How & Why You Should Brainstorm Original Headlines

“Everybody is original, if he tells the truth, if he speaks from himself. But it must be from his true self and not from the self he thinks he should be. ” ― Brenda Ueland

Headlines are a key part of your content strategy. No matter what you’re writing about or marketing for, your headlines matter.

Headline generators are pretty handy when you’re dry on ideas. We all get writer’s block, so we’re all very familiar with that absolutely blank mental canvas. It’s not easy to figure out fresh and unique things to say about your topic when you’re writing about it all the time.

Plus, headline generators do give you a bird’s eye view on common things people are interested in.

However, they’re not the only way to generate content ideas and you shouldn’t rely on them exclusively. There are other strategic ways to do it. On top of that, there’s a lot of validity in taking time to brainstorm your own, original headlines. It takes more time, but writing good content for the web will always take time.

Your original ideas will be your most unique pieces.

They may not always be your most successful pieces, but it’s important to be well-rounded. That piece with a more clickbaity title may do better in the short term, but you want to show that you’re well-rounded. You can write about your perspective in thoughtful, unique ways, but you can also write crowd-pleasers.

If you post nothing but “10 ways to do this” and “5 reasons you should do that,” eventually, your audience is going to get tired of your work. People who start following your work and read many of your stories are going to have their eyes peeled for the headlines that are uniquely yours and only yours.

We all need to write eye-catching headlines; it's part of content writing.

We all need to get our content out there and share it in an easily digested way. There’s nothing wrong with writing pieces like that — they can be a great way to boost your web presence. But also mix it up with your most original thoughts on your topic.

For example, here’s a story I wrote recently. It’s looking at an aspect of poetry that isn’t spoken about quite as often as things like how to write emotional poetry.

This hasn’t been my most successful piece ever, but I absolutely loved writing it. I really enjoyed exploring this line of thought, and a few readers out there enjoyed it as well. You’ve got to enjoy what you write and exploring unique thoughts will help you do that. You’ll appreciate yourself for it, and your readers will also enjoy the breath of fresh air.

Using your own headlines will help your work stand out in an over-saturated niche.

No matter what you’re writing about, there are a lot of common topics. Let’s look at writing. There are a million pieces about how to make time to write, how to be more motivated to write, and tons of lists of inspirational quotes.

I have no judgment toward people who write about these very mainstream topics because we all do have unique perspectives on each of these common topics. Heck, I write about them too. They have their place in your stream of content.

However, if your ideal reader is often reading content like this, they’re going to get tired of those common topics and start skipping them after a while. The only downfall of headline generators is that they tend to spit out these very common topics at you.

Take time to think about your topic; think about every facet of what interests you in your topic.

Think about what drew you to that topic at the very beginning of your journey as a content writer.

Give yourself time for contemplation away from screens, just time for yourself and your thoughts. If you meditate on what you’re passionate about, you can usually extract a headline or two from that brainstorming session.

It's easier to get your voice into your own ideas.

Let’s be honest. We can try our best to fuse our unique voices into listicles and how-tos, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to do in thought pieces we’re passionate about. Yet even when you're writing a piece meant to have wide appeal, it's important to incldue your perspective and use your original voice.

Another excellent way to breathe fresh life and originality into listicles and how-tos is by digging deeper into your niche. These are excellent frameworks for writing organized pieces, but

Be strategic when you get headlines elsewhere.

I said it before and I’ll say it again for the people in the back (or skim reading); it’s OK to use headline generators. I’m just strongly encouraging you not to use them all the time.

When you’re dry on ideas and look for help with topics, be strategic. Beyond headline generators, use SEO-based tools to figure out what people are searching for that pertains to your topic.

Do keyword research; it will help you grow your following exponentially.

Although it’s not a free service, SEMrush has tools that let you search for specific keywords and tells you thousands of things people search for that have your keyword in it.

About a year ago, I ran a topic research report on the keyword writing. Here are a few samples from the 1,121 results I got of commonly searched phrases and questions containing the keyword writing.

• Who likes a standing desk when writing?
• Writing Quotes, Sayings about Writers, Quotations about Words
• Creative Writing 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Creative Writing
• What does your ideal writing environment look like?
• What are those pointy things on fancy desks?
• Is writing therapeutic?
• How much money can I make a month if I write a quote book?

I went right ahead and wrote a few of the more interesting topics that jumped out at me, hence the links. They were received pretty well, too.

Whenever you write a headline, think about what prospective readers are going to search for.

A good many of these things are questions, which is actually one of Coschedule’s recommendations for writing headlines that will reach your readers. It’s a common tip on writing effective headlines because when people search for things, it’s because they’re looking for an answer to a question.

You’ll also see that some of these just aren’t relevant, like the ones like pointy things on fancy desks or questions about writing a check. You have to dig through the fat a little if you use keyword tools, but you still get some solid content ideas.

All these strategies and tools have their merit. Use them, use them strategically, and blend them in with your unique ideas that are yours and yours alone. This way, your readers can appreciate all of your content.