{"id":175,"date":"2016-11-02T06:30:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T10:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greentreemedia:8888\/?p=175"},"modified":"2019-01-09T07:20:10","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T12:20:10","slug":"5-types-of-headlines-our-brains-are-wired-to-click","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greentreemediallc.com\/5-types-of-headlines-our-brains-are-wired-to-click\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Types of Headlines Our Brains Are Wired to Click"},"content":{"rendered":"

8 out of 10 people will read your headline. Only 2 out of 10 will read your article.<\/p>\n

I was going to try to write some witty statement or smart ass remark but I think those statistics kind of drive the point home on their own. Your headline is the most important piece of your article or post.<\/p>\n

With sobering statistics like that it\u2019s pretty clear why a headline needs to be engaging and makes people want to click it and share it. Headlines that get clicks and shares drive more traffic, both from search engines like Google as well as social media platforms.<\/p>\n

Writing a great headline is hard work though. Some of the best copywriters in the industry say you should spend a majority of the time spent writing focusing on your headline and with good reason.<\/p>\n

Let me throw another statistic at you: people who do read headlines generally skim through them, only reading the first 3\u00a0words and the last 3 words<\/strong>. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to start and<\/strong> finish strong.<\/p>\n

So what makes for a great headline? What makes people want<\/em>, or even better yet, need<\/em> to click on your headline?<\/p>\n

Psychology, baby.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

5 Types of Psychology Backed Headlines<\/h2>\n

Question Headlines<\/h3>\n

Headlines that pose a question are great attention grabbers as long as: the audience doesn\u2019t already know the answer, it\u2019s a subject they are interested in, the question can\u2019t simply be answered with a \u201cno\u201d unless you immediately provide the answer.<\/p>\n

For example, the headline \u201cIs Your New Password Secure?\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0is ok, but it can be answered with \u201cno.\u201d A better rewrite of this headline would be \u201cIs Your New Password Secure? What You Need to Know.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0In this example, the reader could have answered \u201cno\u201d but the second statement provides the immediate benefits of reading the article \u2013 what they need to know.<\/p>\n

Another example that can\u2019t be answered with a simple \u201cno\u201d would be \u201cWhat Should Your New Password Be?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one would ever guess \u2018password\u2019 as my password for everything, would they?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Curiosity Gap Headlines<\/h3>\n

Our brains are programmed to be curious and we love novelty.<\/p>\n

The \u201ccuriosity gap\u201d refers to the gap between what you already know<\/strong> and what you want to know<\/strong>. It reveals this gap to the reader, which in turn makes them inclined to close it (read your article to get the answer).<\/p>\n

To write a curiosity gap headline, you provide a statement with bit of (incomplete) information regarding something your reader is interested in without giving everything away.<\/p>\n

Upworthy.com<\/a> uses curiosity headlines pretty extensively<\/strong> (and successfully) \u2013 here are some actual examples, taken right from their website:<\/p>\n