HOW TO WRITE GREAT SUBHEADINGS

Great headlines are attention grabbers. They shout to your audience, command their interest and get them reading. To keep them reading you need great subheadings. So what are they and why are they important?

WHAT’S A SUBHEADING

These are mini-headlines scattered throughout the text, at the start of new paragraphs. They introduce a new idea or a new topic.

They also help you structure your writing and tell your story in a clear, well thought out way. They help you organise the information and deliver it in the right order. Which is always a good thing. But what else?

SUBHEADINGS ARE THE TEASER

They’re the little insight into what’s coming next. They’re the perfect way to guide your audience’s eye down the page and give them a glimpse of what’s in your main body of text. It’s an at-a-glance-guide to your main message.

In around three seconds, your audience will subconsciously decide whether they’re interested enough to read on, have something better to do, or worse, want to head to a competitor’s site.

Losing them to a competitor is catastrophic. You want them to think, ‘I need this. I’m all ears…or eyes’.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SUBHEADING?

A subheading should be concise and relevant. They don’t need to be too clever. This can be confusing and will stop your readers, while they try to work out what you mean. This is bad.

Subheadings should effortlessly convey a clear message.

So, keeping them simple is the best way. Pick out the main point you’re making to your audience and put it into as few words as possible. We’re talking five or six at the most. If you can do it in three, great. You’ve cracked it. The easiest way to create a subhead is to break your text up into paragraphs rather than have one massive chunk of words.

ONE PARAGRAPH, ONE MESSAGE

This is the secret to writing a targeted, single minded subheading, that’s sharp and precise. Be brutal. Give people one point in each paragraph. It’s more inviting to read. People are inherently lazy and we want everything to be easy. If it looks like hard work, you’ll lose your readers. Small, bite size paragraphs aren’t overwhelming.

TAKE YOUR TIME

Writing subheadings are not a quick job. They take time to get right. You might need to get a note pad and write down all the ideas you have for a subheading before you pop it in a word document. Make a cup of tea, move away from the laptop and get comfy. Then let your brain do the thinking.

GET READY TO CHANGE YOUR MIND

A great subhead can seem perfect in black and white, but once you drop it in the design of a website, blog or social post, it might not work as well. We can’t explain it. It just happens. So you might have to re-think. But, if you have a note pad full of different options, you can pop them in and see which works best with the visual. It makes it a tonne easier if you have back ups.

DO YOUR SUBHEADINGS FIT THE BILL?

To make sure your subheadings are working hard enough, here’s a few questions to ask yourself. Remember to look at them as a whole as well as individually. They must give a quick snap shot of what your whole piece is trying to say.  

1. Is my subheading relevant?
2. Is it engaging?
3. Does it repeat any previous subheadings?
4. Does it get across the idea, or the point I was trying to make?
5. When looking at all the subheadings in order, do they tell a whole story?

A GOOD EXAMPLE

A recipe is a great example of how your eye skims down the page to estimate if it an easy recipe? What are the key facts I want to know. Can I be bothered to make this or is it too much effort? It’s the same with reading anything. We want everything now. Subheadings take the effort out of a huge piece of text and make it small, easy chunks that are way more inviting.

 Ingredients

Method

How long to prep

How long to cook

Serves how many?

What to serve it with

GREAT FOR SEO

Sub headings are also great to get your key words in if you’re writing a blog or a website. Perfect for Google rankings and visibility. So don’t skip these. Extra Brownie pints if you can get your customers’ key search terms in there. And Google will love you.

For example, if you’re writing a blog about floristry, you’ll want to include ‘flowers’ or ‘flower arranging’, or even phrases like ‘how to start flower arranging’,’ How to arrange flowers’. You get the gist.

5 TIPS FOR WRITING SUBHEADINGS

1. Always add something new so you are leading your audience through your writing in an organised, logical way.
2. Keep it simple. Never try and be too clever or you risk confusing your audience.
3. Avoid puns. It’s the first lesson a copywriter learns, though I’d argue a good pun in the right place is a good skill to have.
4. Make them interesting. Ask yourself is this really to the point and will it push my audience’s buttons?
5. Keep them short and snappy. Give a quick snap shot of what you’re saying in your paragraph, and let the actual text do the legwork.

Hope that helps. If you’d like more insightful tips on how to write better for business follow me online or sign up for my regular emails.