines and to learn from them. Look at what articles people are reading. Visit various Article Directories and find out what are the top viewed articles in the section you are writing for. Find out what their headlines are and what makes their headlines standout and then structure your own headlines along the same lines. NOTE: Do not copy their headlines though for two reasons. One is that you are breaching copyright laws which can lead you into a lot of legal trouble and two, people know when you are duplicating headlines and that devalues the quality of your article. People want to see unique articles and headlines not those ripped off from others. You are smart enough to create your own great headlines so do not steal from others.

Aspect 2 – The Headline Must Be Descriptive

The headline above could have been written in the following way “Headline Gets Lots of Business” or “Three Ways to make Your Headlines Effective.” Whilst each of those headlines would certainly get readers, the one above “Outstanding Headline Reaps In $300,000 Cash” will always pull in more simply because of its descriptive nature.

The first part of the headline, “Outstanding Headline” tells you that there is something special about the Headline. Because it did not tell you what the headline was, you are then intrigued to find out what the headline was. The word “Reaps” is really descriptive. When you imagine the word “reaps” you might think of Scrooge Mcduck sitting in his money vault as the money comes in and he is sitting on the mountain of cash throwing it up into the air. The last really descriptive word is “Cash”. When we think of bringing in three hundred thousand dollars worth of business that is not the same as brining in three hundred thousand dollars of cash. The word “Cash” implies that you already have the money in your hot little hand and you can go out and spend it.

Notice a key thing about this headline is that it really does play on your imagination and your perceptions. That is why using lots of descriptive words in a headline will help people relate to what you are talking about and get you to read. 90% of the battle in copywriting or article writing is actually getting the person past the headline. Once you have done that, it is much easier to get them to buy or read your article.

Aspect 3 – The Headline Must Be Believable

One of the biggest mistakes that all writers make is to make outrageously crazy claims. In fact the more outrageous the more unlikely people will read your article. I had a colleague a few years ago who wanted to prove this point. He simply put an advert in the paper saying we were going to give anybody who rang him $50 cash. How many calls do you think he got?

Absolutely None!

Why because nobody believed anyone would be silly enough just to give you $50 cash however his offer was legitimate.

Let me give you another experience of my own. I developed a computer training course that I new would get people employed. The course went over three weeks and I new with 100% certainty that everyone who attended and followed our process would get a job. I even backed it up with a guarantee. My guarantee basically said that if you did not get a job within 4 weeks of finishing our course and passing all the exams, I would guarantee to give you a full time job.

Now if you saw that guarantee what would you think? Well to my surprise, I actually had no takers. All I had was employment agencies asking me what jobs I needed full. They totally missed the point in our program. I should say I was genuine about our program but nobody took it up simply because they thought it was a scam.

The one thing I learnt is that even if you are absolutely 100% genuine with your offer, if the believability factor in your headline is low, then people will not read your article. I could have easily in the headline above made ridiculous claims like “Outstanding headline reaps $40 billion dollars cash”. What would your reaction have been then? Yeah Right! Or What A Load of Rubbish.

I have seen many claims in article headlines, the key to all successful headlines is that in the headline their must be a backup or supporting evidence. For example, how many times on the internet do you read articles that say, “We have the Cure For Cancer?” Way to many, would you believe that headline. Course not, your instant reaction would be this is a scam. However, if you wrote a headline that said “Cure for Cancer Proven By {Substitute name Of University} University” then I could pretty much guarantee everyone would read that article. Simply because your claim was believable and backed up by a reputable organization, It has that believability factor.

Note well, I want to give you a bit of friendly advice. If you cannot back up your claim that the named university did not support your claim, then expect a visit from law enforcement authorities and you will most likely find yourself in court.

One thing I have learnt is that there is no magical skill for writing Fantastic, Great and Outstanding Headlines, it simply requires testing and measuring and learning what stimulates the reader. One of the key things you need to consider is that once you have written your articles go back to the article directories and see how many people actually read your articles. This will tell you just how successful you have been.

I have written many articles where the Headline I thought was incredibly weak but actually pulled larger reader numbers than the one I planned to pull big numbers. The bottom line is to test and measure all of your headlines, do not just submit your articles to article directories and forget about them. Go back and see the comments people have left the number of visitors and any ratings they may have given you. This information will tell you how to improve and more importantly what people want.