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39 Proven Headline Formulas to Instantly Grab Attention & Boost Sales 

By  Csaba Borzasi

This guide will empower you with a useful collection of proven headline formulas so you can get more attention and sales fast.


As you might have heard before, the headline is THE most important element of any sales message.


It's the first thing people see - and you only have 2 seconds to grab their attention...


And if you don't... well, they'll be gone in no time.

And you'll probably never see them again - hurting your ROI and increasing your bounce rate.


So how do you counter this?

Simple: by crafting an engaging headline that stops people dead in their tracks and immediately grabs their attention (never letting it go until they click the call to action button!)

Quick 15-min TL/DR in the video below...


However, this is easier said than done, and most people tend to have a hard time coming up with a really strong headline.


But how come? It's only a sentence, right?


Well, in length, it is... however, in complexity, it's FAR more than that!


That's because a headline is the entry point to your entire sales message. It needs to encapsulate the very essence of your sales message in just a few words!


And that's the hard part.


How do you accurately capture the essence of your message in just a few words while:

  • You have to immediately grab attention
  • You have to avoid clickbait because people will hate you for it
  • You have to spark desire on the spot

And this is just the beginning!


No wonder the top marketers spend about 50-80% of the TOTAL time it takes to write a sales page just on coming up with the perfect headline.


In fact, consider this:


David Ogilvy, one of the brightest marketing minds who ever lived rewrote the following famous headline a whopping 104 times!

David Ogilvy headline example

And he was already one of the best copywriters ever when he did it.


This shows you how much time & effort goes into crafting the perfect headline - and also explains why so many people are intimidated by it.


But what if you don't have time for that?


What if - instead of investing tens of hours into customer research, voice of customer data, and review mining, you just want a headline that works 90% as well - but can be crafted in just 5 minutes?


In that case, boy do I have a treat for you today 🙂 


Because I've collected 39 of the best headline formulas on the planet so that you never have to worry about bad headlines ever again.


This list is based on decades of high-performing headlines that pulled in billions of dollars for the companies that used them.


From now on, think of this list as you own 'ace in the hole'.


Want a great headline for your sales page? Just pick one.


Need something for that Facebook ad you're planning to run? I got your back.


Looking to increase email open rates with a killer subject line? Say no more!


There's something for everybody here, covering every situation you may encounter.


Just take a headline formula, fill in the blanks, and you're done.


It really is that easy.


And for best results, do grab the convenient checklist below and print it out or save it to your desktop because it'll make your life even easier whenever you need to write a headline from scratch:

And with that, you're life just got waaay less complicated.


You're welcome ?


However, before we dive deep into these 39 proven headline formulas, I'd like to give you a word of WARNING:


Even if you use THE perfect headline formula for that sales message you're writing, chances are it won't work so well if you don't have an established product-market fit.


What does this mean?


In a nutshell: your product/service/topic you want to talk about NEEDS to be of interest to your target audience.


Because I could hire the ghost of David Ogilvy himself to write me the perfect headline for a Hummer commercial, but it would mean nothing if my target customers were women who recently had a baby, for example.


Case in point: Your target market needs to be a good fit for what you want to write about.


Please consider this before picking any of the headline formulas: speak to the right audience with the right message, and you're golden!

Interested in more great content on copywriting? Check out my Copywriting Resource Hub where you'll find in-depth guides, interesting case studies, and practical resources that will help you boost your conversions and sell more, without being salesy or aggressive.

Now, with that being said, here's my collection of the 39 proven headline formulas that will help you shock anyone out of their zombie state and grab their attention instantly.


The “Who Else”

Who Else Wants To ______ With ______?


Example: Who Else Wants To Cure Acne With a Completely Natural & Safe Remedy?


The “Everybody Should Know”

What Everybody Who _____ Should Know… (Hint – The _____ Will NEVER Tell You This)


Example: What Everybody Who Suffers From Low Self-Esteem Should Know… (Hint – Psychologists Will NEVER Tell You This)


The “Warning - Do Not Until...”

Warning - Do Not Try Another _________ Until You ____________…


Example: Warning - Do Not Try Another Multivitamin Until You Know These Facts:


The “Finally Revealed...”

Finally - Someone Reveals The ________ That Will _______ And ________


Example: Finally - Someone Reveals The Copywriting Secret That Will Fix Your Low-Converting Website And Generate You Tons of New Customers...


The “Expert’s Promise”

_______ Expert Promises To _______ Your _________ Completely And __________


Example: Dating Expert Promises To Fix Your Love Life Completely (And Without Gimmicks)


The “How, When, Even If...”

Find Out How _______ When ________ – Even If _________


Example: Find Out How To Sleep Soundly When You've Been Tossing & Turning For Hours – Even If Everything You've Tried So Far Has Failed...


The “Way To”

The _____ Way To ______


Example: The Easy Way To Make More Money


The “Ugly Truth”

The Ugly Truth About ________


Example: The Ugly Truth About Weight-loss Supplements


The “Behind & Why”

The _____ Behind _____ And Why ____


Example: The Unexpected Story Behind Every Single Pro Athlete And Why You'll Never Be One Without These 7 Simple Tips


The “Secret To”

The Secret To ________ In ________


Example: The Secret To deadlifting 250 Pounds In Just 7 Days


The “Stop & Start”

Stop _____ And Start ______


Example: Stop Wasting Time on Gimmicky Tactics And Start Making Actual Money With Your Website


The “In As Little As...”

________ In As Little As ______


Example: Get Rid of Back Pain In As Little As 5 Days


The “Here’s The Way...”

Here's The ________ & ________ Way To ____________________


Example: Here's The Fastest & Cheapest Way To Get Yourself a New Macbook Pro


The “Get Without...”

Get _______ Without ________ Or _______ And _______


Example: Get Rid Of Your belly Fat Without Drugs Or Medication And Using Only Completely Natural Remedies...


The “Free Show”

Free ____ Shows You How To _________ In Just _______...


Example: Free Report Shows You How To Make Money on The Stock market In Just 5 Days...


The “Quickly & Easily”

How To Quickly & Easily ________


Example: How To Quickly & Easily Make an Extra $5k With Email Marketing


The “Discover The Secrets”

Discover The Secret Behind _____ In _____


Example: Discover The Surprising Secret Behind Curing Acne In Just 5 Days...


The “Here’s The Secret To”

Here's The Secret To __________


Example: Here's The Secret To Investing in Bitcoin.


The “How You Can, Even If”

How You Can ______ In Just ______, Even If _______ and _______


Example: How You Can Cure ED In Just 7 Days, Even If You've Suffered For Years And NOTHING You've Tried Has Ever Helped...


The “Turn Your … Into...”

How To Turn Your ______ Into ______


Example: How To Turn Your Struggling Facebook Ad Campaign Into a ROI-busting Powerhouse


The “How To, So You Can”

How To ____ So You Can _____ In _____


Example: How To Find the Girl of Your Dreams So You Can Finally Be Happy In Just 30 Days


The “Get Rid Of”

Get Rid of _____ Once And For All


Example: Get Rid of Feeling Overwhelmed Once And For All


The “Hundreds Now”

Hundreds Now_____ Who Never Thought They Could


Example: Hundreds Now Make over $100k a year Who Never Thought They Could


The “Proud Of”

_____a_____ You Can Be Proud Of


Example: Get a Website You Can Be Proud Of


The “Why Almost Always”

Why Some_____Almost Always_____


Example: Why Some People Almost Always Make Money With Their First Product


The “How To And”

How To_____And_____


Example: How To Win Friends And Influence People


The “Seven Common”

Seven Common_____Problems - Which Ones Do You Want to Overcome?


Example: Seven Common Sales Page Problems - Which Ones Do You Want To Overcome?


The “10 Ways To Even If”

The 10 Ways To_____Even if


Example: 10 Ways To Build More Muscle Even If You're a Skinny Guy


The “What's New”

What's New In_____?


Example: What's New In Conversion Rate Optimization?


The “You Don't Have To”

You Don't Have To_____To


Example: You Don't Have to Be Rich To Have Girls All Over You


The “See How Easily”

See How Easily You Can_____


Example: See How Easily You Can Get In Shape With Our Help


The “The... Or Your Money Back”

The_____Or Your Money Back


Example: The Easiest Website Builder You've Ever Seen Or Your Money Back


The “Give Me And I'll”

Give Me_____- And I'll


Example: Give Me 1 Week - And I'll Double Your Conversion Rate


The “They Laughed When”

They Laughed When_____- But When I_____!


Example: They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano - But When I Started to Play!


The “Lazy Way”

The Lazy_____'s Way To_____


Example: The Lazy Man's Way To Riches


The “Do You Recognize”

Do You Recognize the 5 Early Warning Signs of_____?


Example: Do You Recognize the 5 Early Warning Signs of A Money-Wasting Facebook Ad Campaign?


The “You'll Hate Yourself”

If You_____, You'll Hate Yourself Later


Example: If You Don't Fix Your SEO Problems Now, You'll Hate Yourself Later


The “Do You Make These Mistakes”

Do You Make These_____Mistakes?


Example: Do You Make These Critical Website Mistakes?


The “Do Like”

_____Like_____


Example: Write Sales Pages Like an A-list Copywriter

headline swipe file

BONUS HEADLINE TIPS

These 39 headline formulas will no doubt make your life much easier whenever you have to come up with any type of headline or subject line, however, I want to give you a few extra tips on how you can make the most out of them.


Buzzsumo recently analyzed a whopping 100 MILLION headlines and they've made some interesting discoveries.


They analyzed things such as: headline phrases that drive most engagement on Facebook, the optimum number of words, and even the most impactful numbers to use in headlines.


Let me share a few of their key findings with you here:

  • The best 3-word phrase that drove the most engagements was 'will make you' 
  • Highly emotional phrases were particularly effective ('tears of joy', 'melt your heart', 'make you cry')
  • Curiosity still works really well ('what happened next', 'are freaking out')
  • 2 particularly strong headline phrases were: 'simple way to', and 'that actually work'
  • Effective phrases to end headlines with: '...the world', '...X years', '...goes viral'
  • Strong first words in headlines: 'This', 'Trump', 'How', '10', 'Why'
  • Most engaging numbers in descending order: 10, 5, 15, 7, 20
  • Posts with 8 to 12 words in the headline receive the highest engagement 

And another pro tip: before writing ANY marketing message, never ever forget to take into consideration your ideal customer's stage of awareness!


This is critical if you want to give them the RIGHT message at the RIGHT time.


Plus, do make sure that your landing is solid, please. Here's a great article that reveals 9 actionable landing page best practices that you should definitely optimize for if you want more conversions (and sales).


And that's it for this one.


Using these insights in conjunction with the headline formulas mentioned above will no doubt give you an edge over your competition, and perhaps most importantly...


Finally empower you to write killer headlines, without wasting tons of time doing doing. 


Now you have everything you need for crafting bombastic headlines. 


The only thing left for you to do is to get out there start grabbing your leads' attention.


Go get 'em, tiger!

Interested in more great content on copywriting? Check out my Copywriting Resource Hub where you'll find in-depth guides, interesting case studies, and practical resources that will help you boost your conversions and sell more, without being salesy or aggressive.

Csaba Borzasi


Csaba Borzási is the founder of Game of Conversions. After spending 10 years learning the ins and outs of persuasion psychology, Csaba now focuses on what he loves most: helping ambitious entrepreneurs grow their online business and get more profitable customers. When he isn't geeking out on discovering how the human mind works, you can probably find him climbing a mountain, dancing salsa, or traveling around the globe.

  • The free value you’re giving out is insane. I hope people can actually see what you’re doing for free is sold in fancy copywriting courses for thousands of bucks. Good Job Bruh.

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