Six free tools to help you create powerful headlines
Are you creating useful, informative, interesting content yet getting few visitors to your site or blog? Maybe you’re wondering why no one or very few people are clicking on the headline you’re promoting on Google or sharing on social media?
It may be time to start thinking about ways to improve your headlines.
You see, while having a page show up at the top of the search results is important and while likes, shares and comments on social media are important, if your audience doesn’t click on your headline to read your content, then what’s it worth? Nothing.
According to CopyBlogger, on average eight out of ten people will read your headline title, but only two out of ten folks will go on to read your content.
Upworthy’s co-founder, Peter Koechley, even goes so far as to say:
“The difference between a good headline and a bad headline can be just massive. It’s not a rounding error. When we test headlines we see 20% difference, 50% difference, 500% difference. A really excellent headline can make something go viral.”
But how do you create that magnetic, irresistible headline?
You probably know the general advice on how to write effective headlines:
- Offer useful and valuable advice with “how to” content or “top X” lists
- Use emotional words
- Include relevant keywords
- Create a sense of urgency
All of this is true and useful. However, for time-crunched individuals like you and me, it can be a challenge to spend hours perfecting the most click-worthy headline. This is where tools come in handy.
Now’s the time to put these six fantastic free headline tools to work. Use them to craft magnetic headlines and titles not just for your landing pages and sales pages but also for your blog posts and any piece of content that needs an eye-catching title (think: infographics, webinars, podcasts, presentations).
1. CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer
Want to know if your headline is catchy as well as properly optimised for search engines? CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer is a good place to start.
Enter your headline and it will get graded based on the use of power words and attraction phrases, headline length, and more.
The cool thing about this tool is that you can start with a simple headline and then, based on the results, tweak it to get a higher score. Along with the results, you’ll also get suggestions and tips on how to improve the title.
The tool also keeps a history of all your previous headlines so you can compare and see how your score has changed based on your tweaks.
Here’s an example:
Don’t hesitate to use this tool to get started working on your headline, and then use two-three other tools from this list to spice it up a little more.
2. Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer
This tool will analyse your headline and give it a score based on the number of emotional words it has compared to the total number of words in your headline.
The goal is to help you generate a headline that you can use to reach and connect with your audience.
The tool is easy to use. Simply input your headline into the text area and you will get an EMV score in percentage.
Many professional copywriters have 30-40% EMV words in your titles, while the most talented ones have 50-75% words in the headline.
3. Sharethrough’s Headline Analyzer
Want to give your headline a little extra zip? Run it through Sharethrough’s Headline Analyzer tool.
This tool will grade your headline based on:
- Strong human connection
- Passive vs active voice
- Use of emotional words
- Length
In fact, it takes into account more than 300 unique variables to help you craft headlines that capture attention, increase engagement and deliver a stronger impression. In other words, these variables make your headline irresistible and click-worthy.
What’s great about this tool is that it also provides suggestions for improving your headline, each with best practices and examples.
4. Portent’s Title Maker
If you know the general topic of the content you’re writing but aren’t sure what the right angle is, then give Portent’s Title Maker a chance.
It’s a fun tool that you can use to spice up your headlines and titles.
It’s easy to use. You’ll need to enter your topic and the tool will return a headline, complete with amusing commentary.
Keep in mind though that some of the headline suggestions are somewhat BuzzFeed-like. If that’s not consistent with your brand personality and voice, then this isn’t the tool for you.
In addition, there’s no algorithm in place or quality factors that would recommend the headline suggestions as being effective. So, if you find a headline you like, make sure it’s relevant to your content and that it makes sense to use on your website or blog.
You can also use part of the headline or run it through other tools, like the previous ones we’ve mentioned, to make sure it’s right for your specific audience.
5. TweakYourBiz.com Title Generator
This is another good tool for generating headline ideas for website copy and blog posts. Input your topic and away you’ll go.
For example, let’s say your topic is “photography”. Add the word into the field at the top of the page. Then select whether that word is a noun or a verb and hit submit.
The tool will return a huge list of suggestions from a number of different angles, including:
- Lists
- How to
- Questions
- Secrets
- Business
- Motivation
- Problems
You’ll notice that in some cases the titles come out a little off-base. However, from so many suggestions and angles, you’re bound to find a headline to use or even one you can tweak using the other tools on this list.
6. Headline Generator
Headline Generator is a useful tool to create punchy headlines for sales letters. But it can work just as well for generating headline and title suggestions for your website pages and blog posts.
Compared to the other tools mentioned here, it’s more interesting and sophisticated. To use it, you’ll need to answer a few questions about your product or service and the results you’re claiming it can help prospects achieve.
Based on your answers, the tool will return a generous list with headline suggestions. Here are just a few of them for time-saving software:
Wrapping up
Now you have a list of six fantastic tools to help you create compelling headlines and titles for your landing pages, sales pages, blog posts and your content.
A note of warning, however: these tools aren’t perfect. In some cases, the suggestions turn out to be misleading or click-bait headline ideas that you surely want to avoid using. In other cases, the grammar leaves much to be desired.
But when used wisely, these tools can help you to come up with unique and catchy headlines that’ll get more people to click and read your content.
