March 11, 2025 • 25 mins
Episode #123: [AI in Action] Headline Hacks – The AI Tool That Helps You Skyrocket Engagement & SEO
If your content isn’t getting clicks, it’s not your content… it’s your headlines.
Did you know 80% of people read headlines, but only 20% actually click? That means your headlines have one job: grab attention and make people want more.
So, how do you write headlines that stop the scroll, boost engagement, and rank on Google?
In this episode of Tech Savvy 101, I’m breaking down Headline Studio by CoSchedule, my go-to AI tool for optimizing headlines. I’ll show you exactly how it works, why it’s a game-changer, and how you can start using it today to instantly improve your click-through rates and SEO rankings.
By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to write headlines that stand out, attract the right audience, and get real results.
IN THIS EPISODE, I DISCUSS:
➔ Why your headline is the most important part of your content strategy.
➔ The key elements that make a headline irresistible.
➔ How to use Headline Studio to optimize your headlines for engagement & SEO.
➔ Actionable tips for writing click-worthy headlines that drive traffic.
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them—at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and love!
📌 Headline Studio by CoSchedule → https://coschedule.com/headline-studio?referralCode=hs_1081547
📌 Watch the YouTube demo of this episode for a hands-on tutorial → https://youtu.be/728Mvj8Zxjs
📌 Join the Waitlist for AI Evergreen Content Machine → https://thesarahbaker.com/ai-evergreen-content-machine-waitlist
Other Episodes of Tech Savvy 101 About Keyword Research & SEO:
🎙️ Episode #113: [AI in Action] Keyword Research Made Easy: A Beginner’s Guide to SEO with Keywords Everywhere → https://thesarahbaker.com/episode-113
🎙️ Episode #122: SEO Made Simple: How to Get Found on Google Without Being an Expert → https://thesarahbaker.com/episode-122
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
01:13 – Why Headlines Matter
03:12 – Key Elements of a Strong Headline
06:31 – Introducing Headline Studio by CoSchedule
06:53 – Using Headline Studio: A Step-by-Step Guide
16:18 – Tips for Writing Click-Worthy Headlines
23:35 – Conclusion and Next Steps
📲 Send us a text! Let us know what AI + Automation Topics you want to learn about next!
LET'S CONNECT
📺 YouTube
📱 Instagram
🖥️ Website
💻 Facebook Group
SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
Loved this episode? Please leave a review! If today’s episode got you excited about simplifying your systems and embracing AI, be sure to hit subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah Baker (00:00):
Did you know that right this second your dream
(00:03):
client might be scrolling pastthe content that you spent hours
creating?
All because your headline didn'tgrab their attention in the
first three seconds.
Ouch, right?
Welcome back to Tech Savvy 101: AI Automation Made Simple. (00:14):
undefined
I'm your host, Sarah Baker, yourtech savvy bestie, who's here to
help you simplify your business,embrace automation, and save
hours every week.
Today's AI in Action episode isgoing to be a total game changer
for anyone who creates any kindof content.
(00:34):
I'm talking blog posts, YouTubevideos, podcast episodes,
emails, social media posts.
Literally everything you createneeds a headline that wows.
I will be sharing my screen inthis episode to show you exactly
how to use my favorite AIpowered tool that's completely
transformed my own contentstrategy and the SEO game.
(00:56):
By the end of this episode,you'll know exactly how to write
headlines that not only stop thescroll, but also help you rank
higher in organic searchresults.
All without staring at yourscreen for hours while trying to
come up with the perfectwording.
Let's dive right in.
So why is your headline the mostimportant part of your content?
(01:17):
Well, let's start out with aharsh truth that shocked me when
I first heard it.
According to Copyblogger, 80percent of people will read your
headline, But only 20 percentwill actually click through to
read or watch the rest of yourcontent.
That means if you have 100people who see your content, 80
(01:37):
percent of them will make thedecision about whether to
continue on and read or engagewith your content based solely
on your headline.
No pressure, right?
Think about that for a second.
You could spend days creatingthe most amazing blog post,
filming the perfect YouTubetutorial, or recording your best
(01:58):
podcast episode ever.
But if your headline sucks andfalls flat, 80 percent of your
potential audience will neverexperience it.
All your hard work for nothing!Your headline is literally your
content's first impression.
And just like meeting someonenew, you only get one shot at
(02:18):
making it count.
So whether you're writing a blogtitle, or naming your YouTube
video, or creating a subjectline for your email newsletter,
or crafting the perfect podcastepisode title, that headline is
what stops the scroll and getspeople's attention.
But here's the other criticalpiece that a lot of people miss:
(02:39):
headlines are not just forhumans anymore.
They are also for search engineslike Google and YouTube.
These platforms use yourheadlines to figure out what the
heck your content is about,which directly affects your
rankings and how discoverableyour content is.
So a strong headline is actuallydoing double duty.
(03:01):
It's grabbing attention fromreal people and it's signaling
to search engines that yourcontent deserves to be seen.
So, what makes a strongheadline?
Now that we understand just howfreaking important headlines
are, let's break down whatactually makes a headline
effective.
There are five key elements thatevery high performing headline
(03:23):
should include.
First, it needs to be reallyclear and specific.
Vague headlines just aren'tgoing to cut it anymore.
Everyone's attention is beingpulled in a hundred different
directions.
So, you need to be crystal clearabout what your content is
offering.
Why is it going to help me?
Why is it worth me stopping myscroll and not watching that
(03:45):
really cute dog video that comesafter your content?
And why should I click through?
For example, instead of aheadline like"improve your
business," which is super vague,and I'm not going to click
through to that.
You'd want something like"5simple strategies to increase
revenue in 30 days." Now youhave my attention.
See how much more specific thatis?
It tells the reader exactly whatthey're going to get and why
(04:08):
they should want to read on.
Second, your headline should bebenefit driven.
People are always thinking,what's in it for me?
Your headline needs to answerthat question immediately.
Here's an example.
Instead of"email writing tips,"I mean, what kind of tips?
Tell me more.
Try"how to write emails that get40% more opens without feeling
(04:31):
spammy." I'd read that.
The second one clearlycommunicates the benefit.
More people opening your emails,which is way more compelling.
It's a problem so many businesspeople have, and I want 40
percent more opens, and I don'twant to be spammy, so I'm
willing to click through, and Ibet a lot of other people are
(04:54):
too.
Third, your headline needs to bekeyword optimized.
If this scares you, itshouldn't, it's easier than you
think it is.
I have done multiple otherepisodes on keyword optimization
and I'll link to them in theshow notes.
This is this SEO piece thathelps the search engines
understand what your content isabout.
If you want to rank for certainterms, they need to be in your
(05:16):
headline.
For instance,"Best SEO Tools forBeginners in 2025." This clearly
tells both readers and searchengines exactly what the content
covers.
Fourth, your headlines should beemotionally engaging.
According to CoSchedule,headlines with emotional words
(05:37):
increase clicks by 20-30%.
That is huge.
So instead of writing,"writingbetter headlines," boring, try
"the secret to writing headlinesthat demand attention." That
power word, demand, and also thesecret.
Those Words trigger curiosity,which is a powerful emotion that
(06:01):
drives clicks.
And finally, use numbers as wellas power words.
Conductor found that headlineswith numbers get 36% more clicks
than headlines without them.
Numbers provide clarity and setexpectations about what the
reader will get.
For example,"7 proven headlinehacks to boost your clicks."
(06:23):
That tells the reader exactlywhat they're going to get and is
a much stronger headline thanjust"ways to improve your
headlines." Now for the funpart, I want to introduce you to
my absolute favorite tool forcreating better headlines.
Headline Studio by CoSchedule.
This is an AI powered tool thatanalyzes your headlines and
helps you optimize them for bothengagement and SEO.
(06:46):
So if you are listening to thisepisode, you can grab the link
to see the YouTube videotutorial in the show notes.
As you can see on my screen, Ihave navigated to
HeadlineStudio.com.
Let me show you how it workswith a real life example.
Let's say I'm writing a blogpost about headline writing.
I know this is super meta.
But let's start with a basicheadline like, how to write good
(07:09):
blog titles.
So we're gonna put this in, howto write good blog titles.
I'll type that into HeadlineStudio and I'll hit analyze.
You can see that it's given me aheadline score of 63 and an SEO
score of 48.
These are okay, not great.
We're looking for higher scores.
(07:30):
You can also see that it hasgiven me the headline scores in
yellow.
Headline Studio works on thestoplight system.
Red, yellow, and green.
These scores are yellow meaningthat they're okay, red scores
would be needs work, and greenscores are what we're looking
for.
The scores range all the way upfrom 0 to 100, obviously the
(07:51):
higher and closer to 100 you getare better scores, and it
doesn't just tell you yourheadline score, but it also
tells you where and how you canimprove.
So let's look at the feedback.
Let's break it down.
The other thing we can do is wecan look at what type of
headline we're writing.
So in this drop down next towhere I've entered the starting
(08:13):
headline, we can tell it whattype of headline we're working
on so we can look at a blogheadline, a YouTube headline,
email, podcast, Tiktok,Instagram, an ad headline,
LinkedIn, or just standardheadline.
This is really helpful becauseeach different platform might
rank differently, especially ifyou're on social media versus
(08:36):
YouTube versus a blog, or apodcast or an email headline.
They also all have differentrecommendations for character
length.
One of my favorite things alsois that it will show us the
recommended headline length interms of characters as well as
word length.
(08:56):
It will also show us what itwill look like when it pops up
in Google, so we'll know if ourheadline is too long and likely
to be truncated or cut off.
This is important becauseobviously we want our entire
headline to show up.
So for our sample headline ofhow to write good blog titles,
it's telling us that ourheadline is a little bit short
(09:18):
because six words is a littlebit light and character length,
the recommended characterlength, is about 50 to 60
characters, which is 10 to 12words.
Our current headline is only sixwords and 29 characters.
So it's telling us it'srecommending that we We increase
the length of our title toimprove its SEO readability.
(09:41):
As we scroll further down, it'salso telling us to increase our
emotional words, our uncommonwords, and decrease our common
words.
And the beauty here is that it'salso giving us a word bank.
So we don't have to come up withthese words on our own because
it's giving us examples ofemotional words or uncommon
(10:01):
words.
It's also telling us what ourheadline type is, we have a how
to headline, and it's telling uswhat our reading grade level is.
As crazy as it sounds the goalis to have your reading grade
level at a seventh grade readinglevel or below because that is
the average reading grade level.
So if your reading grade levelis too high it will actually
(10:22):
flag that and say you need tohave your reading grade level
for your headline a littleeasier so that it is easy for
everyone to read.
It will let you know if theclarity of your headline is
good.
It will let you know thesentiment of your headline.
Is it positive?
Is it negative or is it neutral?
And actually the goal of yourheadline is to be positive or
negative.
(10:43):
Negative isn't necessarily a badthing because that can be an
emotionally charged headline.
And it will let you know theskimmability of your headline.
What I have learned from usingthis tool actually is that the
majority of people read thefirst three words and the last
three words of your headline.
So you want those to be powerfulwords in the first three and the
(11:04):
last three.
And what I really like is thatwhen it gives you each of these
sections, you can see it saysskimmability.
Your keyword or topic is buriedin your headline, making it
difficult for readers to skim.
Improve your score by movingyour keyword or topic to the
first or last three words.
So again, by using this toolconsistently, I have actually
learned a lot about writingstrong headlines and how to
(11:28):
break down a powerful headline,but it doesn't just teach you
about headlines.
It actually helps you to improveyour headlines using AI.
And here's how, so there arethree tabs at the top headline
score, SEO score, and headlineAI, and here's where the AI
really stands out.
So obviously my headline scoreright now.
(11:50):
is a 63, which is good, notgreat.
Like I said, I like to be in thegreen, which is 70s or above.
So let's pop over to headlineAI.
Here we have a few differentquestions that we can ask the
headline AI.
What are ways to improve myheadlines?
What are some techniques I canuse to make my headlines more
impactful?
What are alternative ways towrite my headline?
(12:11):
What are ways to make myheadlines more compelling?
What are other keywords I canuse in my headline?
And how can I write my headlinewith a different headline type?
Now, let's click on one ofthese.
How can I write my headline witha different headline type?
And it's going to tell me, hereare the different headline
types.
There's lists, how to, step bystep, why, question,
(12:34):
cliffhanger, and time.
All of these are going to giveme examples of the types of
headlines that are Instantlymore compelling.
The ultimate step by step guideto creating catchy blog titles.
Why compelling blog titles areessential for successful content
marketing.
Struggling with blog titles?
(12:55):
How can you craft titles thatgrab attention?
That's a question.
The secret to captivating blogtitles revealed A cliffhanger.
Or master blog title writing injust 30 minutes per day.
All of those are instantly somuch more compelling.
So if you pick one of those, ora list, 10 tips for crafting
engaging blog titles that drivetraffic.
(13:17):
So let's analyze the 10 tips.
Instantly the headline scorewent up to 70.
Great.
And it's telling us thecharacter count is better.
It's at 60.
The word count is better.
It's at 60.
Now you can continue to tweakand massage these and get the
score up even higher.
I've had scores up to 90 for theheadline score, but for now,
(13:41):
let's say we're happy with 70.
It's in the green, but the SEOis still at 64.
So let's see if we want toimprove the SEO score.
So I clicked over to the SEO taband let's analyze the SEO.
So it's saying we should beusing a keyword that has more
average monthly searches.
(14:01):
and using a keyword topic thathas an increasing trend line.
So we can scroll down.
It'll give us an analysis on thekeyword density, the average
monthly searches and the searchcompetition.
I am happy with the fact that itis a low search competition with
(14:23):
1.8 thousand average monthlysearches.
It'll also show us what thesearch preview looks like and
it's saying that our headlinehas a perfect fit.
That it will appear fully insearch results and be totally
visible to our audience, whichis a good thing.
It'll also show us our headlinecompetition.
(14:44):
This is really helpful becauseit says our headline score is
better than 90 percent of ourcompetition.
Meaning, of those 1.8 thousandsearches per month for this
topic, Our headline Is betterthan 90 percent of the
(15:04):
competition and it will evenshow us our top headline
competition in the searchresults, right below that.
So this is all incrediblyhelpful information.
It will show us keywordvariation.
Browse a list of keywordssimilar to the ones in your
headline.
Consider working in one or twoof them into your headline to
rank higher in search results.
(15:26):
This is incredibly impactfulinformation.
Even if you don't use it in yourheadline, you can incorporate
These keyword variations intoyour content as secondary
keywords to help your piece ofcontent rank for these keywords
as well.
And then here are additionalrelated questions, related
(15:48):
topics your audience alsosearches for.
Try including one of them inyour headline to reach a wider
audience and improve your SEOranking.
So again, even if you don'tinclude it in your headline,
Consider creating additionalpieces of content that answer
these types of questions orincluding it in your piece of
(16:09):
content.
The amount of information thatyou can get out of just this one
page with the SEO score isincredible.
So now that you've seen HeadlineStudio in action, let me share
some actionable tips for writingheadlines that get more clicks.
First, always write 5-10different variations before
choosing one.
(16:30):
Testing multiple optionsdramatically increases your
chance of picking a winner.
Headline Studio makes this easybecause you can save multiple
versions and compare them.
Second, use free tools likeHeadline Studio and Google
Trends.
Even if you don't want to payfor the premium version, the
free version of Headline Studiogives you valuable insights.
(16:50):
And Google Trends can help youidentify what topics are
currently popular in your niche.
Third, use curiosity drivenwords.
Phrases like, the secret to, orwhat no one tells you about, X,
or whatever number, of mistakesyou're probably making, trigger
curiosity, which is one of themost powerful motivators for
(17:13):
clicking.
Fourth, A B test your headlineswhenever possible.
For emails, most email platformsallow you to test different
subject lines.
For social media, try postingthe same content with different
headlines and see which oneperforms better.
Remember, making data drivendecisions is the best thing you
(17:33):
can do.
But you gotta get that data inorder to be able to test it.
And fifth, study headlines thatwork.
Look at the top ranking blogposts and YouTube videos in your
niche.
What patterns do you notice?
Which headlines are reallygrabbing your attention?
Learn from what's alreadyworking.
No need to reinvent the wheel.
(17:54):
Let me share one of my favoritesubject line pro tips that I use
all the time.
I keep a folder in my emailcalled great subject lines.
And anytime a really juicysubject line catches my eye in
my inbox, I sort that email intothis folder.
Now, let me say, this is not aswipe file for stealing.
It is an inspiration file.
(18:14):
When I'm looking for headlineinspiration, I head into that
folder and I asked myself, whatabout those subject lines made
me click and open those emails?
How can I replicate that samevibe for my own business?
You could even take this a stepfurther.
Drop 5 to 10 of your favoritesfrom your inspiration folder
into chatGPT and ask it toanalyze the similarities of
(18:36):
those subject lines andheadlines.
Then have it come up withsimilar headlines specifically
tailored for your business andyour brand voice.
This approach lets you learnfrom real world examples that
actually worked on you.
And if they caught yourattention, chances are that
they'll work on your audiencetoo.
All right, I have one morereally cool feature inside
(18:57):
Headline Studio that I want toshow you for when You are just
totally stuck when Writer'sBlock hits.
Instead of being on the Analyzescreen, head over to Generate on
the top left.
This is a really cool featurebecause Let's be real.
Sometimes you just sit therestaring at the cursor, blink on
your totally blank screen, andyou are just stuck.
(19:17):
And you have no idea what towrite.
And this is where the AI insideof Headline Studio really
shines.
Instead of spending hoursbrainstorming or heading over
into chatGPT, Let the AI insideHeadline Studio jumpstart your
creativity.
So what you're going to do isyou're going to enter just your
overall keyword or topic.
So let's type stress managementtips for moms.
(19:42):
And let's say instead of a blogthat we're doing a YouTube
video.
Now, the other thing is that youcan also type in your target
audience and your tone.
So let's type in momentrepreneurs and our tone is
going to be friendly, fun, andcasual.
(20:02):
And then it's going to give us awhole bunch of results after we
hit generate.
Chill out, mompreneur fun stressbusters you need now," or"Mom
Life Madness, five easy stresshacks for busy entrepreneurs."
"Juggling business and babies?
Stress relief tips just foryou.""Sassy stress solutions
because moms deserve a break,too." Laughing through stress:
(20:26):
fun ways to stay sane as amompreneur." So it's just giving
you kind of that jumping offpoint.
And we can, and it's giving usrelated topics, work life
balance, mompreneur tips, selfcare for moms, business
strategies, and then we can usethis as a jumping off point.
Let's analyze this one.
(20:47):
From chaos to calm, stressmanagement secrets for mom
bosses." and it's giving ourYouTube video a score of a 66.
So then we would go through thesame process that we went
through with our prior exampleof seeing how we can get the SEO
score from a 66 up, which is ayellow score, up into the green.
(21:08):
So it's saying our reading gradelevel is a nine, our headline is
generic.
Let's head over to the headlineAI and say, how can I make my
headline, how can I write myheadline with a different
headline type?
Now, in this case, we chose ahow to topic.
So, it went up to a 74 by makingit a how to headline.
(21:29):
"How to transform chaos intocalm: stress management tips for
mom bosses." So now, let's workon the SEO.
The SEO on this one is a 68.
So it's saying to use a keywordtopic that has an increasing
trend line.
So let's take a look at therelated keywords.
In this case, the stressmanagement keyword is Neutral,
(21:53):
low competition, and has 110,000monthly searches.
So, I think that's a solidkeyword.
Our headline competition ishigher than 70 percent or more
of our competition.
And it's saying our title is alittle bit too long.
(22:13):
"How to transform chaos intocalm, stress management tips for
moms." So we might need toadjust that a little bit.
And are saying our keyword trendis so last year, your topic has
fallen out of popularityrecently.
This trend could mean fewerpeople will find your headline
in the months to come.
So that's primarily what isdragging down our SEO, is
(22:35):
because the keyword topic istrending down.
But with 110,000 monthlysearches, I would still be okay
with it.
So it's pretty much just notliking our topic of stress
management tips for mom bosses.
But, since this is an example,I'm gonna leave it.
So overall, that is how you usethe generate feature.
(22:58):
And you can see that that tookjust a few moments.
And we went from having noheadline to generating a
headline.
And then using the analyze tooland the AI feature to tweak it
until we got to a green score.
According to McKinsey andCompany, using AI driven content
tools can increase your writingefficiency by up to 50%.
(23:21):
That means you're not justsaving time, you're working
smarter.
The best part is that once youfind a headline you like, you
can click analyze to fine tuneit even further.
Optimizing it for bothengagement and SEO.
And there you have it, acomplete walkthrough of how to
use Headline Studio to createheadlines that grab attention,
(23:42):
get clicks, and rank higher insearch results.
This tool is a game changer forsaving time, improving your
content's performance, andreaching a wider audience with
everything you create.
If you want to get more mileageout of all the content you're
already creating, I highlyrecommend starting with your
headlines.
They are truly the gateway toeverything else you do, and even
(24:06):
small improvements can lead tobig results.
I've been using these exactstrategies in my AI Evergreen
Content Machine course, where Iteach entrepreneurs like you how
to create content that continuesto drive traffic, leads and
sales for months or even yearsafter you publish it.
SEO optimized headlines are acritical part of that strategy
(24:28):
because they help your contentget found over and over again,
bringing you new leads whileyou're out living your life.
I'm opening up the wait list formy AI Evergreen Content Machine
course.
And if you'd like to learn mycomplete strategy for creating
content that works for yourbusiness around the clock,
including in depth training onheadline creation and SEO
(24:49):
optimization, head to the shownotes to get on the wait list
and be the first to know whenthe doors open.
When you sign up, you'll alsoget instant access to my
headline swipe file with 50proven headline templates that
you can use right away.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Don't forget to subscribe andcheck out the YouTube version of
this episode for the full handson demo.
(25:10):
I'll see you really soon.
Did you know that right this second your dream
(00:03):
client might be scrolling pastthe content that you spent hours
creating?
All because your headline didn'tgrab their attention in the
first three seconds.
Ouch, right?
Welcome back to Tech Savvy 101: AI Automation Made Simple. (00:14):
undefined
I'm your host, Sarah Baker, yourtech savvy bestie, who's here to
help you simplify your business,embrace automation, and save
hours every week.
Today's AI in Action episode isgoing to be a total game changer
for anyone who creates any kindof content.
(00:34):
I'm talking blog posts, YouTubevideos, podcast episodes,
emails, social media posts.
Literally everything you createneeds a headline that wows.
I will be sharing my screen inthis episode to show you exactly
how to use my favorite AIpowered tool that's completely
transformed my own contentstrategy and the SEO game.
(00:56):
By the end of this episode,you'll know exactly how to write
headlines that not only stop thescroll, but also help you rank
higher in organic searchresults.
All without staring at yourscreen for hours while trying to
come up with the perfectwording.
Let's dive right in.
So why is your headline the mostimportant part of your content?
(01:17):
Well, let's start out with aharsh truth that shocked me when
I first heard it.
According to Copyblogger, 80percent of people will read your
headline, But only 20 percentwill actually click through to
read or watch the rest of yourcontent.
That means if you have 100people who see your content, 80
(01:37):
percent of them will make thedecision about whether to
continue on and read or engagewith your content based solely
on your headline.
No pressure, right?
Think about that for a second.
You could spend days creatingthe most amazing blog post,
filming the perfect YouTubetutorial, or recording your best
(01:58):
podcast episode ever.
But if your headline sucks andfalls flat, 80 percent of your
potential audience will neverexperience it.
All your hard work for nothing!Your headline is literally your
content's first impression.
And just like meeting someonenew, you only get one shot at
(02:18):
making it count.
So whether you're writing a blogtitle, or naming your YouTube
video, or creating a subjectline for your email newsletter,
or crafting the perfect podcastepisode title, that headline is
what stops the scroll and getspeople's attention.
But here's the other criticalpiece that a lot of people miss:
(02:39):
headlines are not just forhumans anymore.
They are also for search engineslike Google and YouTube.
These platforms use yourheadlines to figure out what the
heck your content is about,which directly affects your
rankings and how discoverableyour content is.
So a strong headline is actuallydoing double duty.
(03:01):
It's grabbing attention fromreal people and it's signaling
to search engines that yourcontent deserves to be seen.
So, what makes a strongheadline?
Now that we understand just howfreaking important headlines
are, let's break down whatactually makes a headline
effective.
There are five key elements thatevery high performing headline
(03:23):
should include.
First, it needs to be reallyclear and specific.
Vague headlines just aren'tgoing to cut it anymore.
Everyone's attention is beingpulled in a hundred different
directions.
So, you need to be crystal clearabout what your content is
offering.
Why is it going to help me?
Why is it worth me stopping myscroll and not watching that
(03:45):
really cute dog video that comesafter your content?
And why should I click through?
For example, instead of aheadline like"improve your
business," which is super vague,and I'm not going to click
through to that.
You'd want something like"5simple strategies to increase
revenue in 30 days." Now youhave my attention.
See how much more specific thatis?
It tells the reader exactly whatthey're going to get and why
(04:08):
they should want to read on.
Second, your headline should bebenefit driven.
People are always thinking,what's in it for me?
Your headline needs to answerthat question immediately.
Here's an example.
Instead of"email writing tips,"I mean, what kind of tips?
Tell me more.
Try"how to write emails that get40% more opens without feeling
(04:31):
spammy." I'd read that.
The second one clearlycommunicates the benefit.
More people opening your emails,which is way more compelling.
It's a problem so many businesspeople have, and I want 40
percent more opens, and I don'twant to be spammy, so I'm
willing to click through, and Ibet a lot of other people are
(04:54):
too.
Third, your headline needs to bekeyword optimized.
If this scares you, itshouldn't, it's easier than you
think it is.
I have done multiple otherepisodes on keyword optimization
and I'll link to them in theshow notes.
This is this SEO piece thathelps the search engines
understand what your content isabout.
If you want to rank for certainterms, they need to be in your
(05:16):
headline.
For instance,"Best SEO Tools forBeginners in 2025." This clearly
tells both readers and searchengines exactly what the content
covers.
Fourth, your headlines should beemotionally engaging.
According to CoSchedule,headlines with emotional words
(05:37):
increase clicks by 20-30%.
That is huge.
So instead of writing,"writingbetter headlines," boring, try
"the secret to writing headlinesthat demand attention." That
power word, demand, and also thesecret.
Those Words trigger curiosity,which is a powerful emotion that
(06:01):
drives clicks.
And finally, use numbers as wellas power words.
Conductor found that headlineswith numbers get 36% more clicks
than headlines without them.
Numbers provide clarity and setexpectations about what the
reader will get.
For example,"7 proven headlinehacks to boost your clicks."
(06:23):
That tells the reader exactlywhat they're going to get and is
a much stronger headline thanjust"ways to improve your
headlines." Now for the funpart, I want to introduce you to
my absolute favorite tool forcreating better headlines.
Headline Studio by CoSchedule.
This is an AI powered tool thatanalyzes your headlines and
helps you optimize them for bothengagement and SEO.
(06:46):
So if you are listening to thisepisode, you can grab the link
to see the YouTube videotutorial in the show notes.
As you can see on my screen, Ihave navigated to
HeadlineStudio.com.
Let me show you how it workswith a real life example.
Let's say I'm writing a blogpost about headline writing.
I know this is super meta.
But let's start with a basicheadline like, how to write good
(07:09):
blog titles.
So we're gonna put this in, howto write good blog titles.
I'll type that into HeadlineStudio and I'll hit analyze.
You can see that it's given me aheadline score of 63 and an SEO
score of 48.
These are okay, not great.
We're looking for higher scores.
(07:30):
You can also see that it hasgiven me the headline scores in
yellow.
Headline Studio works on thestoplight system.
Red, yellow, and green.
These scores are yellow meaningthat they're okay, red scores
would be needs work, and greenscores are what we're looking
for.
The scores range all the way upfrom 0 to 100, obviously the
(07:51):
higher and closer to 100 you getare better scores, and it
doesn't just tell you yourheadline score, but it also
tells you where and how you canimprove.
So let's look at the feedback.
Let's break it down.
The other thing we can do is wecan look at what type of
headline we're writing.
So in this drop down next towhere I've entered the starting
(08:13):
headline, we can tell it whattype of headline we're working
on so we can look at a blogheadline, a YouTube headline,
email, podcast, Tiktok,Instagram, an ad headline,
LinkedIn, or just standardheadline.
This is really helpful becauseeach different platform might
rank differently, especially ifyou're on social media versus
(08:36):
YouTube versus a blog, or apodcast or an email headline.
They also all have differentrecommendations for character
length.
One of my favorite things alsois that it will show us the
recommended headline length interms of characters as well as
word length.
(08:56):
It will also show us what itwill look like when it pops up
in Google, so we'll know if ourheadline is too long and likely
to be truncated or cut off.
This is important becauseobviously we want our entire
headline to show up.
So for our sample headline ofhow to write good blog titles,
it's telling us that ourheadline is a little bit short
(09:18):
because six words is a littlebit light and character length,
the recommended characterlength, is about 50 to 60
characters, which is 10 to 12words.
Our current headline is only sixwords and 29 characters.
So it's telling us it'srecommending that we We increase
the length of our title toimprove its SEO readability.
(09:41):
As we scroll further down, it'salso telling us to increase our
emotional words, our uncommonwords, and decrease our common
words.
And the beauty here is that it'salso giving us a word bank.
So we don't have to come up withthese words on our own because
it's giving us examples ofemotional words or uncommon
(10:01):
words.
It's also telling us what ourheadline type is, we have a how
to headline, and it's telling uswhat our reading grade level is.
As crazy as it sounds the goalis to have your reading grade
level at a seventh grade readinglevel or below because that is
the average reading grade level.
So if your reading grade levelis too high it will actually
(10:22):
flag that and say you need tohave your reading grade level
for your headline a littleeasier so that it is easy for
everyone to read.
It will let you know if theclarity of your headline is
good.
It will let you know thesentiment of your headline.
Is it positive?
Is it negative or is it neutral?
And actually the goal of yourheadline is to be positive or
negative.
(10:43):
Negative isn't necessarily a badthing because that can be an
emotionally charged headline.
And it will let you know theskimmability of your headline.
What I have learned from usingthis tool actually is that the
majority of people read thefirst three words and the last
three words of your headline.
So you want those to be powerfulwords in the first three and the
(11:04):
last three.
And what I really like is thatwhen it gives you each of these
sections, you can see it saysskimmability.
Your keyword or topic is buriedin your headline, making it
difficult for readers to skim.
Improve your score by movingyour keyword or topic to the
first or last three words.
So again, by using this toolconsistently, I have actually
learned a lot about writingstrong headlines and how to
(11:28):
break down a powerful headline,but it doesn't just teach you
about headlines.
It actually helps you to improveyour headlines using AI.
And here's how, so there arethree tabs at the top headline
score, SEO score, and headlineAI, and here's where the AI
really stands out.
So obviously my headline scoreright now.
(11:50):
is a 63, which is good, notgreat.
Like I said, I like to be in thegreen, which is 70s or above.
So let's pop over to headlineAI.
Here we have a few differentquestions that we can ask the
headline AI.
What are ways to improve myheadlines?
What are some techniques I canuse to make my headlines more
impactful?
What are alternative ways towrite my headline?
(12:11):
What are ways to make myheadlines more compelling?
What are other keywords I canuse in my headline?
And how can I write my headlinewith a different headline type?
Now, let's click on one ofthese.
How can I write my headline witha different headline type?
And it's going to tell me, hereare the different headline
types.
There's lists, how to, step bystep, why, question,
(12:34):
cliffhanger, and time.
All of these are going to giveme examples of the types of
headlines that are Instantlymore compelling.
The ultimate step by step guideto creating catchy blog titles.
Why compelling blog titles areessential for successful content
marketing.
Struggling with blog titles?
(12:55):
How can you craft titles thatgrab attention?
That's a question.
The secret to captivating blogtitles revealed A cliffhanger.
Or master blog title writing injust 30 minutes per day.
All of those are instantly somuch more compelling.
So if you pick one of those, ora list, 10 tips for crafting
engaging blog titles that drivetraffic.
(13:17):
So let's analyze the 10 tips.
Instantly the headline scorewent up to 70.
Great.
And it's telling us thecharacter count is better.
It's at 60.
The word count is better.
It's at 60.
Now you can continue to tweakand massage these and get the
score up even higher.
I've had scores up to 90 for theheadline score, but for now,
(13:41):
let's say we're happy with 70.
It's in the green, but the SEOis still at 64.
So let's see if we want toimprove the SEO score.
So I clicked over to the SEO taband let's analyze the SEO.
So it's saying we should beusing a keyword that has more
average monthly searches.
(14:01):
and using a keyword topic thathas an increasing trend line.
So we can scroll down.
It'll give us an analysis on thekeyword density, the average
monthly searches and the searchcompetition.
I am happy with the fact that itis a low search competition with
(14:23):
1.8 thousand average monthlysearches.
It'll also show us what thesearch preview looks like and
it's saying that our headlinehas a perfect fit.
That it will appear fully insearch results and be totally
visible to our audience, whichis a good thing.
It'll also show us our headlinecompetition.
(14:44):
This is really helpful becauseit says our headline score is
better than 90 percent of ourcompetition.
Meaning, of those 1.8 thousandsearches per month for this
topic, Our headline Is betterthan 90 percent of the
(15:04):
competition and it will evenshow us our top headline
competition in the searchresults, right below that.
So this is all incrediblyhelpful information.
It will show us keywordvariation.
Browse a list of keywordssimilar to the ones in your
headline.
Consider working in one or twoof them into your headline to
rank higher in search results.
(15:26):
This is incredibly impactfulinformation.
Even if you don't use it in yourheadline, you can incorporate
These keyword variations intoyour content as secondary
keywords to help your piece ofcontent rank for these keywords
as well.
And then here are additionalrelated questions, related
(15:48):
topics your audience alsosearches for.
Try including one of them inyour headline to reach a wider
audience and improve your SEOranking.
So again, even if you don'tinclude it in your headline,
Consider creating additionalpieces of content that answer
these types of questions orincluding it in your piece of
(16:09):
content.
The amount of information thatyou can get out of just this one
page with the SEO score isincredible.
So now that you've seen HeadlineStudio in action, let me share
some actionable tips for writingheadlines that get more clicks.
First, always write 5-10different variations before
choosing one.
(16:30):
Testing multiple optionsdramatically increases your
chance of picking a winner.
Headline Studio makes this easybecause you can save multiple
versions and compare them.
Second, use free tools likeHeadline Studio and Google
Trends.
Even if you don't want to payfor the premium version, the
free version of Headline Studiogives you valuable insights.
(16:50):
And Google Trends can help youidentify what topics are
currently popular in your niche.
Third, use curiosity drivenwords.
Phrases like, the secret to, orwhat no one tells you about, X,
or whatever number, of mistakesyou're probably making, trigger
curiosity, which is one of themost powerful motivators for
(17:13):
clicking.
Fourth, A B test your headlineswhenever possible.
For emails, most email platformsallow you to test different
subject lines.
For social media, try postingthe same content with different
headlines and see which oneperforms better.
Remember, making data drivendecisions is the best thing you
(17:33):
can do.
But you gotta get that data inorder to be able to test it.
And fifth, study headlines thatwork.
Look at the top ranking blogposts and YouTube videos in your
niche.
What patterns do you notice?
Which headlines are reallygrabbing your attention?
Learn from what's alreadyworking.
No need to reinvent the wheel.
(17:54):
Let me share one of my favoritesubject line pro tips that I use
all the time.
I keep a folder in my emailcalled great subject lines.
And anytime a really juicysubject line catches my eye in
my inbox, I sort that email intothis folder.
Now, let me say, this is not aswipe file for stealing.
It is an inspiration file.
(18:14):
When I'm looking for headlineinspiration, I head into that
folder and I asked myself, whatabout those subject lines made
me click and open those emails?
How can I replicate that samevibe for my own business?
You could even take this a stepfurther.
Drop 5 to 10 of your favoritesfrom your inspiration folder
into chatGPT and ask it toanalyze the similarities of
(18:36):
those subject lines andheadlines.
Then have it come up withsimilar headlines specifically
tailored for your business andyour brand voice.
This approach lets you learnfrom real world examples that
actually worked on you.
And if they caught yourattention, chances are that
they'll work on your audiencetoo.
All right, I have one morereally cool feature inside
(18:57):
Headline Studio that I want toshow you for when You are just
totally stuck when Writer'sBlock hits.
Instead of being on the Analyzescreen, head over to Generate on
the top left.
This is a really cool featurebecause Let's be real.
Sometimes you just sit therestaring at the cursor, blink on
your totally blank screen, andyou are just stuck.
(19:17):
And you have no idea what towrite.
And this is where the AI insideof Headline Studio really
shines.
Instead of spending hoursbrainstorming or heading over
into chatGPT, Let the AI insideHeadline Studio jumpstart your
creativity.
So what you're going to do isyou're going to enter just your
overall keyword or topic.
So let's type stress managementtips for moms.
(19:42):
And let's say instead of a blogthat we're doing a YouTube
video.
Now, the other thing is that youcan also type in your target
audience and your tone.
So let's type in momentrepreneurs and our tone is
going to be friendly, fun, andcasual.
(20:02):
And then it's going to give us awhole bunch of results after we
hit generate.
Chill out, mompreneur fun stressbusters you need now," or"Mom
Life Madness, five easy stresshacks for busy entrepreneurs."
"Juggling business and babies?
Stress relief tips just foryou.""Sassy stress solutions
because moms deserve a break,too." Laughing through stress:
(20:26):
fun ways to stay sane as amompreneur." So it's just giving
you kind of that jumping offpoint.
And we can, and it's giving usrelated topics, work life
balance, mompreneur tips, selfcare for moms, business
strategies, and then we can usethis as a jumping off point.
Let's analyze this one.
(20:47):
From chaos to calm, stressmanagement secrets for mom
bosses." and it's giving ourYouTube video a score of a 66.
So then we would go through thesame process that we went
through with our prior exampleof seeing how we can get the SEO
score from a 66 up, which is ayellow score, up into the green.
(21:08):
So it's saying our reading gradelevel is a nine, our headline is
generic.
Let's head over to the headlineAI and say, how can I make my
headline, how can I write myheadline with a different
headline type?
Now, in this case, we chose ahow to topic.
So, it went up to a 74 by makingit a how to headline.
(21:29):
"How to transform chaos intocalm: stress management tips for
mom bosses." So now, let's workon the SEO.
The SEO on this one is a 68.
So it's saying to use a keywordtopic that has an increasing
trend line.
So let's take a look at therelated keywords.
In this case, the stressmanagement keyword is Neutral,
(21:53):
low competition, and has 110,000monthly searches.
So, I think that's a solidkeyword.
Our headline competition ishigher than 70 percent or more
of our competition.
And it's saying our title is alittle bit too long.
(22:13):
"How to transform chaos intocalm, stress management tips for
moms." So we might need toadjust that a little bit.
And are saying our keyword trendis so last year, your topic has
fallen out of popularityrecently.
This trend could mean fewerpeople will find your headline
in the months to come.
So that's primarily what isdragging down our SEO, is
(22:35):
because the keyword topic istrending down.
But with 110,000 monthlysearches, I would still be okay
with it.
So it's pretty much just notliking our topic of stress
management tips for mom bosses.
But, since this is an example,I'm gonna leave it.
So overall, that is how you usethe generate feature.
(22:58):
And you can see that that tookjust a few moments.
And we went from having noheadline to generating a
headline.
And then using the analyze tooland the AI feature to tweak it
until we got to a green score.
According to McKinsey andCompany, using AI driven content
tools can increase your writingefficiency by up to 50%.
(23:21):
That means you're not justsaving time, you're working
smarter.
The best part is that once youfind a headline you like, you
can click analyze to fine tuneit even further.
Optimizing it for bothengagement and SEO.
And there you have it, acomplete walkthrough of how to
use Headline Studio to createheadlines that grab attention,
(23:42):
get clicks, and rank higher insearch results.
This tool is a game changer forsaving time, improving your
content's performance, andreaching a wider audience with
everything you create.
If you want to get more mileageout of all the content you're
already creating, I highlyrecommend starting with your
headlines.
They are truly the gateway toeverything else you do, and even
(24:06):
small improvements can lead tobig results.
I've been using these exactstrategies in my AI Evergreen
Content Machine course, where Iteach entrepreneurs like you how
to create content that continuesto drive traffic, leads and
sales for months or even yearsafter you publish it.
SEO optimized headlines are acritical part of that strategy
(24:28):
because they help your contentget found over and over again,
bringing you new leads whileyou're out living your life.
I'm opening up the wait list formy AI Evergreen Content Machine
course.
And if you'd like to learn mycomplete strategy for creating
content that works for yourbusiness around the clock,
including in depth training onheadline creation and SEO
(24:49):
optimization, head to the shownotes to get on the wait list
and be the first to know whenthe doors open.
When you sign up, you'll alsoget instant access to my
headline swipe file with 50proven headline templates that
you can use right away.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Don't forget to subscribe andcheck out the YouTube version of
this episode for the full handson demo.
(25:10):
I'll see you really soon.
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