Want your blog posts to perform well? Well, here’s a simple trick: Write magnetic headlines.
Playing around with your title after publishing can significantly boost a post’s conversion rate.
What can you do to make a headline more compelling? In this article, I’ll share my step-by-step process for producing consistently great headlines.
Why Should You Care About Headlines?
Traffic to your post will vary depending on the power of your headline. If you fail to make it impactful and clickable, every other marketing step that you take will be a total waste of time. So, taking the time to master how to write a headline is key.
Web Users Scan Headlines
It’s long been said that a human’s average attention span is less than that of a goldfish. While that eye-popping stat is widely disputed, the fact remains that you don’t have a ton of time to capture a person’s attention.
That’s where knowing how to write a good headline comes in. It’s your chance to immediately catch your audience’s scanning eye.
Writing good articles isn’t enough. Compelling content by itself isn’t a ticket to higher click-through rates (CTR).
Be it a search engine result or a post in the Facebook timeline, people determine if your content is worth their time in a split second. Forget reading or scanning your article. The information overload has led readers to scan even the headlines.
Headlines Are Worth 90% of the Advertising Dollar
The post title is possibly your only interaction with your audience.
Famed advertising executive David Ogilvy believed that your headline is read five times as much as your body copy:
“On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy.”
“It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money.”
A catchy copywriting headline improves more than just your CTR. It also starts off your interaction with the user on a positive note.
If your content keeps the promises you make in the headline and conveys your value proposition clearly, you nail your first impression.
A Catchy Headlines Can Get Your Article Shared Thousands of Times
Amid the noise of the 7 million blog posts published every day, how many do you think get more than 100 shares?
Not many.
As per CoSchedule and Buffer’s research on 1 million headlines, 89% of created content does not even cross this 100-share mark.
How can you break into that top 1% bracket and get thousands of shares on every article you write?
By crafting a seductive blog headline.
Think of the last five article tweets you favorited.
Did you read every article before pressing the favorite button (now called the like button)?
An exceptional post title can get your article shared on social media, even before it’s read. That’s why learning how to write a headline is essential.
Web Users Read (Roughly) in an F-Shaped Pattern
Eye-tracking visualizations have found that on the web, users generally read in two horizontal movements followed by a systematic and slow vertical scan. In other words, an F-shaped pattern.
Social media users appreciate scannable writing with headlines, subheadings, and bullets that are front-loaded with information. That’s why it’s so critical to load the top of the “F” with the most
important information.
Step #1: Use Specific Numbers and Data in Your Headline
Integrating specific numbers and data into your headline is one of the most important things you can do to make a headline more compelling. Research shows that headlines featuring numbers generate more social shares and engagement.
Step #2: Utilize a Unique Rationale
I’ve used unique rationales to write great headlines (if I say so myself) that went viral. The word “rationale” simply means “an underlying reason why something should be done.” If you want people to read your content, do you have a good reason why they should?
Did you know that 59% of people share content without reading it first? Therefore, we must ensure our headlines appeal to those who might pass them along. Give people a strong reason why they should click, read, and, above all, share your content. Businesses with a blog experience twice as much email traffic as businesses that don’t.