March 28, 2022 - 10:22am - by

Let’s be honest: very few of us actually sit down and read every piece of content that comes across our screens every day. If we did, that’s all we’d do!

In fact, research shows that 81 percent of people only skim the content they read online, which makes writing strong, attention-grabbing headlines critical to getting people to click on your content.

That’s why today we’re doing a deep-dive on how to write scroll-stopping headlines across a variety of use cases — let’s get to it:

How to write a great headline?

A great headline should appeal to its intended audience and get them to click to find out more. How it does this will depend on the context in which the headline is being used.

For example, a blog post title should explain what the reader will get out of the article before they start reading.

Google Ads headlines need to make the offer clear and entice someone to click right away:

That being said, there are some basic headline writing strategies that apply no matter what the headline is being used for, which include:

Write with an “active voice”

Most of us tend to write with a “passive voice” which is when the subject is the focal point in the sentence, and “active voice” happens when the subject does the action that’s being described.

Here’s an example:

Passive voice

• Users get warned about misinformation on the platform by Facebook

Active voice 

• Facebook warns users about misinformation

Use unusual words

The more unusual words you can use, the more your headline will stand out. Instead of using commonly-used words like “better”, “great”, and “faster”, choose synonyms that stand our a little bit more.

Here’s an example:

Generic

• 5 Great Calls-to-Action for Your Website

Unusual

• 5 Unbeatable Calls-to-Action for Your Website

Notice how the word “unbeatable” stands out more because we’re not used to seeing it in this context? Try applying this trick to your headlines!

Ask questions

Headlines written as questions make readers feel like we’re having a conversation with them, which is more engaging than even using an “active voice”.

Questions are also a great way to keep our headlines short and snappy while grabbing people’s attention. Take a look at these examples: 

• Should your business be on TikTok?
• What is Content Decay? (and How to Fix It)
• Organic vs. Paid Traffic — What’s the Difference?

Write headlines for your audience

One of the easiest ways to get people to click on your headline is to make sure they know it’s intended for them.

When writing your headlines, ask yourself: what do these people want? Why do they care about my product or content? Writing your headlines with these questions in mind helps you be more specific, which makes your copy more impactful.

Check out these examples:

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• Example App: The #1 Tool for HR Leaders
• Here’s Why Event Creators Choose PromoApp 

Communicate value right away

No matter where your headline is being read, it’s important to make the benefits of clicking on it clear to your reader right away.

Whether it’s important information, a discount, or something that will help them save time, make sure to lay this out as clearly as possible in your headline.

Here’s a few examples:

• 10 Website Conversion Tips to Capture More Leads
• Facebook Ads in 2022: How to Lower Your Ad Costs
• How to Prevent and Avoid Migraine Triggers

Make emotional connections

People are more likely to click on a headline that triggers an emotional response. 

In fact, ads with purely emotional content perform twice as well (31% vs. 16%) compared to those with only rational content. Here are a few examples:

• How to Take Command of Your Next Meeting
• TGIF: 12 Ways to Treat Yourself After Working Hard All Week
• How to Wow Your Clients With Your Next Marketing Report

How to write homepage headlines

The easiest way to write a headline for your home page is to write a few and choose the one you like best, then A/B test which versions perform best.

The most important thing to keep in mind when writing home page headlines is that it needs to march your brand voice. Think about it: your website probably isn’t the first time someone has interacted with your brand — they probably saw you on social media or found you through a Google search — so you want this to be a seamless brand experience.

Some ground rules include:

• Stick to a similar tone
• Use the same vocabulary (write for an 8th grade reading level)
• Include familiar sentence structure

Website homepage headline examples 

Now that we’ve covered the basics, here are a few examples to get you going: 

• Introducing _____
• The New Approach to _____
• _____, Staring at Just $_____
• Refresh Your _____
• A Fresh Approach to _____
• Meet Your New _____
• The #1 _____ for [your audience]
• The Best _____ for [your geo-location]

How to write blog headlines 

A great blog post title catches a reader’s attention, tells them what they’ll get out of the article, and encourages them to click and learn more.

Luckily, you have lots of opportunity to convey that messaging: a 2020 study by SEMrush found that headlines between 10 and 13 words can double your traffic and increase social shares by 1.5x compared to headlines with seven words or less.

If this sounds like a lot of work, don’t worry: a study from Orbit Media found that most content marketers only draft two or three headlines per post.

Image via OrbitMedia

Blog headline examples

The trick to writing effective blog headlines is to start with the purpose of your post and your audience in mind. Ask: what is the clearest and more interesting way I can state what this post is about?

If you’re still stuck, try using some of these headline examples to get started:

• _____ Tips From Experts on _____
• Everything You Need to Know About _____
• _____ Examples to _____
• How to _____ When You _____
• How to _____ in [Time Frame]
• _____ Ways to Start Doing _____ Today
• How to _____: Best practices
• What is _____? (And How to [Solve/Fix/Do] It)
• How _____ Can Help Your Business
• _____ Ways to Improve _____

How to write Google Ads headlines

An effective ad headline needs to convey enough information that people will want to click on it, without giving everything away before they click.

Before we get too deep into Google Ads headlines, let’s talk quickly about something you should understand: response search ads.

What are responsive search ads?

Responsive search ads are a Google Ads format that can “blend” elements of pre-written headlines and descriptions to create ads that are “responsive” to a user’s search query.

With traditional ads, you create a single, static ad, but with responsive ads you can write up to 15 different headlines and up to four different descriptions which can be arranged in over 43,600 ways!

Google will automatically test different combinations of headlines and descriptions to figure out which work best together, so over time your responsive ads will show the more relevant message to users depending on what they’re searching for, their browsing history, and other defining characteristics. 

Responsive ads best practices

Now that we’ve covered what a responsive ad is, let’s discuss some of the basics:

• You can write up to 15 different headlines, so we suggest at least 10
  
  
• Headlines need to be shorter than 30 characters, but we suggest varying up headline lengths (at least a little bit) since Google can sometimes show as many as three headlines
  
  
• Switch up your headlines so some include your target keywords, while others highlight benefits, features, and other elements that drive clicks

Google Ads headline examples 

Since we have multiple headlines to work with it’s important to be creative and have lots of variety. Here are a few examples to get you started:

• _____ in [your geo-location]
• Voted Best _____ of 2022
• Find Your _____
• Get Your Quote Today
• The Best _____
• _____% Off Your Purchase
• [Your brand] vs. [your competitor]
• Free Shipping
• Try 30 Days Risk-Free
• Save With _____

How to write Facebook Ad headlines 

Facebook ads should be short and to the point, with emphasis on the images or visual assets instead of the copy itself. 

According to research from Adspresso, the average length of a Facebook Ads headline is five words — meaning you need to get to the point as quickly as possible.

Facebook Ad character limits

One of the most important things to remember when writing your ads is that you don’t want your text to truncate (when it’s too long and gets cut off with a “...”) — this makes your messaging unclear and can reduce the number of people who click on the ad.

With this in mind, here are the latest limits to keep in mind for Facebook Ad text:

Facebook Feed ad character limits

• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 25 characters
• Link description: 30 characters

Facebook Stories Ad character limits

• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 40 characters

Facebook Carousel Ad character limits

• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 40 characters
• Link description: 20 characters

Facebook Right column ad character limits

• Headline: 40 characters

Facebook Instant Article Ad character limits

• Headline: 40 characters
• Primary text: 125 characters
• Description (images): 30 characters

Facebook Marketplace Ad character limits

• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 25 characters
• Link description: 30 characters

Facebook Ad headline examples 

Here are some examples to get you started:

• Order Now to Get _____
• Save _____ on _____
• Start Your Free Trial Now
• Do _____ With Confidence
• Accomplish _____ With _____
• Gift the Gift of _____ This [holiday] 
• Sign Up for _____ Today

How to write LinkedIn Ad headlines

Just like with Facebook, LinkedIn ads show the image or video first, with the copy being secondary. The most common types of LinkedIn Ads are single-text ads and promoted content posts where you can use up to 70 characters in your headline.

As we can see, the headline appears below the image and the ad text, which means the goal is to reinforce the message conveyed in the image and encourage people to click.

LinkedIn Ad character limits 

Just like Facebook, you don’t want your text to truncate and muddle your messaging so you’ll want to keep character counts in mind.

That being said — LinkedIn offers a lot more options for ad types (Message Ads, Video Ads, etc.) that don’t specifically have headlines, so the list below includes only LinkedIn ad types that have headline requirements: 

LinkedIn Single Image Ad character limits

• Name of ad (optional): Up to 225 characters
• Introductory text: Up to 150 characters
• Headline: Up to 70 characters to avoid shortening (but can use up to 200 characters)
• Description: Up to 100 characters to avoid shortening (but can use up to 300 characters)

LinkedIn Carousel Ad character limits

• Name of ad: Up to 255 characters
• Introductory text: Up to 150 characters to avoid shortening on some devices (255 total character limit)
• No more than two lines in each card’s headline text
• Character limits: 45-character limit on ads leading to a destination URL; 30-character limit on ads with a Lead Gen Form CTA

LinkedIn Follower Ad character limits

• Ad description: Up to 70 characters
• Ad headline: Choose a pre-set option or write up to 50 characters
• Company name: Up to 25 characters

LinkedIn Spotlight Ad character limits

• Ad description: Up to 70 characters
• Ad headline: Up to 50 characters
• Company name: Up to 25 characters
• CTA: Up to 18 characters

LinkedIn Lead Gen Ad character limits

• Form name: Up to 256 characters
• Headline: Up to 60 characters
• Details: Up to 70 characters to avoid truncation (Up to 160 characters total)
• Privacy policy text (optional): Up to 2,000 characters

LinkedIn Ad headline examples

Since our LinkedIn Ad headlines need to support the heavy lifting happening in the image and text sections of the ad, we want our headlines to be clear and to-the-point.

Try these out:

• Start _____-ing Today
• Introducing _____: Learn More
• Try Our _____ Today
• Request Your Demo Today
• The _____ You Need to Get the _____ You Want
• Grow Your Business With _____
• The Only _____ You’ll Ever Need

Use these headline examples to get more clicks

Headlines can be hard to write — but they don’t have to be! By leaning on the examples we listed in this article you’re already on your way to creating headlines that are on-brand, packed with information, and are more likely to capture clicks from your target audience.

If you’re still struggling to write scroll-stopping headlines, we’d love to help! Drop us a line and let’s chat.

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