Blogussion » writing

Can You Write A Highly Effective Headline?

Keith@Blogussion — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:23:59 +0000

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.

Let Your Passion Be Your Secret Weapon

Mike Tennant — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:00:23 +0000

There you are, staring blankly at the computer screen, not really caring about the words scrolling in front of you. It’s another weekday morning and all you can think about is how to fake it through the day. Ever been there? Yeah, me too. And let me tell you, it’s no way to go through life.

Take a look at everyone you know who’s wildly successful in their life. Be it in their work, family life, hobbies, whatever – anyone who you would consider a success at something. Do they enjoy what it is they’re doing?

Chances are, Yes, they Do

The best salespeople love to sell. They spend countless hours digesting all the different tricks and tips and best practices they can. The result? It becomes easy for them to close the deal.

It looks easy to the casual observer, especially since we don’t see the time put into it. But the true investment can come in many different forms. Sure, it may be time and money spent on their appearance, their style and even their social skills, but it all combines to enhance one important thing: selling.

Most of us non-sales people would take a look at the high-powered broker and think, “Man, if I could just close one big deal like that, I’d be able to take the rest of the year off.”

You know why the best salesmen don’t? Because they enjoy what they do. They enjoy the chase, the sell and ultimately the success that comes with their honed skill.

How Does this Apply to us, Online?

Here’s how – that passion is their secret weapon. It’s the true key to their success, and it’s the weapon that you can use to become successful yourself. Whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it first and foremost because they enjoy it. It’s their passion. That passion is the real driving force behind their success.

Take a look at the topics you’ve covered over the last couple of weeks. How much fun did you have writing about them? How interested are you in reading them?

These questions may seem trivial or even dumb to the accomplished writer or blogger, but they’re really at the root of success. If you don’t enjoy writing about a topic, your writing will inevitably suffer.

Where Content is King, the Apathetic Blog is Quickly Ignored

Not only will your writing suffer if you don’t care about your topic, but you’ll also find it more and more difficult to get yourself to sit down and churn out content. Writers block is much more prevalent in the unenthusiastic writers.

It’s simple to understand why. If you don’t have a passion for your topic, you’ll continually find other things to do rather than write. Sure, you’ll make yourself feel better by calling them “priorities” and saying they’re much more important tasks anyway. But people always find time for their passion – always!

If you’re passionate about something, you have no problem putting in the time and energy needed to excel. And it doesn’t just apply to writing or selling.

If you absolutely love playing poker, then you have no problem staying up all night long playing hand after hand online, or reading about new and different strategies. It’s fun for you. That’s why you do it, that’s why you spend time and money getting good at it, and that’s why ultimately you can be successful at it.

Are you passionate about what you’re doing?
If you’re a blogger, are you flat-out in love with your topic? Have you stayed awake all night engulfing yourself in every aspect of it? Have you sought out new info, sources, experts – really anything and everything related to it? If you haven’t, then maybe it’s time to figure out just what exactly it is you’re passionate about.

At the end of the day, all the various writing tips and tricks are great things to have at your disposal. Marketing your blog and promoting your content via social media is a wonderful tactic. But the real weapon that you have is that passion. That’s what will drive your success, or ultimately be the reason for your failure.