Client Spotlight: Kristen Donnelly, Ph.D., is an award-winning speaker, author, and researcher. The founder of Abbey Research, she partners with corporations to build cultures no one wants to quit. A graduate of Pathway to Publication, she wrote “Gen Z 101: How to Develop Talent Across Generations” for the Association for Talent Development.

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When it comes to the work you do, what are some of your soapbox issues? What is some common advice your clients get that is just flat-out wrong? Where does your industry oversimplify a challenge your clients face? Where does it overcomplicate a challenge your clients face?

This week, I started creating a list of bad advice independent consultants get about building their authority and growing their business. I've started to draw little red flames next to each piece of advice. A single flame indicates that while I disagree, the advice is relatively harmless.

But five flames? Burn that shit to the ground.

There's a lot of five-flame advice out there, and I intend to write about it all. I expect I will come in a little too hot sometimes and have to moderate my stance. I also expect that I have some big old blind spots that will come to light and that I will need to address.

Today I am inviting you to play the role of my interlocutor, adding your perspective to the conversation and challenging my thinking when you disagree. And if that isn't a role you want to play, I hope my soapbox occasionally gives you pause for thought.

Today's piece about headlines ranks relatively low on the flame scale. I do, however, hope you can feel the depth of my eye-roll at the overly dramatic, life-and-death quote in the second paragraph.

We are, after all, only talking about headlines.

Read on!

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The ABCs of Writing Effective Headlines

Your headline is the first thing a reader sees. In most cases, it is the only thing a reader sees. A frequently shared piece of marketing lore holds that eight out of 10 people stop reading an article after viewing the headline.

That statistic is often used to scare people into believing that headlines are damn near impossible to write. In fact, in an article published by the Content Marketing Institute, the author references the above statistic and then writes: “So, headlines don’t just matter. They act as the life or death determiner of your content [emphasis added].”

That kind of statement is not helpful. It is likely to either paralyze you every time you try to write a headline or push you to write an emotionally manipulative headline that succeeds in getting more clicks but turns off the people you are trying to reach.

The amount of online content has exploded over the last twenty years. And we’ve been optimizing our headlines to get more clicks since headline analyzers first came on the scene more than a decade ago. And yet, that 8 out of 10 statistic still holds true.

It’s the 80/20 rule in action. 

When you’re writing articles for your blog or a high-visibility publication, you aren’t writing for everyone who might see your piece. You’re writing for the 20% who are interested in the topic. They are the people who deserve your time and attention.  

What is an effective headline?

The effectiveness of a headline depends on the purpose of the piece. For outlets like BuzzFeed and Upworthy, the purpose of each published article is to drive advertising revenue by attracting website traffic. The effectiveness of a headline is thus measured in large part by the click-through rate, which is the percentage of viewers who click on a headline to read the article. It’s an easy metric to measure and an easy metric to manipulate. 

To improve click-through rates, the writers and editors on these platforms have refined the art of writing clickbait headlines. These headlines use manipulative, sensationalized, or misleading language to grab people’s attention and entice them to click through to read the article. The accompanying article is typically much less interesting than the headline might suggest, and what sparse relevant content appears is buried under a barrage of nonsense. 

Clickbait is a tool of tabloid journalism. 

The articles you write have a different purpose. Instead of driving advertising revenue, the articles you write are intended to build your authority and help your readers get to know, like, and trust you. The articles are a form of service. The headlines of these articles are effective if they inspire the right people to click through to read the article. You aren’t trying to trick anyone into clicking through to read your article; you are trying to help those who are interested in the topic see your article as one worth exploring further.

How do you craft an effective headline?

To craft an effective headline, follow the ABCs of journalism:

• Accurate. An effective headline identifies the topic of the article and lets the reader know what they can expect when they click through to read the piece.

• Brief. An effective headline is short and to the point. 

• Clear. An effective headline is easy to understand; it is clear instead of clever. It speaks directly to the relevant audience in the language they use. 

Your headline works with the article to establish trust with your readers. The headline is your promise to the reader. The accompanying article delivers on that promise. Effective headlines don’t need to be catchy or clever. Headlines that ask the same questions your readers are grappling with are reliable workhorses that get the job done. 

And that’s all that matters.

How can you improve the effectiveness of your headlines?

Once you have a solid foundation in place and can confidently write an effective headline, look into ways to improve. To get started, take a look at the headlines appearing on the homepage and section landing pages of industry publications. Study the headlines to understand the structure and identify the ones you find most compelling. Consider adopting that same structure for pieces you write for your blog.

Many publications use a headline and a deck (a subtitle). If you decide to adopt this structure for your blog, or if you are writing for a high-visibility publication that uses this structure, study how those two elements work together. It might be helpful to keep a swipe file — a collection of sample headlines — to use for inspiration. 

When you’re writing for a high-visibility publication, take the time to familiarize yourself with the publication’s style so you can mimic it easily. By mimicking the publication’s style in your articles, you please your editor and appease the algorithms. You might also capture the attention of the homepage editor or social media editor, who might promote your article to a broader audience. While the percentage of people who read your article won’t change, a broader audience results in a larger number of readers.

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We’ve been trying to optimize our headlines to outsmart the 80/20 rule for over a decade. And yet, unless you’re writing a piece for your newsletter, where the readers subscribed to your newsletter to make sure they heard from you, the majority of people who see one of your articles won’t get past the headline.

That’s okay. You aren’t writing for everyone; you’re writing for the people who will find value in what you have to say.

You are writing articles to build your authority and help those who read what you write get to know, like, and trust you. You aren’t writing for the clicks, the likes, and other vanity metrics. So, take a few minutes and write an accurate, brief, and clear headline. Then publish that article. 

Don’t let the quest for a perfect headline keep you from sharing your work.  

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Upcoming Events

The Authority Lab™ 

Interested in learning how to build your authority by writing for your blog or a high-visibility publication? Join me on Wednesday, February 11, at 11:55 AM Eastern, for a mini-training on how to identify and reach your audience, followed by a Q+A. I host this free event every month. Register here.

Master Class: How to Write for High-Visibility Publications

In this free 60-minute master class, I will share the SILVA Method™ and walk you step-by-step through the process I use to help my clients secure bylines in publications like Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and TD Magazine. Join me for a master class on Tuesday, February 24, at 1:30 PM Eastern. Register here.

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If you'd like to explore working together, drop me an email or book a call. I'd love to learn more about you and your business and how I might be of service.

Take good care,

Ready to Invest in Building Your Authority?

If you're ready to invest in building your authority through writing, there are three ways we might work together:

1. Writing Practice: A community that offers monthly writing, peer editing, and skill-building workshops. Membership is $150 a month. Write on!
2. Pathway to Publication: A high-touch, personalized accelerator for consultants ready to build their authority by writing for high-visibility publications. Tuition is $1,000 a month. Apply today.
3. Authority Development: One-to-one services that help you create and implement an authority development strategy. Learn more.

AI Disclosure Statement: I used LanguageTool, an AI-based grammar checker, to review this newsletter. I also used a custom fact-checking GEM that I developed for my Writing Practice community to fact-check this article. To learn more about how (and when) I use AI, review my AI Usage Policy.