Five times as many people read the headline as read the body. It is the one line worth spending an hour on, and it is usually the line people write last and fastest.
Headlines that work usually do one of three things
- Name the outcome: "Get your books closed by the 5th, every month."
- Name the enemy: "Stop paying for software your team never opens."
- Say the specific thing plainly: "Payroll for restaurants with hourly staff."
Clever headlines usually underperform clear ones. A pun makes the reader do work before they know what you sell, and readers who are one tab away from leaving do not do work.
Vague vs specific
Vague: Empowering businesses to reach their potential
Specific: Bookkeeping for restaurants, closed by the 5th
Vague: The future of team productivity
Specific: Cut your standup from 30 minutes to 5
The subhead does the second job
If the headline names the outcome, the subhead says how. If the headline names the mechanism, the subhead says what changes. Between them they should answer "what is it and why should I care" without the visitor scrolling.
Try it
Write fifteen headlines, then cut every one that could be used by a competitor without changing a word. Whatever survives is actually about you.