How to Write Know-It-All Headlines
This is the 3rd post in a series on How to Write 7 Types of Catchy Headlines
A “Know-it-all Headline” is best for web and landing pages containing content offering practical tips or advice about some known topic. The know-it-all headline is therefore best-suited for how-to articles and other easily-digestible content that readers can quickly reference. Here are some examples of know-it-all headlines:
- Where to Sell Your iPhone 3G: Gazelle vs. NextWorth
- Social Media Use Cases: Arcade Fire
- How the Old Spice Videos are Being Made
There are several indicator words that often show up in know-it-all headlines:
- How to
- Where
- Examples of
- Use cases
- Studies
When know-it-all headlines do their job, readers should instantly be able to tell if this page contains interesting content. The header describes exactly what is going to be found out by visiting the page. They are often lists or steps that readers can quickly follow along with. Unlike content described by headlines that teach, which digs deeper, know-it-all content is usually quick to read.
If you are having trouble coming up with a concise, specific know-it-all headline, try writing a one sentence summary of your landing page and then removing everything but the nouns. The nouns should indicate what the landing page is trying to convey.
Here is an example of this technique in action. Suppose you’re an ice cream expert in Boston and you want to share your knowledge with the world. Your one-sentence summary might look something like:
“I want to write an article about the best ice cream stores in Boston”
If you remove everything but the nouns, the words that are left are:
- Article
- Stores
- Boston
- Ice cream
An effective headline for this page could be simply:
Where to Find the Best Ice Cream in Boston
It uses the two most important nouns from the sentence summary, as well as an indicator word from the list above, clearly communicating exactly what you will get. But it also communicates the value for the reader…you will find the best ice cream in Boston…something you may not have been able to do before. For anybody who values ice cream and lives in Boston, this headline is a sure winner.
View more examples of effective know-it-all headlines in my piece on how to write different types of headlines.

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