An alternative title could be: “The Magical Power of Headlines.”
During my time in Vietnam, I took a wrong turn down the wrong street. Within a few steps, a girl had split off from her group of friends and approached me. To say this young lady was scantily clad would be an understatement. She and her friends were clad in pasties and shorts that would make Victoria’s Secret blush.
She grabbed my arm and insisted I come hang out with her group. When I told her no, that I needed to find my friends, she started to pull me toward the group. I stood my ground, yanked my arm away, and said no once more. She huffed and slapped my shoulder before stomping away.
I blinked, laughed, and said to myself, “Man, my friends are never going to believe this.”
As a writer, you want people to read your work. Whether that is a blog post, consumer report, or even the title of a novel, the headline is the first exposure most people have to your content.
In a way, a headline is like the cover of a book; it almost instantly determines whether the read will click and read farther or scroll away.
Moz reports that only 2 out of 10 readers will read past the headline. That means that 80% will scroll beyond it.
Why is that? Does your content just suck?
Your content is probably fine. Your headline may even do a great job of telling the reader what the article is about.
The problem lies in the mystery. If the headline doesn’t create a sense of mystery in the reader, they have no reason to read further to satisfy their curiosity.
There are a few ways to write a headline that entices the reader (and none of them are Buzzfeed-esque clickbait titles.)
The first is to write a headline using numbers. “5 Headline Tricks That Work.” Listicles like this are always popular.
The next is a simple how-to article. “How to Write a Headline That Works.”
Another way is to identify a problem and solve it. “Why Your Headlines Suck — and How to Fix Them.”
You can also use controversy to create curiosity. “All of your headlines should be clickbait-y. Here’s why.”
Short headlines are also great. In fact, research shows that 6 words is the ideal length for a headline. “Improve Your Headlines Today.”
And of course, explanations. “How I Doubled My Traffic With Better Headlines.”
Or you could take the route I did with this post title and go for something completely outrageous and only tangentially related to the topic at hand.
Many people are still firm proponents of questions as effective headlines, but recent data shows this style of headline performing worse than ever. For now, it’s probably best to avoid this style.
You should spend at least half of your time writing the headline. That’s right; roughly 50% of your effort should go into writing just six words, rather than the entire article. After all, if no one is interested in reading the article, does it matter how well-written it is?
How do you create compelling headlines? Comment below.
Pat is a freelance tech and travel writer. You can follow his travels at Voyager’s Quill or check out his freelance work on his portfolio.