The 5 Headline Formulas That Work Every Single Time

Your headline is the first thing people read — and for 80% of your audience, it's the last. According to Copyblogger, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. That means your headline isn't just important — it's the single most leveraged piece of copy on the page. After writing over 500 headlines for clients across SaaS, e-commerce, coaching, and professional services, I keep coming back to five formulas. They're not tricks. They're proven psychological structures that consistently outperform clever, vague, or generic alternatives.

The simplest and most reliable formula. It works because it promises a specific transformation. Structure: How to [achieve desired outcome] without [common objection] Examples: • How to Double Your Email Open Rates Without Writing Clickbait • How to Price Your Services Confidently Without Losing Clients • How to Write Landing Pages That Convert Without Sounding Salesy Why it works: It addresses both the desire and the fear simultaneously. The 'without' clause removes the most common reason people hesitate.

Numbers create specificity, and specificity creates credibility. Structure: [Number] [Ways/Steps/Secrets] to [Desired Outcome] Examples: • 7 Email Subject Lines That Generated $50K+ in Revenue • 3 Homepage Mistakes Costing You Leads Every Day • 12 Swipe-Worthy CTAs You Can Steal Right Now Why it works: Numbers set expectations for the reader's time investment and signal organized, actionable content. Odd numbers tend to outperform even ones in testing.

Questions engage the reader's brain in a way statements can't — they create an open loop the reader wants to close. Structure: [Question that highlights a pain point or desire]? Examples: • Is Your About Page Actually Turning Clients Away? • What Would Your Revenue Look Like With a 40% Higher Conversion Rate? • Are You Making These 5 Common Mistakes on Your Sales Page? Why it works: A well-crafted question makes the reader feel seen. It acknowledges their situation and implies you have the answer.

Challenge a commonly held belief and you immediately stand out. Structure: Why [common advice] is [wrong/outdated] (and what to do instead) Examples: • Why 'Be Authentic' Is the Worst Branding Advice You'll Ever Get • Stop Writing Blog Posts. Do This Instead. • Your Funnel Isn't Broken — Your Messaging Is Why it works: Contrarian headlines trigger curiosity and a mild emotional response. People click because they either want to defend their belief or discover what they're missing.

Nothing sells like results. Lead with proof and let the numbers do the heavy lifting. Structure: How [Person/Brand] [Achieved Result] in [Timeframe] Examples: • How a DTC Skincare Brand 3x'd Revenue With One Email Sequence • How We Rewrote a Homepage and Added $40K/Month in Pipeline • From 2% to 11%: How One Subject Line Change Transformed Our Open Rates Why it works: Specificity creates believability. A vague claim ('we improved conversions') is forgettable. A specific one ('we increased conversions from 2.1% to 7.8% in 21 days') is magnetic.

The best copywriters don't pick one headline — they write 25 and test the top 3. Every headline on this page was the winner out of a batch of 10-20 variations. My process: Write as many variations as possible using these five formulas. Pick the top 3 based on specificity, emotional pull, and clarity. A/B test them. Let data, not instinct, decide the winner. The formulas give you structure. Testing gives you certainty.