How to Write Copywriting Headlines that Sell (With Examples)

Copywriting consists of many different elements, with the headline being one of the most critical – if not the most. Statistics show that 8 out of 10 people read headlines, but only 2 will continue reading. Copywriting headlines are the first thing that readers see in copy, so they serve as the hook, opening line, and first impression to catch their attention and incite their curiosity. 

In other words, headlines can make or break the success of your copy. While they aren’t meant to sell products by themselves, they’re designed to draw readers in to expose them to the rest of your ad. This means that if your headline isn’t compelling enough, readers drop off early on, resulting in missed opportunities to close sales. 

With all that said, headlines are extremely challenging to write, so this guide aims to help you understand the ins and outs to nail this element in your copy.

8 Kinds of Headlines to Know

Different types of headlines are used in copywriting, and choosing the right type is important to create the desired impact with your audience. Below are eight kinds of headlines to know about to give you an idea of how to structure your copy. Note that the headline categories may sometimes overlap, so you need not restrict yourself to each type too rigidly.

Question Headlines

Question headlines pose a question to the reader, engaging their curiosity and interest. Ideally, the question shouldn’t be answerable by a simple yes or no since the goal is to make people continue reading to find answers.

The seed ad above poses an interesting question – “Does your probiotic have whole-body benefits?” This makes the audience curious to know more about the benefits of probiotics or even consider if their current probiotics covers all aspects of their health. In turn, they are likely to click on the ad to learn more about the topic and find answers to the question.

Direct Response Headlines

Direct response headlines are also known as command headlines. They follow the principle of direct response copywriting, which is intended to drive immediate action – whether to make a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, or download a lead magnet. In general, this type of headline is straightforward and written with an action verb and the desired action. 

Most copy tends to be ‘versions’ of direct response headlines since many brands run ads with the main goal of generating sales. However, not all ads need to explicitly promote offers or include discount codes.

NERD Focus’ ad below is a good example of an ad designed to retarget users by using the “buy now” approach, highlighting the main product benefit – smarter energy – and the 20% discount code.

Indirect Response Headlines

Indirect response headlines are the opposite of direct response headlines in that they don’t state the main point explicitly and instead use subtlety to create intrigue. Indirect response headlines are designed to evoke a sense of mystery, leaving the audience curious to learn more about the brand or product.

For example, Pelican Products’ headline above is indirect since it does not outright state what the product is. The words “Built to Protect,” coupled with the image of a faceless man carrying a big case outdoors, is vague and open-ended, which leaves a lot to the imagination.

“How to” Headlines

“How to” headlines promise to teach readers knowledge or skills that may solve a problem or address a question they have. As the name implies, this type of headline is written with “How to” followed by whatever insight you want the audience to take away. It’s a classic formula that works well in most types of copy since it clearly states what value people get from reading.

While the TULA ad above doesn’t explicitly have the phrase “how to,” it utilizes the same principle by offering a step-by-step process to achieve radiant skin. The headline focuses on providing new knowledge or teaching readers something specific that relates to the brand’s proposition – probiotic skincare for healthy skin.

Testimonial Headlines

Testimonial headlines leverage the power of social proof by featuring positive feedback or reviews from customers. They instill trust and give customers objective proof that your product works or delivers the promised benefits. When using testimonial headlines, it’s best to use the customer’s exact words to make it more genuine and believable.

For example, this Squishface ad features a carousel with multiple testimonials from customers, notably “It made such a difference!” and “Lightened stains a lot!” In addition, the ad features before and after photos shared by customers themselves, which adds another layer of credibility to convince customers that the product works.

Emotional Headlines

Emotional headlines tap into readers’ emotions to build a strong connection and encourage them to engage with the content. Whether you target positive or negative feelings in your headline, this technique helps resonate with the audience on a deeper level.

This headline from The Good Patch appeals to readers’ emotions by addressing a problem the audience faces. The emotional appeal comes from the fact that the headline targets individuals who may be concerned about their appearance or well-being, which may ultimately affect the way they feel.

“Reason why” Headlines

“Reason why” headlines explain specific reasons for certain situations, offering logical points to convince readers of the value you offer. Despite their name, these headlines don’t necessarily need to include the phrase “reason why,” as long as they have the same goal of providing customers with reasons that relate to your product’s benefits or features.

Take this example from PAKA, a sustainable outdoor apparel company. The headline “5 Reasons Why People Are Packing Alpaca” clearly highlights their products’ benefits by focusing on reasons why people choose their brand over others. Upon clicking the ad, you’re directed to a landing page that also contains headlines to summarize each main point.

Since the headline is the first that readers see at each step of the process, PAKA can create multiple ads with different headlines that all direct to the same landing page to target different audience segments. The headlines don’t need to match up perfectly but should generally be relevant to what the landing page is trying to convey.

“Best” Headlines

“Best” headlines rank items and highlight the best-performing ones in a particular category or topic. They appeal to readers’ desire for quality, superiority, and selecting the best possible option in their purchases. These headlines are associated with articles that compare brands or products to simplify the decision-making process and shorten the buyer’s journey.

That said, it’s worth noting that ‘best’ headlines may not be that effective in social media or paid campaigns since customers don’t typically compare products on social media platforms and instead do so via Google search. 

For example, the headline in this Cosmopolitan article zooms into the 17 best lip glosses of 2023, which gives readers a clear idea of what to expect – lip gloss reviews and rankings to help them understand their options.

Upon clicking on the article, the headline captures the readers’ attention further by stating that even lip-gloss ‘haters’ will love their recommendations. The article then goes on to rank the featured lip glosses and provide detailed descriptions for each to help buyers with the decision-making process.

6 Helpful Tips on Writing Great Headlines

Familiarizing yourself with the many types of copywriting headlines is important to create the most relevant headlines that resonate with your audience. However, regardless of what type you use for your copy, it’s equally important to know best practices in writing great and effective headlines. Below are six tips to help you get started.

Understand who your audience is

The key to nailing any headline – and any other element of copywriting – is to understand your audience. What are their needs and pain points? What problems are they trying to solve? Knowing all these is critical to tailor your headline, whether through the wording, topic, or tone, to appeal to the target audience.

Keep it short

Users nowadays have extremely short attention spans, so you have to capture them in a matter of seconds. To do this, your headlines should be kept short and concise. While there’s no strict rule in terms of length, the best headlines usually range from seven to five words. According to a study by AdEspresso in 2018, the average length of Facebook headlines was five words.

Take, for example, the same Nugenix headline below. It’s short, concise, and direct, making it easy to understand and get the main message.

Now, consider this other headline from the same brand:

While more text may provide more context, the headline is not as compelling since it takes longer to get to the point. Too many filler words also dilute the impact and make it difficult to grab the reader’s attention immediately while they are browsing through social media.

Be simple, clear, and straight to the point

Headlines that are clear and easy to understand are more likely to connect with your readers. By using simple language, people can grasp your message immediately and decide to continue reading. In contrast, complex terms may drive readers away and prevent them from even clicking on your ad.

For example, take a look at this example from Nerd Focus again:

The headline gets straight to the point by communicating the key points – a 20% discount on a product that provides you with smarter energy. 

Consider if the brand opted for a longer, flowery headline such as:

“Unlock the Power of Your Mind and Boost Energy Levels with Nerd Focus — Don’t Miss Out on the Limited-Time Offer at 20% OFF”

This variation of the same headline ultimately has the same message but contains more words and takes longer to read. While it provides more context, the use of excessive words can distract the readers and cause them to lose interest or feel overwhelmed.

Use powerful words that trigger emotional responses

The concept of power words has become popular in copywriting because it’s simple and easy to understand. Power words refer to emotionally charged words designed to trigger a strong response from the audience. While using them can be effective, it’s not a simple matter of squeezing in different words just for the sake of adding them into your copy.

Power words should be specific to your audience’s pain points and goals. It’s not so much the words themselves but the meaning and context behind them that draw readers in and push them to convert. Without considering who your audience is and what they need, your headline ends up with unnecessary filler words that add no value. 

Instead of forcing specific words into your copy, think of how to connect with your audience. One way to think of it is that “power words” can be broken down into three categories:

Product Characteristics

This category contains language that describes the product’s features or ingredients or provides information on how to use it. When writing your headline, incorporate specific product characteristics your audience is interested in or looking for to grab their attention.

“Towards Pleasure”

This category contains language that leads readers towards pleasure by zooming into their desires and aspirations. By tailoring your headline to focus on what your audience wants or looks for in a product, your message can trigger positive emotions and appeal to them.

“Away from Pain”

Where the second category focuses more on values and goals, this category contains language that moves readers away from pain. It highlights the audience’s pain points, obstacles, or things that have hindered them from achieving their goals. By addressing these in your headline, you can position your product as the solution to help overcome these barriers.

Create urgency

Creating a sense of urgency in your headlines compels people to take action now rather than later. Common strategies used include time-sensitive or limited offers, both of which trigger the fear of missing out (FOMO). In effect, customers are more likely to make impulse purchases and immediately grab the opportunity presented. 

For example, this ad from SkinnyFit incorporates urgency by highlighting the last day of their sale as the reader’s “last chance to save big.” This motivates readers to purchase from the brand now to avoid missing out on big discounts.

Make several headlines and test which one works

Testing different headlines is crucial to optimize your copy and generate the most conversions. The process works by creating several variations of headlines and testing them on multiple audience segments to determine which performs best. 

More than creating effective headlines, testing also helps you understand your audience better. By trying out different elements, you gain insights into what type of headline appeals best to your readers. With continuous testing and optimization, you can refine the headline creation process and improve your copywriting skills.

Test your headline with these free tools

Many factors come into play in writing effective headlines. Having a good grasp of each one helps you understand how to create multiple headlines to test out. 

Note: Writing for SEO is different than writing for social media or paid media. Keep that in mind when picking tools to use.

• Search Engine Optimization. Optimizing your headlines for search engines helps improve your visibility and organic search traffic. By incorporating relevant keywords or phrases that align with the content, you can boost your search ranks and attract more potential customers. However, not all types of copy require extensive SEO, with one example being direct response copy.
• Readability. Good readability is another important factor that impacts the effectiveness of headlines. The easier the headline is to read and understand, the more likely the audience will capture the main point and engage. This, in turn, encourages them to explore the rest of your copy.
• Word Count. The length of your headline also plays a role in its impact and effectiveness. Depending on the platform, there may be restrictions on word or character count, so the key is to strike a balance between brevity and conveying the necessary information.

Experimenting with the three factors above will help you come up with different headlines to test out. If you’re unsure where to begin with headline testing, here are five tools to check out:

• Capitalize My Title’s Headline Analyzer: This tool helps you analyze the capitalization of your headlines to ensure they follow the appropriate title case or headline style. It also provides suggestions to improve capitalization for maximum impact.
• Google Analytics: While not particularly focused on headline testing, Google Analytics offers powerful insights into a website’s performance and provides comprehensive data on rates and engagement metrics, which may help you assess the effectiveness of your headlines.
• Google Optimize: This website-testing and optimization tool allows you to set up tests to experiment with different headline variations. It provides insights and data on user engagement and conversions, allowing you to identify the most effective headlines. In addition, the tool provides feedback on factors such as clarity, sentiment, engagement, and social-sharing potential to help you optimize your headlines. Note: Google Optimize was sunset in 2023 and Google did not make their own version of this tool for GA4.
• CoSchedule Headline Analyzer: This tool evaluates your headlines based on numerous factors, including emotional impact, word balance, and headline length. Aside from offering a comprehensive analysis, it also provides further suggestions for improvement.
• Sharethrough Headline Analyzer: This tool analyzes your headlines and provides an engagement and impression score for each to help you gauge their effectiveness. It also has a testing history that allows you to track how your scores have changed.

Are headline templates good to use?

Using headline templates can simplify your writing process. They can save you time by giving you a framework to organize your thoughts more easily. In general, headline templates have a proven formula to capture people’s attention and generate interest.

It’s important to note that they come with limitations and don’t necessarily work in every situation. Different industries and target audiences require different copywriting approaches, so there’s no one-size-fits-all template that works in all cases. Templates can also be overused, making your headline generic since it looks like all others.

If you’re interested in trying them out, here are five online resources that offer a range of templates:

1. Copyblogger: 22 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work
2. CoSchedule: 50+ Headline Formulas and Templates
3. Carminemastropierro: 283 Headline Copywriting Templates You Must Have
4. Better Marketing: 24 Headline Templates That Lead to Magnetic Titles
5. Ship30for30: 25 Headline Templates & Formulas You Can Use in Your Own Writing

If you need some ideas or inspiration to aid the writing process, there are also tools that help generate creative headlines based on keywords or topics provided. Here are 3 free headline generators you can explore:

1. HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator
2. SEMRush’s Title Generator
3. SEOPressor Blog Title Generator

Should headlines include keywords?

Keywords play an essential role in search engine optimization (SEO) by helping websites rank higher in search results. However, when it comes to writing headlines in direct response advertising, keywords are not as relevant. 

Headlines in direct response advertising aim to catch the readers’ attention, generate their interest, and drive them to take immediate action. In contrast, SEO – where keyword optimization is critical – is focused on driving organic traffic and increasing search ranks. Adding keywords in headlines may not align with the main purpose of direct response advertising, unless your content is specifically written for SEO purposes. 

That said, keyword research is useful to better understand your audience, particularly the way they speak and what phrases or terms they use when searching. Knowing these gives you insights into their interests and preferences, which will be valuable in creating relevant and engaging headlines.

As mentioned, it’s important to note that not all copy needs to be part of an SEO strategy. The best practice will be to adapt your traffic and conversion strategy to each platform. For example, when creating landing pages for Facebook Ads, optimizing for SEO scores might not be as effective as employing social media marketing strategies to convert prospects.

Similarly, targeting popular keywords in headlines comes with advantages and disadvantages. Popular keywords with high search volumes can help you reach a larger audience, but there’s also competition to consider. Naturally, popular keywords will have higher competition associated with them, which makes it more challenging to stand out. 

Instead of solely focusing on keywords, work on finding that balance between relevance and uniqueness to create compelling headlines that convey your brand’s and product’s value. By understanding your audience’s needs and pain points, you can write headlines that connect with them most strongly and push them to take action.