25+ Ultimate IDEAS for SEO Optimized Titles and Headlines

When you produce content, there are two options: Either it goes through the roof or nobody cares. And I tell you, it is often just a matter of how you formulate a headline!

There are people who are easy on this and can work wonders with their headlines. And that definitely goes beyond listicles or the clickbaits. That’s why you should take inspiration from these true masters and use headline formulas to get your content clicked.

In this post I have written down many easy-to-implement headline formulas and their possible uses for which you can use these Ideas.

Before I explain the individual ideas to you, I would like to take a look at psychology.

On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.

DAVID OGILVY

The quote from advertising guru David Ogilvy puts it mildly. Just take a look at one of your tweets by linking to an article. How many people saw your tweet and how many actually clicked it? I bet there are more than five times as many people.

That said, the headline was probably not good enough!

In addition, KISSmetricsreports that readers tend to read a maximum of the first three and last three words of a heading. That is, a six-word headline would be ideal. But be honest, how often is your headline six words long? Therefore, it is important to pay attention to which words are at the beginning and at the end of your headline.

Well, 90 percent of good headline writers are obsessed with creating the perfect headline and the remaining 10 percent are looking for a formula. We both now belong to them. Here are the best headline formulas I’ve found:

1.      The ‘ultimate’ headline formula

In This Formula First a number Is used followed by adjective to attract the reader attention right after that keyword is used and reason related to keyword at the end a promise is made for emphasizing the title. You can rearrange the formula according to you your requirements.

Numbers + adjective + target keyword + reason + promise

Example: 10 best shoes for fast running  that will make you feel Comfortable.

2. Betteridge’s Law of Headlines

The heading formula in this case is pretty simple: be careful when asking questions.

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines was invented by British technology journalist Ian Betteridge after seeing a growing trend in question headlines on the web. The law says:

Any headline that ends with a question mark can be answered with the word no.

For example, this headline, “Can a Photographer Really Capture Love?” Could be answered with the word “No,” so we could rephrase the headline as “The Impossible Task of Capturing Love in Photos: How These Photographers Did It” instead.

3. Do something worthwhile like an expert

Gatorade’s “Be Like Mike” campaign is one of the best examples of how a desired outcome can be linked to a desirable entity.

If you don’t have a Michael Jordan to put on your headline, you can go generic too. The formula for this is:

[Do something worth striving for] like [an expert] without [something expected & undesirable]

Example: blog like an all-star – without ruining your free time

4. Interesting adjectives & unique nouns

This headline writing formula calls for:

[interesting adjectives] + [unique nouns]

whenever possible.

Example: Awesome examples, careful lessons, brilliant strategies, underrated ideas

5. Amazing Headline + Supplementary Headline

This formula contradicts the “6-word heading strategy” mentioned above. However, with specific words, this formula can really do a lot. Start with a good headline, then put a colon and add a complementary headline.

[Amazing Headline]: [Supplementary Headline]

Example: The Fine Art of the Apostrophe: How to Cope with the Most Difficult Punctuation Problems

6. SHINE headlines

This five-part formula should apply to every headline. The acronym SHINE is composed as follows:

S – Specificity

H – Helpfulness

I – Immediacy

N – Newsworthiness

E – Entertainment value

Example: The best five minutes (immediacy) you will spend today (entertainment): The latest tips (newsworthy) from SEARCH ONE (specificity) to build quality links (helpfulness).

7. The SEO headline

With most of the formulas mentioned, you can add SEO tips to the formulas in no time at all. But this headline formula explicitly highlights the SEO added value.

[Adjective] & [adjective] [SEO added value] [relative pronoun] [highly desirable result promise]

Example: Creative and useful content marketing trends that will bring you more traffic immediately

8. Who doesn’t want it

This formula works on the principle of social reliability:

Ask a question that implies that a lot of people have already expressed a wish for [XY].

Example: Do you also want a really simple solution for slow loading times?

9. The secret

This formula can work in several fun ways. Share your insider knowledge in the most secretive way possible:

The secret of / behind [subject]

Example: The secret of writing a killer blog post every day

10. Unknown methods

This is, so to speak, the cousin of the headline “The Secret of ” and takes a slightly different, fascinating perspective. Formulate your headline as if you were sharing the unknown.

[Number] unknown methods to [do something]

This is to induce the reader to think, “Unknown methods? Ha! I bet I know them! ”And of course they’ll click the article to prove to themselves how smart they are. Of course, this formula can be combined with numbers and beautiful adjectives.

Example: 12 completely unknown ways to get more traffic to your website.

11. The quick way

The advantage of this formula is obvious:

Offer help immediately and as helpful as possible.

That means you get a quick method that promises to fix a problem.

Example: WP Rocket is the quick solution to improve your loading times.

12. You will be proud

This formula ensures that we are more self-satisfied and proud after the “work” is done and thus implies that the instructions are promising and of extremely high quality.

[Create] [something] that you can / will be proud of.

Example: Build an online community that you can be proud of.

13. What everyone should know

This formula is another good mix of social proof and challenge. It involves you and makes you curious as to whether you already know the information in the article or not.

What every [target group] should know about [topic]

Example: What every SEO should know about marketing on Pinterest

14. Lessons learned

This formula attracts attention and gives the reader security:

[Number of] lessons I learned from [activity]

The headline encourages readers because it lets them know that someone has tried, experimented, and learned from their experiences.

Example: 17 lessons I learned while writing a new blog post every day for a month

15. Survival

Similar to the previous formula, this one has a calming effect, because others feel the same and have done it. People love to have a beaten track and a direction to follow:

How to survive your first [activity]

Example: How to survive the first 100 days in a remote team

16.Peter Sandeens ‘How to Make Headlines’

Blogger Peter Sandeen provided an incredible resource of over 100 headline formulas together and has broken them down into helpful classifications. For example, we are all familiar with the traditional “how to” headings. Here are some alternatives from Sandeen to the tried and tested “How to”:

Formulas:

How one ____

How To ____ – The Essential Guide

How to ____ how ____

How to ____ even if / without ____

How to ____ during ___

How to use ____ through ____

How to Achieve ____ in Five Easy Steps

Example: How to get more reach on Facebook without paying a cent.

17. Headline + little extra

Basically, you are emphasizing a statement in your main heading again separately. This is most commonly found in so-called Listicles articles. First comes the heading of the list and then a certain element is explained in more detail again.

[Number] [adjective] possibilities / ways to achieve [goal]. Today we try No. [number].

Example: 13 Fantastic Ways To Build A Followership On Facebook. Today we try # 5.

18. The mini headline

You can also have great success with mini headlines. Especially in an environment that is bursting with long titles, you can easily stand out from the crowd:

Use 4 words or less

Here is a selection of headlines teasing Zen methods, for example:

• Do not waste time!
• The art of omission
• Relaxation through surrender
• Feel the moment!

19. The double dilemma

If you can think of two good headlines that are different from each other, just use them together in one headline. This idea works similarly to the example above with an additional heading:

Heading 1 + Heading 2

Example: 14 Unbeatable Twitter Tips: 14 Strategies to Get the Most Out of Twitter

20. The appetizer

Pull out a bullet or two from a listicle and start with them. Then comes the actual heading of the listicle.

List 1 and 2: [Topic of the Listicle]

Example: The burrito principle and beyond: 12 new marketing ideas that are memorable, implementable, and useful

21. Scientifically backed.

Add terms such as “research-based” or “scientifically substantiated” or “scientifically sound” to your headlines and your headline will be more credible. You should really only use these supplements for scientific articles. Otherwise the credibility will be over again;).

[Title] scientifically substantiated

Example: The 10 most unusual ways to be happy, scientifically proven

22. The ultimate guide

Tutorials and guides are very popular and useful. Readers expect complete content here so that they then know all the important information on the topic and can apply what they have read.

The Ultimate Guide to [Topic]

The Beginner’s Guide to [Topic]

Example: The Ultimate Guide to Content Reuse: 12 Ways To Extend The Life Of Any Article You Write

23. The ultimate list

If you blog very extensively on a topic, feel free to use the phrase “the ultimate list”. These articles are usually well clicked.

The ultimate list of [subject]

Example: The ultimate list of the best WordPress plugins

24. Short, cute, numbered and interesting

This formula covers every element of what makes a good headline and nothing more:

[Number or trigger] + [interesting adjective] + [keyword] + [promise]

Example: 13 far-fetched theses to investigate

25. Write 25 headlines and test the best

Upworthy’s famous editorial processwas one of the keys to the explosive growth in the popularity of their content. Upworthy always wrote 25 headlines for each story, tested the best, and picked the winner.

Here are some Upworthy rules for writing impactful headlines:

• Don’t reveal everything in the headline.
• Don’t reveal everything in the introduction either, use either a photo or text.
• Do not give the reader an opinion, he should form it for himself.
• Don’t exclude anyone.
• Don’t sexualize your headlines in ways your mom wouldn’t approve of.
• Don’t think too much about it. You will not succeed in some of your headlines. Accept it and keep writing.

Writing 25 headlines sounds like a good idea indeed, but have you really heard of someone who actually does it? No? Then just start with it;).

It makes sense to first write as many good headings as possible and then test the best of them in a test with real readers. If you’re looking for a tool to test and optimize headlines with, check out Thrive Themes’ Headline Optimizer at.