It's been said, that audiences don't read articles, they read headlines.
If you want to develop a following or traffic to your site, you have to create headlines that stir up interest.
Headline creation is both an art and a science, both revered and respected by marketers and content creators.
Don't believe me?
Go to your favorite news or blog site or to bbc.com, wsj.com, huffingtonpost.com
Which headlines caught your eye?
Which ones actually stole your attention?
Which ones actually stole your attention?
If you want to build a following, you'll want to make to headlines that do just that, grab a readers attention.
We marketers and communication specialists are meticulous about the messages we send because we know we only have a few seconds to get your attention.
In order to position ourselves for the e-Commerce win, we have to be very strategic about what we write and how we write it.
Also, headlines are also a great way to provide direction for your blogging or general content creation. If you're having trouble coming up with post ideas or content to curate, start with a strong headline.
Here are some types of headlines that you may be familiar with.
The How-To Headers: Instructions and guides for how to do anything.
We marketers and communication specialists are meticulous about the messages we send because we know we only have a few seconds to get your attention.
In order to position ourselves for the e-Commerce win, we have to be very strategic about what we write and how we write it.
Also, headlines are also a great way to provide direction for your blogging or general content creation. If you're having trouble coming up with post ideas or content to curate, start with a strong headline.
Here are some types of headlines that you may be familiar with.
The How-To Headers: Instructions and guides for how to do anything.
- How to Get Fit in 2018!
- How to Make The Best Pizza Ever
- How to Build a Robot With Pennies
- The Ultimate Guide to Wearing Cologne
Tips and Tricks: Provides information, although they often appeals to the ego
- Money Hacks to Grow Your Future
- The Best Way to Make an A in College
- Fast and Easy Ways to Lose 10 lbs. Today
- 8 Things Successful People Do
- Stop Wasting Money, Start Saving Now
- Every Student Should Be Doing This
- 8 ways to grow your business
- 4 reasons you must get a college degree
- The Top 5 Careers in Finance
- 7 Ugly Truths a Pretty Website Can’t Hide
- Smart People Study Less -Studies Show
- Hugh Jackman Ready to Get Out of Shape
- Why My Cat Has a Savings Account
K.I.S.S. Statements: Short and simple headlines
- 11 Million Unemployed
- Make Money Online Now
- Stress-The Silent Killer
- The Ultimate Guide to Gaming
- Free e-book from AMA
- Jada Pinkett Smith Donates $1M
- New Soap Cleared Acne – and Dry skin too
- Going to College Increases Earning Potential
- Trending in 2018
The Sales Pitch: Self-explanatory
- Hundreds make thousands with my methods, you can too!
Questions: Quickest way to engage a person is to ask them a question. The idea is to get you to respond in your head, so you'll click to read more.
- What Type of Student Are You? Take our quiz now.
- Are You Too Clever for Success?
- Should Women Propose to Men?
- How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking
- What I Learned From Working with Oprah
The Cliff Hanger: It's the sentence that challenges you and incites your emotions all at the same time...
- She found a wallet. You’ll never believe what happened next.
So, how to create a good header?
If the above examples didn't spark any ideas for you, here are some surefire ways to bring out your best header material.
1) Summarize your article. What is your blog post about? Narrow it down to 10 words or less.
e.g. Here are some ways to make good grades in school
2) Consider your audience. Within those 10 words, which words do you not need in order to get your point across? Narrow it down to 7 words of less if possible.
e.g. Ways to make Good Grades in School
Which ones can you switch out for synonyms that would best target your audience? How can you rearrange the words to make a more impactful header? Would adding or subtracting words benefit your header?
e.g.. How to Make A's in your College Courses
3) Give your headers some personality with jargon and power words that turn curiosity into clicks!
- Power words like "best" and "ever" add to headers.
- Using possessive pronouns (e.g., his, your) or demonstrative pronouns (e.g., this, these)
- Call-to-Actions: Read this! or Check out this...
Think about it. What appeals to you the most.
How To Make An A in College
How To Make Your Best Grade This Semester
or
Never Make a C Again: Hacks To Making A's in College
I think the last one is the strongest header, but depending on your audience and your the website, the second option may be better.
Altogether, when it comes to create headers, never underestimate the influence that power words, sentence structure, call-to-action statements, jargon, and pronouns can have.
As long as you keep your readers in the mind, understanding what they like, what they are coming to you for, and delivering content that keeps them intrigued, they'll keep coming back for more.
This means, you'll want to keep in communication with your followers. Read their comments. Consider their suggestions. Ask them questions. Take notes on how they engage each other. All of this can be used as market research to help you better your content creation.
Really want to make a splash with your blog? Research some headlines. Share the ones that appeal to the most to you and why. How will you use this to blog?
Share and comment below.
-Professor Lawanda Maxwell, MBA
-Professor Lawanda Maxwell, MBA
Hi Professor Maxwell,
ReplyDeleteYes, I am not a big reader. I usually only read headlines as well. If the headline doesn't catch my attention, I'll probably skip reading the story.
This was a great post. I love how you broke down the science of creating an eye catching headline. This will surely come in handy for me during this class and beyond. This will also come in handy for writing eye catching subject lines for email marketing.
ReplyDeleteYes! Headlines are what catches the attention of readers. I know this for a fact because I fall victim to a headline reader. When I scroll through social media, news and such, I don't necessarily want to read the article unless the title seeks my interest. Call to action s key.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Maxwell, I loved your article, I downloaded an ebook on this topic. But this article was very good not to long just perfect, Thank you! Kalysta
ReplyDeleteProfessor Maxwell, I relate to this article so much. I am the kind of person that will skip right over an article if I don't like the headlines. I never realized how important the wording is for targeting in on a certain audience. I love how informative this whole thing is.
ReplyDeleteIt makes a lot of sense, headlines are very important. For me design is very important too, so a good headline with a nice design captures your eye, pull you into the blog and the information the writer wants to share with the audience. Such nice blog a lot of new information to me and another one already known, but very well organized to learn more on how to write a blog. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us.
ReplyDeleteThe headline is the crucial thing that determines wether or not your audience reads your story or not. I feel like the best headlines are simple, yet catchy. People may not realize that headlines are very important because they could be missing out on many online trafficking. This is very genius information and cant wait to hear more. Thank you so much for sharing,
ReplyDeleteThe headline is the imperative and the first thing that is seen. If this is something boring and easily scrolled past then you have a problem. I've noticed that when a headline catches my attention I will immediately want more information. I think you have to be careful with "jargon" because some people will not understand what it means and you may lose their interest.
ReplyDeleteHi Professor, I definitely agree with you about headlines, They are the first thing you see usually written in bold to grab your attention. This applies to me personally. nine times out of ten I am not reading an article without an interesting headline that stands out. This was great information you put together which makes me excited about my future writings.
ReplyDeleteGood evening Professor, the header of an article has enough power to attract to our blog the readers we need, so after choosing our articles we will have to focus on creating our headers, creating in these the best way for our readers to feel the need to read our article and our next publications. Thank you for the information because this is going to be helpful for the success of our blogs.
ReplyDeleteHello Professor. I am glad I read these topics. Your list give some many options to choose from. The headers, the material to use, how to use it. Drawing your readers in is so important. It like a magazine, I dont usually pick it up unless something stands out to me. Great blog Professor Maxwell.
ReplyDelete- Tyrell Johnson
I agree with you that headlines are so important as I am not a reader so I skim through the headlines to see what I think might interest me. It has to have action words to keep my attention. Thank you for putting this together as I feel it will help us with our project.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I think that the best way to get an audience engaged into reading a post is to have an intriguing and eye catching headline. Although, I will say that there are many times I have come across articles that have bent the truth in their headline to give it interest. This can sometimes discourage readers from following the blog, as they feel mislead.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, it is very clear and with great tips to call other people's attention, one of the most important ways to increase traffic and sales. We may need to go back often so as to refresh or get new tips, we can also help each other with fresh ideas. A good headline is basic, but we should never forget we must offer good content as well, so as to keep the audience.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post Professor Maxwell. Headlines that are attractive and somewhat shocking, definitely catch the eye. Equally as important as an attractive headline, is the article. The article's content should be interesting and intriguing. This article will be beneficial with creating articles for by group project's blog. I will refer back to this article frequently. Thank you for writing this article.
ReplyDeleteI can agree with that, I know when I read the headlines, I always look the things that are Catchy, unless I just really want to read the article anyways. Headline and even Intro have to be able to grab a reader attention right off the bat or you lose that reader. In terms of business i know if a sale doesn't catch I usually wont shop there.
ReplyDeleteThese are all great tips Professor Maxwell! I come across these "formulas" or "templates" all the time online but I hadn't thought much about them. I'll definitely pay more attention to which ones call my attention most from now on, and keep these tips in mind when coming up with titles for future blogs and social media posts.
ReplyDelete