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SecretYou can write until your fingers fall off, but if nobody comes to your page, then you are just keeping an online journal. Now there are a number of ways to get people to read what you have to say, one of which is writing headlines that wow in order to encourage people to click and read your content. Here are some of the tricks to writing a headline that makes people want to click rather than pass on by.

Secret Headline Tip 1: Punctuation Matters

When it comes to journalism, you really aren’t supposed to use punctuation in headlines. However, writing a page of web content is far from true journalism. This means that just about all of those literary rules that you learned in school go right out the window. Instead, using punctuation in your headline actually encourages more people to read what you have to say.

For instance, if I leave off the exclamation point in my headline of “5 Headline Secrets Bloggers Don’t Want You to Know” I take away the sense of urgency. Alternately I could form it as a question: “Do you Know the 5 Headline Secrets that Top Bloggers Know?” and accomplish the same idea as I do with an exclamation point: this is great information and you need to hear it!

Secret Headline Tip 2: Numbers Work

People love to see numbers. That is why there are so many pages of content out there with “the top 5 things…” or “10 ways to…” Think about your own browsing and reading habits. You click on an article that talks about the top 10 SEO tips for an SEO expert in Billings, Montana, and start reading. If you are there, you likely already know many of the tips, so you can scan through and read just the sections that apply to you. No sense wasting time learning something you already have learned.

Secret Headline Tip 3: Make a List

Sometimes a numbered list isn’t really what is best. But you still need to keep your content organized for quick scrolling. Instead of the top 5 things a copywriter in Billings, Montana needs to know, you simply make your list of “What Every Copywriter in Billings, Montana should know.” By doing so you break away from the idea that you are putting out the most important pieces of information, and you simply are explaining how to be a better copywriter.

The reader can still scroll through the parts he or she knows already, but the order isn’t as important any longer.

Secret Headline Tip 4: Length Matters

If you read a newspaper, you will notice that almost every headline is short and to the point. It’s not because they need to save space, they can always make the font size smaller. Instead, they know that people will be intrigued to read more if the headline is shorter and catches their attention.

Now there is a fine line between too short and too long. But research has shown that around 8 – 10 words is a great way to get across the info needed, and still attract people to click and read more. My headline of 5 Headline Secrets Bloggers Don’t Want You to Know falls in that sweet spot of 9 words. Don’t fret too much on this, most headlines naturally fall into this length.

Secret Headline Tip 5: Shareability

People want to be able to share content that they find has added value to their lives. That means they want their friends to click through as much as you want them to click through. By writing a headline that wows, you not only encourage people to click, but also to share. That encourages others to share, and soon your post has gone viral.

The problem, however, is that it is often trial and error. It is incredibly difficult to sit down and write a post specifically for it to go viral (if it was easy then everyone would be doing it every time). Write good content, with a catchy headline, and eventually something will be profound enough to go viral.

 

Writing headlines that wow shouldn’t be a difficult thing. Just think about your own browsing habits, and write something that would encourage you to click. These are just 5 of the headline secrets that help to make your posts more desirable to the reader, but there are many more out there.

As a copywriter and SEO expert in Billings, Montana, I spend my days writing content that people want to read. I can write content for your website that not only encourages people to read it, but also is search engine optimized so that people can find it. Send me an email and I will let you know what I can do for you.

 

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