Why are headlines effective

Those are all possible titles for this piece that I discussed with my editor. And, actually, the one that we picked may be the most important part of this article. By now, everyone knows that a headline determines how many people will read a piece, particularly in this era of social media.

But, more interesting, a headline changes the way people read an article and the way they remember it. The headline frames the rest of the experience.

Psychologists have long known that first impressions really do matter—what we see, hear, feel, or experience in our first encounter with something colors how we process the rest of it. Articles are no exception. And just as people can manage the impression that they make through their choice of attire, so, too, can the crafting of the headline subtly shift the perception of the text that follows. By drawing attention to certain details or facts, a headline can affect what existing knowledge is activated in your head.

By its choice of phrasing, a headline can influence your mindset as you read so that you later recall details that coincide with what you were expecting. But it does likely prompt a focus on one specific part of the piece. As a result of these shifts in perception, problems arise when a headline is ever so slightly misleading.

The article, however, said no such thing, or, rather, not exactly. It is easy to understand a decision to run that sort of opening. This time around, he wanted to see how nuance and slight misdirection would work. In a series of studies, out this month in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied , Ecker had people in Australia read either factual or opinion pieces, where the only shifting variable was the headline.

Do you want to educate your audience? Entertain your readers? Inspire action? Use adjectives and action verbs in your headline that appeal to your target audience or that serve the subject matter.

Write three or four different headlines, then compare them. Why do you like one over the others? Get a customized content analysis for your business including how you stack up against your competitors. See where you could make the biggest impact in your content marketing!

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