Right – ideally, I should have named this post “How to Write killer headlines” or “How to get your Sphinn or Digg posts read.” But I wanted a bit more traction than that, so I used one of the oldest marketing tricks – I used sex.
As long as the marketing function has been active, advertisers have been using attention-grabbing devices to push their messages across. But as the general noise in communication increased due to the sheer volume of voices that yearned to be heard, marketing was no longer about just having a strong message, but actually pulling people to the message.
And headlines were one of the most important factors in doing so.
Nothing is truer for the web, where there is so much content published by the hour that “…as a blog writer, the half a dozen or so words of the headline just happen to be the most important half a dozen words you will write” (Leo Babauta). Which is why you need a particularly strong title for your posts to be picked on from a myriad of others. Just make sure you don’t give someone a heart attack in the process.
Now, I am no lyrical guru, nor am I a particularly talented writer. I focus too much on intuition and informality in my writing. But there are quite a few talented writers out there who have shared what techniques they would apply.
Interestingly enough, writersbrew over at blogspot specifies a few rules to follow when deciding on a title:
Here are some elements you should consider no matter what kind of article you’re titling.
- Keep it simple.
- Be direct (avoid using passive voice)
- Be specific
- Trigger emotion
- Reveal the reward
Copyblogger has a series of article that are good reading and point you in the right direction as well: “It’s no secret that “how to” articles and blog posts are some of the most sought after, linked to, and bookmarked content online.” Brian also warns: Use These 5 Surefire Headline Formulas at Your Own Risk.
SEOmozzer Cornwall SEO posted “65 headlines to jumpstart your linkbait” earlier on in the year. There are some really funny headlines, so check them out.
I read the freelanceswitch article by Leo (quoted above), which does a really good job of breaking the headline writing process down.
Now, I will part with a word of warning – read the articles, but read them as a reference, not as templates to reproduce their headlines. As unintuitive warns:
A few thousand internet copywriters (and I use that term loosely) have saturated the ‘net with more than half a million variations on this terrible headline.
The post further analyses the number of similar headlines:
- Who Else Wants [X]: 640,000 results
- Here is a Method That is Helping [X] to [Y]: 16,100
- Here’s a Quick Way to [X]: 20,200
- What Everyone Ought to Know About [X]: 93,400
- Have a [X] You Can Be Proud Of: 380,000
- If You Don’t [X] Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later: 18,000
- Do You Recognize the [X] Early Warning Signs of [Y]?: 72,700
Basically, use the tricks, but get original, OK?
