A great headline will be the reason someone clicks on your blog title on Twitter, Facebook, Alexa or any blog listing out there.
It’s one thing to share your post at every opportunity. It’s great to have as much exposure for your article as possible. However, no matter if your post has been shared hundreds of times by kind supportive friends,without a great, intriguing headline no one will click on it.
Think of all the blog posts titles you’ve clicked on when you’re out and about on the Internet. You clicked on those articles without seeing anything except their titles. Why? Because they were great headlines!
Of course the rest of your article needs to support your innovative title, but how are you going to get others to read your masterpiece without enticing them to click on the title in the first place? Here are some top tips for writing a great headline.
Challenge what your readers believe in your headline
Don’t be controversial. You want to attract readers, not repel them. Stay away from politics and religion unless you absolutely know you can pull it off. Challenge your readers to think differently about a particular topic. Challenge them to contrast two very popular or opposing beliefs (not religious beliefs). Show them what others are saying and contrast this by what you believe is true. You can challenge your readers in several ways with the following headings:
The real story behind…
What you should know about…
What was never revealed about…
Promise value in your headline
Think about what you would type into to Google (or any other search engine) if you were looking for a particular topic. This is exactly what you have to name your article when you write about it. Don’t go for sentimentality, puns or fancy language. Plain and simple, this article promises to show you how to write a great headline. If you have a problem writing headlines, you’ll type this term into your search engine. If you saw this heading and one which says, ‘Great headlines Are Important’ you’d click on the former. Know what your audience is looking for. Use Google Keywords to research the competition and the search volume of your chosen keyword, then promise something of value in your blog title based on this research.
Another way of promising value in your headline is showing your reader how to do something you’ve done well on your own site. This kind of headline is very profitable on my own blogs.
Ask questions in your headline
Bloggers comment on so many blogs each day that by the time they get around to yours, they may be out of inspiring things to say. Asking them a direct question instantly gives them a chance to answer. This is the perfect way of getting your readers to think and interact with your site. They may have never considered the idea before, but your question will urge them to get involved and maybe even offer vital information to you and the rest of your readers. Questions in headlines always make people want to get involved. ‘Why Is Your Blog Dying?’ will bring a lot more curious readers (who’ve never heard of your blog), than ‘Your Blog Is Not Alive’.
Mix and match these elements in your blog headlines and see your traffic increase. Doing this not only helps your readers, a great headline keeps you focused on the topic at hand and it forces you to do your job of writing well. You won’t want to let down a great headline. It’s one of the things which will keep your readers coming back for more.
Author Bio
Alan Rita is a freelance writer who has mastered the trick to writing
great headlines. She is currently writing for payday loans site.
