How to Use Headline
Testing to Hook and
Hold Readers
A CHARTBEAT INSIDER GUIDE
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When it comes to headlines, how
do you test for success?
For starters, you’ll want to define what it means for a headline to
be “the winner.” Most A/B testing tools measure only which
headlines get clicked on. But anybody can write a clickable headline
(Think: 33 Ways Justin Bieber Cooks Asparagus). The best kind of tool
— the tool that’ll build your audience and fill your piggy bank — is
one that identifies not only the headlines that are getting clicked
on, but also those that are leading to engagement with subsequent
content. Your headlines should drive readers to the engaging stuff
that’ll keep them coming back again and again.
Bottom line: Winning headlines should
grab and hold readers’ attention.
But enough pontificating. We know you’ve come for the best
practices and insider knowledge that’ll keep your headlines on
point. Read on to learn seven proven steps to make the most of
your headline tests, plus a few essential tips to keep you on the
right track along the way. As a bonus, we’re giving you our
template for planning and tracking your headline tests. With
a little preparation, you’ll be writing engaging, money-making,
internet-breaking headlines in no time.
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1. PLAN OUT YOUR TESTS
Don’t just set and forget. Take the time to really plan
out the goals and headline options of each test you
conduct. A headline test is an experiment, and you
should structure it that way — with a hypothesis,
variable(s), results, and conclusions.
CHARTBEAT TIP:
Getting started can be the hardest part — so
we’ve simplified it for you. Use the Headline Test
7 STEPS TO
SUCCESSFUL
HEADLINE
Tracking Template to help you plan and track your
tests more efficiently. You can thank us later.
2. CHOOSE INFORMATIVE METRICS
Data gives you an opportunity to learn — so take
advantage of that. When testing, it’s critical to employ
meaningful metrics for measuring success. When your
TESTING
metrics correlate with your objectives, you can better
understand why particular headline writing
strategies succeed.
CHARTBEAT TIP:
Average Engaged Time is a Chartbeat metric
that measures the amount of time users spend
actively interacting with a page — reading,
writing, scrolling, watching. Measuring the
reader engagement associated with your headline
options, as opposed to just clicks or pageviews,
gives you a much better view of the quality of your
headlines and content and how well they
match with your audience. Isn’t that the point?
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3. LEVERAGE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND INSIGHT
When deciding on headline variants, consider what kinds of headlines have been successful in the past.
You know your audience better than anyone, so make sure your headlines speak to their preferences,
styles, and individual interests. Never let a testing tool get in the way of your human knowledge.
4. TEST DISTINCT DIFFERENCES
You’re testing to see how your audience reacts to different styles and tones, not slight changes in word
order or punctuation. Maybe test an option that’s interrogative, one with numbers, and another written
in the second person. Whatever you go with, make sure there’s a noticeable difference between each
option — and a solid reason for that difference.
CHARTBEAT TIP:
If you can, experiment with creating multiple options. Chartbeat Engaged Headline Testing is
a multivariate headline testing tool, which means you’re not just limited to two choices. Pick at
least 4 or 5 different kinds of headlines, and get creative with your ideas.
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5. ANALYZE RESULTS AND COMMUNICATE LEARNINGS
Look back at the headline writing strategies you started with. Were your hypotheses correct? Every
time an experiment completes, you have a chance to learn a little bit more about your audience’s
preferences and how they respond to different styles of headlines. Which approaches were more
successful, based on your defined metrics? Under what conditions? Do certain approaches work better
against certain content topics (e.g. sports or tech or entertainment)? Everyone in the newsroom, from
writers to analysts, can benefit from understanding the identity and behaviors of your target audience,
so make sure you share your results with the team.
CHARTBEAT TIP:
High CTR with low engagement might mean that the headline didn’t communicate the message
of the article. Is your headline too sensational, too much of a stretch? On the other hand, low
CTR with high engagement can tell you that the article could use more exposure. Have you
shared it on social media? Are you linking to it from your homepage or other article pages?
6. APPLY YOUR FINDINGS CONSISTENTLY
Some of the best headline testers we partner with write wrap reports and have daily meetings to go
over results. Creating and sharing a summary of the insights you gained from previous experiments
helps all editors and content producers benefit and learn.
7. TEST AGAIN
And again. Test deliberately and in ways that confirm or deny a single hypothesis. And if your
results aren’t what you thought they’d be, learn from them, update your hypotheses, and run follow-up
tests. The more you test, the more insight you’ll gain into your audience for the future.
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TURNING
ENGAGEMENT
INTO BUSINESS
GROWTH
But we get it. You don’t just want to run successful tests. You want to make some cash money. With
Chartbeat Engaged Headline Testing, you’ll be driving more people to more engaging, high-quality
content — and turning that attention into new revenue in no time.
So how does it actually work? Engaged Headline Testing identifies not only the headlines that are being
clicked on, but also the ones that lead to engagement with the content itself. It’s Engaged Headline
Testing, after all, not just plain old headline testing. With our Quality Clicks metric, Engaged Headline
Testing tallies the clicks that correspond to a user actively engaging with your content for at least 15
seconds after clicking the headline.
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AND THAT’S HUGE. HERE’S WHY:
Engaged readers are loyal returners who’ll share your content.
Engaged readers are more likely to score higher for brand recall, making your site’s
inventory more desirable.
Engaged readers boost your site’s overall viewability, because they’re actually
interacting with your content.
Engaged readers spend more time with your content, and thus more time with ads,
which is why brands want time with an engaged audience.
We could list many more reasons why you should be
testing headlines for both activity and engagement,
but the point is pretty simple:
You want a thorough, informed
headline testing tool sharpened
with a thorough, informed
headline testing practice.
Before we go, we thought we’d leave you with some
final thoughts on testing best practices and a bonus
headline test planning and tracking template. Looks
like the holidays came early.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR HEADLINE TEST TRACKING TEMPLATE
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QUICK TIPS FOR TESTING
ALWAYS BE TESTING — Since there’s no limit on how many experiments you can run at the same
time with our Engaged Headline Testing tool, you always have the opportunity to learn from your
audience’s behavior.
KNOW WHICH AUDIENCE YOU’RE TESTING — Homepage audiences are usually loyal, visit
often, and know what to expect, whereas social visitors tend to be new and interested in the buzz
of the moment, so it’s likely they’ll prefer different headlines.
DON’T STOP TESTS PREMATURELY — It might be tempting to stop a test when one
headline quickly takes the lead, but you’re likely to see cases where the tides shift halfway through
the experiment and the initial success trails off.
DON’T GET DISCOURAGED BY TIES — It’s possible that two great headlines are
attracting similar levels of engagement. If you’re frequently seeing similar results, it might be that
the headlines you’re testing are too similar.
HIGHER TRAFFIC PAGES WILL TURN RESULTS FASTER — Since experiments are based on
how many clicks your articles are getting, a bigger audience means more clicks to measure. The
more people clicking on articles, the quicker a clear winner can be determined.
A HEADLINE’S PURPOSE IS TO GET VISITORS INTO A STORY AND READING IT — As
such, audiences respond to headlines with familiar language, imperative verb constructions, and
teaser devices like ellipses or question marks.
DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW THROUGH — That’s why you’ve got this fun tracking
template to keep you more organized than the Container Store.
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646.218.9333 / [email protected]