Why is the headline that important? Doesn’t it all boil down to the quality of the content? The way I see it, great content is pointless if you can’t even get people’s attention enough to read it in the first place. I recall having read somewhere that people who write great headlines in media even sometimes get paid more than those who produce great content, and with good reason.

Effective headlines grab attention; they have impact and compel the reader to click. They are also straight to the point, concise, and clear.

Coming up with a good headline can be very tricky because unlike with the main content, the slightest change can have a huge impact on its overall effect. It can either drastically increase or decrease a website’s click-through rate, depending on the interest it generates from visitors.

Check out these following word pairs: Money – Cash; Start – Ignite; Get – Grab. Notice anything? The second word in each pair carries more emotion: they’re stronger. This is what can drive a person’s decision to click.

DIFFERENT FORMATS IN WRITING HEADLINES

There are different approaches to attract readers to your content.

Benefits – Show your readers upfront what they’ll gain by reading your content.
e.g. How To Market Old Business To New Customers

Question – Engage your readers by asking them questions to encourage them to share their own opinion.
e.g. Do You Only Fuel the Blogosphere or Reap the Benefits?

Curiosity – Spark your readers’ curiosity. Make them guess.
e.g. When is the Best Time to Start Monetizing Your Blog?

Proof – Whenever possible, exemplify a credible source.
e.g. Blogger of the Year Shares Some Of Her Personal Blogging Tips

Controversy – Use headlines that will make your readers go “What?!”
e.g. How Writing Poorly Equates to Blogging Well

Go ahead and play around with these approaches until you find what works best for you. A well-crafted and effective headline will play a huge part in bringing traffic to your blog and keeping it there.

ENTER KEYWORDS

Let’s say that you’re already at ease with writing attention-grabbing headlines. Now how do you make sure that it entices readers to click? Answer: KEYWORDS.

That’s right, incorporate keywords in your headlines. It sounds easy at first until you notice how it makes you headline sound. Do your keywords fit in with the rest of your headline without sounding silly or a bit off? Does your headline retain the same connection with the actual content?

Writing effective headlines doesn’t just involve the use of clever lines or catchphrases, it also involves SEO.

The trick here is not just about choosing the right keywords but also a couple of other things:

Keyword placement – Whenever possible, place your keyword phrase in the beginning of the headline; Google likes that.

Keyword choices – Don’t limit yourself to your initial keyword choices. Take as much time as you can to come up with other options.

Simplicity, relevance, and readability – Again, stick to simple keywords with the highest possible results. There are dozens of free SEO keyword tools to help you out.

Keywords are only supplemental to your cause, though. For long-term success, it’s far more important to learn how to write incredible headlines first before venturing into SEO. Good luck!

Photo credits: netdna.copyblogger.com, deafexpressions.blogspot.com

KEITH FRIAS sees himself as an artist whose talent is in a state of coma, and a tech gadget freak who also loves to dabble in photography.

Related posts:

1. 18 Resources to Help you Write Better Blog Titles

2. Headline Writing Techniques That Just Work

3. 45 Exciting Words to Spice up Your Blog Headlines

Headlines are a lot of things. They’re neglected, undervalued, a gateway, and most of all – a pain in the ass to create. If you blog, then you have written a headline before. Whether or not you were aware of it at the time, the headline you wrote made a significant difference in the performance of your post.

The title you choose for your post is the one thing that stands between your article and whether or not it gets read. A quote from Brian Clark with a startling statistic about the true power of headlines:

On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.

It is your job on your blog not only to write great content, but to write a headline that draws the attention of a reader so they stay on your blog for a while. Unfortunately, writing good headlines are not a strong point for most bloggers. I only just realized the real importance of a good headline on my blog.

I have been reading around the blogosphere and have found some truly excellent resources for writing better headlines on your blog. I would like to share with you. I recommend you read every article, as every article I picked has something another doesn’t.

1. How to Write Magnetic Headlines

   A list of 11 in-depth articles on how to create a great headline that sticks.

2. 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work

   A truly invaluable resource, this articles lists 10 headline templates you can use for your own blog. All you have to do is edit a few words and you’re all set to go. This is a resource to be bookmarked and used over and over again.

3. 7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work

   A followup to the above resource, when Brian Clark wrote the first part, it did so well he added seven more. Again, bookmark and use excessively.

4. How to Craft Post Titles that Draw Readers Into Your Blog

   Creating a headline that doesn’t just get read, but draws someone to clicking it is the ideal headline. This list has eight tips for creating such a headline.

5. How To Craft Kick-Ass Title Tags & Headlines

   What a good headline consists of, examples of headlines that work and don’t work, how to optimize your headline for SEO and more.

6. How to Optimize Blog Post Titles

   A unique approach to how to properly sculpt a headline that not only is appealing to users, but works well in search engines.

7. Great Content… Bad Titles – How to Let Your Blog Go

   This article goes over the exact uses of titles, talks a little about the SEO factors of a good title, and of course gives five excellent tips for developing good post titles.

8. How to write blog post titles while keeping SEO in mind

   An insightful article that gives examples of bad titles and explains WHY they’re bad, and a list of good titles that work and explains WHY they work.

9. Write Your Titles CAREFULLY and AFTER the Post

   A method I believe in, Daniel Scocco explains why it is best for you to write your headline after you have written your article.

10. Tools and Resources to Write Compelling Post Titles

    A truly great list of tools and resources for picking the right keywords to include in your “perfect headline.”

11. How To Write a Good Blog Title for High Website Traffic

    An informative post by John Chow, that gives a great overview of how to use Google AdWords to choose the right keywords for your headline.

12. Creating Effective, Attention-Getting Headlines and Titles

    A very long and informative blog post that describes every last little detail of creating a blog headline. From describing the