In my last article I wrote about How To Sell More And Beat Your Competition With Perfect Headlines.

If you read this, you’ll know that headlines sell content.

Which is why I think this is the perfect follow up.

Giving you 10 of the most effective headline words of all time, and a few examples to go along with them.

Secrets

The word ‘secrets’ immediately attracts our curiosity, because it suggests something we’re missing out on.

Somehow we’ve missed a trick.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• The 10 Secrets To Making Your Traffic Explode
• The Secret To Killing It Online
• This 1 Secret Helped Me Lose 50 Pounds When Nothing Else Would

Truth

What is the truth? It’s something we’re always seeking.

The truth of something plays on the same feelings as ‘secret’. Our curiosity and desire to know the real deal.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• Do You Want To Know The Truth Behind Celebrity Weight Loss Successes?
• What Is Truth Behind Richard Branson’s Success

How To

How to…

Probably the two most used words in online marketing headlines.

This word (well technically, words) is so powerful because we always want to know more. We love simple how to content that makes our lives easier and helps us do stuff.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• How To Drive More Traffic
• How To Get More Sales Online.
• How to make an autonomous robot attack dog with laser beam eyes and machete paws. (O.k maybe not that one).

Experts

Experts are…

That’s become a fairly familiar opening to content on the internet. For good reason. An hours teaching from an expert is worth at least 10 hours of self study.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• Experts Are Saying This One Thing Will Change Your Life Forever
• Experts Suggest You Should NOT Do This 1 Thing

Sale

Write a ‘sale’ headline and watch the traffic flood in.

People love sales. We love to feel like we’re getting a bargain.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• The Biggest Property Sale Of This Century — Don’t Miss It
• The Biggest Bitcoin Sale Of This Year — Who Bought It?

Are You

The are you headline format is an effective one because it’s open ended and makes you think.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• Are You Guilty Of This Web Design Faux Pas?
• Are You A Born Entrepreneur?
• Are You Missing Out On This Digital Goldrush?

Love

What do you love?

Love is a powerful word, which is why it makes powerful headlines.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• How To Find A Business You’ll Love
• How To Build A Life You’ll Love
• Psychologists Say This Is A Proven Way To Figure Out What You Truly Love Doing

New

Who doesn’t love the next big thing?

This is where the word ‘new’ comes in.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• New Research Suggests That There Is More Than One Way To Skin A Cat
• New, New Research Suggests That You Should Never Actually Skin A Cat
• New Research Also Suggests Headlines Sell Content And People Skim Content So Might Not Even Read This (but if you do, it broke the monotony of your scrolling search of new info).

Breaking

Have you ever seen a headline with the word ‘breaking’ in it and thought — that sounds boring?

I don’t think so! It’s breaking news!

Breaking news just means it’s new, super fresh, just off the press and this powerful headline word can be used in just about any scenario.

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• Breaking — Vegetables Are Good For You
• Breaking — Hard Work Pays Off
• Breaking — Facebook Might Not Be So Private After All

Hate

This is the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. On the one hand we love which is positive, the second strongest emotion is hate, which is a negative emotion.

Any headlines that evoke a powerful emotional reaction are good writing/journalism in action (within reason).

Some examples of this powerful headline word in action:

• Why Most People Hate Getting Up In The Morning (Backed By Science)
• Hating Exercise Is A Good Thing — Here’s Why
• Don’t Hate The Player — Hate The Interest Rates

I hope you found this article useful and it gave you a few headline ideas, and that some of my made up headlines brightened your day a bit.