What Nobody Tells You About How To Write Good Headlines
This isn't Tinder. People should not be yawning and swiping LEFT on your posts.
I’m not here to be a writing coach, it’s not my wheelhouse. But what I love doing is giving out free tools to writers who might appreciate them.
If I had to pick the one comment I hear most from readers it’s about my headlines. And it’s been happening since long before Substack:
How much thought do you put into your post titles?
Are they general and vague? If so, do you hope to draw readers in with it?
I remember reading an article advising writers to avoid using overly general titles such as, “Mom.” I agree. I’m sure I’d love your mom but unless you can get me to buy into her from the start, it's a no.
If you call your story, “Cats,” I may block you because I don’t like cats 😁 However, if you call it something like, Your Cat Does Not Belong On The Dining Room Table, I’ll dive into it headfirst because I wholeheartedly agree they don’t belong there.
(BTW, that cat story by Roz Warren went completely viral on Medium and the whole internet. See what I’m saying?)
While writing coaches everywhere are ranting at you about writing good headlines, nobody is telling you how to KNOW if it’s a good headline.
Here’s a FREE tool to help you.
I use it for every single headline I write on three different Substack publications and for many years over on Medium.
It’s called Monster Headline Analyzer.
I’m sure it’s not the only headline analyzer on the internet but I’ve been using it forever and I get amazing feedback, so…..there’s that.
To show you an example of how I put it into play, here’s a screenshot of several possibilities I tried for the very post you’re reading right now:
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc94141e6-e1f8-4f82-90b7-9b23d73b8251_1687x661.png)
When you type an idea into this tool it grades it with a number. You can see my first try pretty much sucked. It scored a 48/100. Not great, so you just keep iterating until you see a score you’re happy with.
This headline tool doesn’t just give you numeric scores, there’s a whole page full of advice, ideas, word suggestions, etc, to make your headline better. If you consistently use this tool, eventually you learn the makeup of a great headline.
I love challenging myself to come up with titles scoring 90 or above. It has become a game to run random sentences through this tool for possible story ideas, such as this one:
DISCLAIMER: The tool can’t teach you to be funny, witty, or creative. But it CAN teach you how to be concise while offering alternative ways of crafting your perfect headline.
You’re welcome! 😊
I can't wait to try this headline analyzer! Thanks for the free tip!!
I had zero idea this existed, and am just a little mortified I never thought to look. 🤨Gamification of what for me is THE hardest part of all this?? I’m literally going straight to it. THANK YOU, Kristi!