Why 25? | Why use a headline analyzer
Good question – why should you write 25 headlines? Why use a headline analyzer? What’s the point?
Why you should write 25 headlines
Ever heard of Upworthy?
Hopefully – they write the most shared articles in the world. Even if you don’t know them by name, you’ve definitely read one of their posts.
Supposedly, these guys came up with the concept of writing 25 headlines for every piece of content. Why?
To encourage their writers to think outside the box and produce viral headlines…
Try writing 25 headlines
It’s not easy…
You have to think of 25 different ways to say the same thing.
Imagine doing that for every article you write…
Imagine doing that for every email you send…
Imagine doing that for every tweet, facebook post, instagram tagline…
We don’t think that’s very practical – but we do think it’s good practice.
In fact, this guy went one step further and wrote 100 headlines a day for 100 days..
Maybe that’s a bit extreme, but we all know practice makes perfect.
The original 25 headline method
According to legend, this approach was created to help writers improve their headline writing skills – not just to get them to think of new ideas, but to test their ability to produce valuable content, quickly.
The origins appear to point towards Upworthy, although the method may have been brought across from The Onion. Eitherway, you can check their approach out here:
Whilst we like their style, it’s pretty easy to say “practice makes perfect” – and if you’ve got the time, go ahead.
But we felt something was missing – that’s why we decided to make the 25 Headlines tool
The headline challenge
Upworthy’s approach has become so successful that many others have followed. It’s even become a challenge, to try and write 25 headlines for each blog article or post. You can read about these guys at Blinkist who tried and tested it…
So, if it works for them, why shouldn’t it work for you? Well… for one, you might not be a professional copywriter. Second, you might might not have the time. And third, how do you know which headline out of your 25 is the best?
That’s where we come in – at 25 Headlines, we’ve been inspired to combine this method from some of the best in the industry with an advanced headline analyzing tool, to help you not just pick the best, but learn how to write better headlines each time you use it.
How to win at headlines
(hint: use a headline analyzer!)
Right, now what? Well, we like what David Ogilvy (CBE, British Advertising Tycoon, Ogilvy & Mather Founder, The “Father of Advertising”) has to say:
“Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.”
So, let’s take a leaf out of his book:
- Use our “magic” analyzer
- Write 25 headlines (no deleting!)
- Get stuck at number 17
- Try something ridiculous
- Learn how to improve
- Order them and choose your best
(you can learn about how our headline analyzer score works here)
