Headlines are the most important part of your article, so use these seven tricks to perfect them.
Let’s say you have a beautifully written article. Your structure is flawless, your writing is eloquent, and you provide some of the most interesting original information your industry has seen in years. In theory, your article will win people over to your brand, encourage more site exploration, and will drive more conversions, but what happens if nobody ever sees the article in the first place?
Your article’s headline is responsible for attracting your audience’s initial attention. Without a strong headline, nobody will ever click through.
Use these seven tricks to make your headlines as catchy and attractive as possible:
- Keep it short. Generally, the shorter your headline is, the better. Keep your titles to around six words—any more, and you’ll risk alienating your readers.
- Include a number. Numbers show that your content has key takeaways, and that your article is properly segmented. Plus, numbers will help your titles stand out in the white noise of circulated content.
- Include a strong adjective. Descriptive adjectives can make your title stand out more. Take this title for example—which do you think stands out more, “7 tricks” or “7 savvy tricks”?
- Imply a degree of urgency. Including a phrase or suggestion that the article is an urgent read can encourage more click throughs. For example, you could use the phrase “you can’t live without.”
- Be specific. Unless your title shows exactly what your article is going to be about, you won’t be attracting anybody to your content.
- Show usefulness. Your title needs to communicate that your article offers some kind of helpful or useful information.
- Talk to your reader. Simply including the word “you” or “your” can make your headline more relatable to a reader.
If you’re interested in writing better content, including better headlines, contact us for a free consultation.