Reeling ‘Em In- 10 Tips for Writing Impressive Headlines

April 18, 2016

The importance of headlines is often overlooked. As something that just sits above the content of a story or post, headlines have taken a seat on the back-burner. But, a good headline will lead to more clicks to the actual post and can help the post be continually picked up by search engines.

1. Headlines need to tell the story

• Try to avoid puns on the web; it’s important to tell the story through the headline and be as descriptive as possible.
• Headlines are important when it comes to ranking, pun headlines won’t be helpful for SEO.

2. Stay away from clickbait

• Clickbait tends to dumb-down a site and the post tends to not deliver on the promise that the headline makes to the user.
• Overdoing it can be enticing but it’ll eventually disappoint readers and will fail as a long-term strategy.

3. Headlines need to stand alone

• These headlines are often competing with other sites and posts on news outlets and social media sites.
• Readers will scan through similar headlines and choose which one is the most appealing.

4. Keep the length short

• It’s important to remember that the web can limit the amount of characters allowed for headlines.
• Keeping the headline short will be more attractive to the reader, it allows them to digest the information and to, then, click to the post.
• A good rule of thumb is to keep headlines under 60 characters.

5. Don’t overdo it with verbiage

• Titling a post with filler adjectives, such as “amazing” and “the best”, can sometimes lead to false promises for the reader.
• If the headline is dying for these adjectives, make sure to be able to back up the headline with “amazing” content or the reader will feel cheated.

6. Short and sweet

• Excessive verbiage and too many characters can kill a headline, but being aware that most users are reading and scrolling at the same time is important.
• If every word isn’t essential, then those words can be removed.

7. Do your research

• Take a look at what articles are being shared more on social media. Compare and contrast headlines of popular posts to those that don’t receive as many clicks.
• Common factors will emerge to assist in creating useful headlines.

8. Use keywords

• Keywords will always help with the post’s ranking.
• They will attract the attention of your target audience.

9. Embrace lists

• Readers gravitate towards lists; it shows them that the post has structure and it’s not essential for them to spend a lot of time reading the post.
• The information is easier to digest and the reader feels as if they’ve gained something.

10. Collaborate

• Bouncing ideas off of colleagues or an innocent bystander is always helpful.
• Getting an outsider’s opinion is important; after all, they’ll be the ones clicking on your post!