Headlines are underrated.
Marketers spend time and effort crafting the text and design of websites, blog posts, and emails. But we often leave the headline or subject line to the end. Rather than crafting it intentionally, we rush and write by default.
This is backward. We should spend nearly as much time writing headlines as anything else because they have an outsized impact on whether people decide to click, open, or read.
Marketers should focus more on writing headlines, but how can we ensure this effort is well spent? Well, if you read this post’s headline, you can guess there’s a tool to help you. Let’s review CoSchedule’s Headline Studio tool, how it can help, how to use it, and who can benefit from it.
What is Headline Studio?
Headline Studio is a freemium online marketing tool created by CoSchedule. Their website describes the tool as the “#1 headline writing tool for content creators.” From my experience, I can attest to that claim. It’s probably the best headline-specific tool out there.
Although it began just helping with blog headlines, Headline Studio has expanded far beyond that to help optimize content for:
- Email subject lines
- Podcast episode titles
- YouTube video titles
- Instagram and TikTok captions
- Digital ad headlines
You can use the tool to generate headline ideas (using AI) based on specific topics or analyze existing headlines you’ve written. Every headline gets a score (out of 100) and some suggestions for how to improve based on benchmarked best practices.
There’s a free option for the tool, or you can unlock more features with a paid account (like we have at GreenMellen). Headline Studio integrates with several popular platforms like:
- WordPress
- Google Docs
- Medium
- Gmail
- Outlook
- HubSpot
- YouTube
This is a product offered by the marketing SaaS company CoSchedule. They’re primarily known for their social and blog content calendars, which organize and schedule digital content.
How we use Headline Studio
At GreenMellen, we used the free version briefly before upgrading to a premium account. This gives us 100 credits that can be used for analyzing and generating headline content.
Our team uses Headline Studio primarily for blog headlines, email subject lines, and podcast episode titles for our clients’ marketing and our own internal efforts. Our goal is to generate 3-5 headline ideas for each piece of content and see which one scores the best.
The more we use the optimizer, the more attuned we become with what format will score well. That’s because Headline Studio clearly explains what works well, what doesn’t, and how each headline can be improved. In this way, this is a training tool for improving our copywriting skills.
Admittedly, we haven’t used the AI-generated headline options yet since that’s a relatively new feature. I’m still accustomed to brainstorming my own headlines and using the tool to optimize and iterate.
What are some of the best features?
There’s a good deal to unpack when optimizing a headline, but here are the useful features I tend to use the most:
- Word and character count to find the right headline length
- Reading grade level to simplify and clarify your language
- Word balance with word banks to use more compelling words
- The version history so you can compare different options
- SEO score to determine the keyword quality and density
Seeing how many details go into crafting an effective headline reminds you that this is an art. It takes time and effort to do correctly.
Who can benefit from Headline Studio?
Because the tool is so versatile, it can be helpful to nearly anyone who writes copy or content online. That could include:
- Small business owners
- Marketing agencies
- Brand marketers
- Freelance copywriters
- Content creators
- Social media influencers
However, the tool still requires time and writing skills. Don’t expect it to work like magic without some knowledge of copywriting and SEO. Headline Studio can help you improve your writing, but it can’t teach you how to write.
The paid version of the platform is worth it if you use it as a team. Don’t let this be another tool you pay for, but underutilize. If you’re dedicated to reaching more people with compelling content, this can be a valuable asset for you.
