How to Write a Good Press Release Headline

Writing a Press Release in 7 Simple Steps

The headline plays a very significant role, whether your press release distribution gets read or not. It is because it is the first thing they read.

And with this fact, only interesting, newsworthy and catchy headlines get the attention of the readers. Those who were enticed by the headline are the only one who would read the first sentence.

Five times as many people read the headlines than the body of a content.

This is the truth, the headline is very significant in any type of content. If written well, it can pull readers to continue reading the body of the release. However, a poorly written one can sway away readers to look for another content to read.

A well-crafted headline matters in the success of your campaign. You must ensure that every word you include there matters.

Why headlines are important?

• It is the first thing an audience read before your copy.
• It creates the first impression to the readers, whether they stay or not to continue reading.
• It can boost conversion rates.
• It can increase the opportunity to earn media coverage.

Write headlines that would encourage readers to read the first sentence. Whenever you write the headline, ensure that it is powerful and convincing enough to make the readers read the first sentence of the content.

When you’re successful in getting their attention and get them to read the first sentence, it ensures that you’re not wasting your investment. Why? When they read your content, there is a great chance that they visit your site and make a purchase later.

In this post, we’ll discuss what you can do with your headline to make it more appealing and interesting for your audience. Certainly, there are things you need to ensure that you’ll not miss.

• Make it unique.

You need to think of a unique headline. Just keep this in mind, if it looks the same as others, your content will not get read. It looks ordinary, so it wouldn’t stand out.

When your audience read your headline, make sure that it creates an impression that they are missing something if they wouldn’t read your copy.  A unique headline looks different from the rest, so they are more likely to click on your content than others.

Just take for example the advertisements that people see on the television. Every ad looks and sounds the same. It seems there’s no variation at all.

So, people become bored of it. Instead of paying attention, they just ignore it. It’s the same with headlines.

A unique headline can make a huge difference to make the audience click to your content. If you’re different, your customers are more likely to check your content and see what makes you different. It can result to more conversion.

• It should have a sense of urgency.

As mentioned, a unique headline can provide a sense of sense of urgency that your potential customers don’t want to miss on something. When you create headlines like this, they are more compelled to reading your announcement.

To accomplish this, think of the needs of your customers. Target that need. Think how you can craft a headline that would compel them to read.

Your readers may think that if they will not continue reading, they wouldn’t find the answer to their question, or a solution to their problem. This would trigger them continue reading after the headline.

• It should be useful.

Headlines that express usefulness for the readers is one of the core reasons why they would click to your content. It’s a no brainer. If they can’t find any benefit, they wouldn’t waste time reading it.

People want to know why they would get from your content. If they continue reading, they should get the benefit that you promised in the headline.

Write headlines that include the “usefulness” factor. Go back to your news. If you’re promoting a new product, service, event or a milestone, what can they likely get from it?

If you fail to communicate it, they wouldn’t spend time reading. There are also times when companies use the click-bait strategy. They promise something that isn’t found in the copy.

You may have high click-throughs, but you wouldn’t be successful in improving your conversion rates. If they were convinced with your headline because you promised something, they should find it in the body of your release.

Otherwise, if they get disappointed because they can’t find it at all, they would move away. Worse of all, they would remember your brand.

They can write a bad review about you. The last thing you don’t want to happen is losing your credibility and authority because you didn’t do what you promised.

• It must be specific.

Your headline must be specific that your readers would have the opportunity to weigh, whether your content deserves to be read or not. If you don’t provide enough information, they wouldn’t know if your offer is something they are interested in.

If your headline isn’t specific, you could lose readers and potential customers. You could have written a great piece, but your headline lacks substance that they turned away. If they thought that it doesn’t offer something important due to missing information, they would not pay attention to it at all.

Most of the time, companies commit the mistake of writing clever headlines, without thinking how it can impact the readers. Don’t forget that they are smarter now.

For instance, if your headline reads “The Good and the Bad.” If you want to win your audience, you should have written something more specific. What is good and bad?

Are you talking about the good and bad effects or a person’s good and bad experience? The headline seems incomplete that it is hard for the readers to understand what the message is.

Moreover, it’s not only the message that wouldn’t be clear. The audience would find it hard to determine who the target is. If your headline lacks information and substance, expect that it will just be ignored.

• It must target the emotions.

One of the styles that you can use in writing headlines is to convey emotions. People are naturally emotional.

Make the emotions surface in your headline. Use “power words for emotional selling.”

Since people are triggered when you hit their emotions, use this in capturing their attention. First, you need to know what triggers their emotions.

You need to identify your audience. What do you think would compel them to read your content if you hit their emotion?

Happiness, sadness, surprise, shock or fear? If your story can include this, you’ll see that it effectively works.

Once you have crafted your headline, read it loud. Do you feel any emotions? Keep in mind that people purchase something because of their emotions.

If they are happy with your brand or product, or they are satisfied with your service, they are more likely to read your story. Moreover, they would buy from you.

• It must have statistics.

If you have data or statistics in your story, use it in the headline. For instance, if your release is about your findings that more than 80 percent of people in the United States are internet users, you need to show this in the headline.

Again, people are attracted to numbers. If they see numbers, it compels them to click because it gives them the message that something is important.

For example, if your headline reads, “10 Tips to Create Successful Marketing Campaigns,” it gives readers a message that they can acquire tips if they click beyond the headline. If you promised 10 tips, make sure that it is exactly 10 tips that you’re sharing.

Some writers promise a certain number, but fail to present it in the content. Numbers are elements that make the headline more compelling and interesting. Don’t forget to highlight it if you have some important data to share.

• It must have the primary keyword.

Headlines should be optimized for the search engines. Place the primary keyword within the first to three words in the headline.

It gives readers a hint that they’ve found the right content. Moreover, Google gives more weight for keywords placed at the beginning rather the end part.

However, make sure that you think of a headline that makes use of the keyword sensibly. Don’t force it in there because it doesn’t sound right at all.

• It must be concise.

A good headline must be short. It is good for the eyes of the readers and for the search engines.

The sweet spot is 65 to 70 characters. Google cuts off words after the limit. However, despite this rule, a study has found that 77 percent of the surveyed releases went beyond the character limit.

In the study, it was revealed that:

• The average headline has a length of 123 characters.
• About 2 percent of releases have headlines that exceeded 300 characters.
• Approximately 18 percent of releases had headlines of 65 characters or less.

Writing useful and compelling headlines is a must for your releases. You must be able to convince your readers to read past the headline.

Once you succeed, you’ll have a better opportunity to provide added information, or encourage them to visit your site. Whatever goal you have, it is easy for you to reach it.