If we read every piece of content put in front of us each day, we’d get nothing else done. Instead, we skim.
This is what makes writing a good headline critical to getting clicks, but also hard to do.
That’s why today we’re going through 88 headline examples to help you grab the attention of your audience and make a memorable impression.
Any great headline is appealing to the desired audience and enticing enough to want to click to read or find out more. How a headline does this effectively is different based on where it’s going to appear.
For example, blog post headlines need to let the reader know why they should read the post and what they can expect to learn:
Ad headlines need to make the offer clear and convey why clicking is worth anyone’s time.
But there are a few headline writing tips that can improve headlines for any place whether it’s a blog post, a website, or an ad platform. Here are some ways to make any meh headline better.
That means skipping out on “better” and choosing more descriptive terms. Think stronger, faster, tastier—or unbeatable, unstoppable, unmissable. You don’t necessarily need to bust out your thesaurus and break out any fancy or five-dollar words. But you do need to think outside of the norm and get creative with your words and phrases when you’re headline drafting.
Need some inspiration? Here are over 350 power words to use.
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Quick grammar lesson: Passive voice occurs when the subject receives the action of the sentence, and active voice occurs when the subject performs the action. Active is preferable for a lot of reasons—it’s clearer, more dynamic, and oftentimes more concise. Stick to it in your headlines.
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Active voice is more engaging and dynamic, but starting a conversation is even more powerful. The best way to do that in a short headline? Ask a question. Whether it’s a rhetorical question describing the benefits or a dare to encourage your audience to click, it’s a compelling opening. And that’s what the best headlines are. Openers.
When you’re writing a headline, keep your audience in mind. What do they want? What do they like? What motivates them. Why do they care about your product or your content? Writing your headlines with your target audience or persona in mind helps you get more specific, which makes your ads stronger.
You need to make the benefits clear—and quickly. Regardless of the location of your headline, you’re working with a limited number of characters. In order to get your audience to engage further, you need to make it clear why they should do so. Whether it’s a discount on a purchase or important information, the benefit you’re offering should be front-and-center of any successful headline.
Emotional responses make people remember better, and it makes the benefits of a product, a purchase, or a piece of content clearer. Take the Facebook Portal commercials that I can’t get out of my brain, for example. They don’t focus on the technology or the design—just the emotion. (Seriously, I dare you not to cry when she says “grandmother.”)
Anxiety, anyone?
We all read so much copy all day. Subject lines in our inboxes. Push notifications from our banking apps. Directions on Google Maps. And that’s all before leaving the house or starting work for the day. When you’re working on headlines, keep all this in mind and infuse some life into your copy. If you’re having fun writing it, that energy will show. And what stands out against all of the boring notifications better than a playful headline?
Now, here are the blog and ad headline examples that you can use to create your own playful headlines that actually perform.
In order to write a compelling blog post title you need to draw the reader in, keep them engaged, set the tone for the article, and set expectations for the material covered in the article.
That might sound like a lot to pack in, but don’t worry. You have space. In a 2020 study, Semrush found that headlines between 10 and 13 words can bring in twice as much traffic and 1.5x as many social shares than headlines than fewer than seven words.
Even though these are the longest headlines you’ll be writing, you don’t need to block off hours in your schedule to workshop your blog post titles. Orbit Media found that most content marketers only draft two or three headlines before choosing one for the post. Even better for your schedule, more drafting doesn’t mean better performance.
The key is starting with an angle and a purpose for your post in mind. Now, here are some strong blog headline examples so that you can skip your second draft and get that blog post published.
Mistakes I might not know I’m making updated for this year? That’s a click for me, BetterMarketing .
For more help with blog post titles, check out our Headline Writing Tips for More Clickable Blog Posts.
Great ad headlines supply enough information to interest your audience while at the same time leaving them wanting to know more. Google Ads headlines are a bit trickier now with responsive search ads, since it’s best to provide 10-15 different headlines that Google can mix and match. So before we get into the examples, a few things to note on responsive search ads best practices:
You’re almost always going to want your brand name to appear to make the most of the impression even if you don’t get a conversion. Then, you can include other more compelling, more specific copy in a second or third headline.
Here are great examples of Google ad headlines from Warby Parker.
Since you have three headlines to work with, you’re going to need to get creative. Here are some Google ad headline examples for inspiration.
Active voice, direct benefit, and a curiosity gap? Excellent headline.
You can get some more inspiration from these Google Ads headline formulas, but just be sure to avoid these five Google Ad copy mistakes.
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The best way to write a headline for your homepage is actually to write a few. In order to figure out what works here, you need to A/B test and see which version performs best.
When you’re drafting your homepage headlines, though, be sure to stick to your brand voice. This likely won’t be the first interaction someone has with your brand; they’ll have clicked through from social or the SERP. You want to make sure it’s a seamless experience that establishes your brand’s personality, so your company sounds the same in your ad copy and on your website. Stick to a similar tone, recognizable vocabulary, and familiar sentence structures in your headline.
Now, here are some homepage headline examples that you can start testing.
The Facebook organic post character count seems to be getting longer and longer. As of last year, the platform allows for more 63,000 characters in a single post. That’s a heavy status update.
Facebook ad copy, in contrast, should be short and to the point, with the emphasis on images rather than any lengthy copy. AdEspresso found that the average length of a Facebook ad headline is five words. That means to write a successful headline for Facebook, you need to get to the point and get to the benefit of clicking quickly.
Here are some Facebook ad headline examples to get started:
Your Photos & Memories On a Blanket—
We provide more Facebook ad headline writing tips here.
LinkedIn allows for headlines up to 70 characters on your ads. As with Facebook ads, your headline won’t actually be the copy that your audience sees first. In the common single-text ads and promoted content posts, the headline appears under the brand name, under the intro text, and under the image, right above the URL.
Here, Mailchimp’s headline is “Try our Customer Journey builder.”
Because your headline appears below these other elements, it doesn’t need to be as eye-catching or informative. You have your text and your image to do the heavy lifting on introducing your business, your offering, and it benefits.
Instead, your LinkedIn headlines needs to pack a punch and get your audience to click. Here are LinkedIn ad headline examples that get straight to business.
Whether you’re seeking employment, self-employed, or work for a business, your LinkedIn profile headline serves the same purpose as any ad—to catch attention and show your value. Headline types vary depending on your situation, but here are some examples:
As mentioned at the start, headlines are hard to write—packing all that information, all that brand identity, and the push to convert into just a line or two is a copywriting challenge.
But you don’t have to start from scratch. Use these homepage, blog, and ad headline examples and templates to write copy that sells Good luck!
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