How to Write Strong Headlines (Even If You Know Nothing)
Do your titles suck? Copy someone else’s.
There’s always some type of debate going on amongst writers: Should you write every day or not? Should you format your piece this way or that way?
Beginners get stuck in the middle. They don’t know which steps to take next.
There are a bunch of “rules.” Everyone’s got opinions, but no one’s absolutely right or wrong. You don’t have to agree or follow all of the “rules” you read about — but you should follow some.
One of the rules all writers should follow, especially in the beginning, is writing strong headlines. You should take time to learn how to write titles, what to avoid, and what captures readers’ attention.
For now, the best thing you can do is steal other writers’ headlines.
You won’t steal their stories. What you steal is how they share their content. So, yes, in this article, I’m going to turn you into a thief.
What Does a Good Headline Include?
A good headline captures attention. Your reader has to think one of the following:
- This looks like it’ll make me a better person
- I’m going to miss out if I don’t read this
- This will help me reach my goals
- I’ve never heard this point of view before — what if I’m doing everything wrong?
- This will help me learn something and grow
- This looks like it’ll entertain me and make me laugh
How your headline captures attention depends on your piece, but the point is that the potential reader stops and clicks. It has to clearly promise a result for the reader.
Don’t make it cute or confusing. Readers aren’t here to decipher what you’re trying to say. Whatever your article is about is exactly what your title should state.
So, how do you write a good headline? By practicing.
How do you practice? You steal other writers’ headlines.
How to Steal Headlines Like a Writer
I used to read countless content that said I should study the headlines good writers wrote. I had no fucking idea what that meant — until I did.
If you look at some of the top writers’ headlines, many of them have similar titles. You’ll see similar templates with different content.
That’s what you steal: the templates. Here’s how.
Last month, Danny Forest wrote an article called “Apply This Method Every Month to Raise Your Focus and Motivation.”
In that title, there’s a template and a topic. You have to copy the template (the bolded text), not the topic: Apply This Method Every Month to Raise Your Focus and Motivation.
That leaves you with: Apply This Method Every [Blank] to [Blank]. You fill in the blanks.
For example, I could write, “Apply This Method Every Day to Become a Better Writer.”
Where Do You Find Good Headlines?
If you want to find good headlines, go through your reading list right here on Medium. You bookmarked those articles because they captured your attention. Those are the ones you want to emulate.
You could also go to the top writers’ profiles and study their headlines there. For now, let’s look at more examples.
I went through my reading list and found this one by Megan Holstein: “If You Want to Own a Writing Business, You Have to Do More Than Write.”
If the content is about owning a writing business, that means the template is: “If You Want to [Blank], You Have to [Blank].”
You could turn that into “If You Want to Get More Work Done, You Have to Manage Your Time.”
Again, you steal the template and then add your own content topic in it. The other day, Michael Thompson wrote, “Want to Reach Your Goals? Learn How to Hold Yourself Back.”
Want to and Learn How to are the template. The rest is for you to fill out.
Using that template, I wrote an article called, “Want to Reach Your Dream? Learn How to Overcome Doubt.”
More Headline Examples
Tim Denning: 11 Things You Need to Know About Medium Curation
Template: [#] Things You Need to Know About [Blank]
Jordan Gross: This Is What Happens When Your Dream Comes True
Template: This Is What Happens When [Blank]
Ayodeji Awosika: The 3 Mistakes Keeping You From a Profitable and Lucrative Side Hustle
Template: The [#] Mistakes Keeping You From [Blank] and [Blank]
Brianna Wiest: 7 Thought Patterns Holding You Back From the Life You Want
Template: [#] Thought Patterns Holding You Back From [Blank]
Kris Gage: 10 Signs We’re Unhappier Than We Realize
Template: [#] Signs We’re [Blank] Than We Realize
Nicole Akers: How to Scrape Hope Together When All Seems Lost
Template: How to [Blank] When [Blank]
Some other popular templates I use are:
- How to [Blank]
- How to [Blank] Without [Blank]
- How to [Blank] and [Blank]
- [#] Simple But [Adjective] Ways to [Blank]
- [#] Easy Ways to [Blank] (When All You Want to Do Is [Blank])
- What to Do When [Blank]
- [#] Thoughts That Will [Blank]
When Can You Be More Original?
In a few years, when you’re more popular and have more readers, you’ll have more freedom to play around with your headlines.
Ayodeji Awosika writes long headlines — longer than some people recommend — but he can get away with it. Niklas Göke sometimes writes headlines that don’t follow familiar structures:
As does Kris Gage:
But they both have over 55,000 followers. That’s not to say you can’t be original like that in the beginning, but your goal should be to get eyes on your content.
If no one knows you, they’re going to want headlines they know. So, for now, give them that.
Go through your reading list. Break down the headlines that capture your attention, and then add your own content to the rest.
