How to write headlines that both search engines and readers will love
Writing powerful and enticing headlines is the best way to get your content read, but it’s not easy to whip up the freshest blog post titles and article captions with a few strokes of the keyboard. So we asked ourselves, what’s in a headline?
In this post, we’ll break down our research on the anatomy of an effective headline and explain why the most successful blog post titles can gain the love and attention from both search engines and readers.
The Anatomy of a Successful Headline
Make it easy to Understand
A great headline is always easy to understand. In approximately 62 characters, the number of letters Google will read for SEO purposes, your headline needs to explain what the reader will get in the article and how they will get it. One great tip is to use numbers in your headlines. Not only does the brain love numbers but using a number can help define the structure of your blog post. Whether you’re giving “5 Easy Steps to Bake a Pie,” or “7 Jaw-dropping Facts About Rihanna You Didn’t Already Know,” the reader now knows exactly what they will learn and how they will learn it.
Fill it with Emotion
It’s necessary for headlines to have an emotional element—a word or grouping of words that tugs at the heartstrings of the readers. This is what draws the attention to your blog posts or articles, and this is what gets the clicks. You want your headlines to be the “Adele” of blog writing—make people feel something and evoke an emotion. Here are some examples of emotionally charged words: Amazing, Spectacular, Stunning, Eye-Opening, Heart-wrenching, Fearless, and the list goes on. Include an emotional word or group of words into your headlines and watch the click-throughs sore.
Keep it Relevant
Make your headlines relevant in two easy steps. Number one is keyword alignment. Whatever you write about should have a direct correlation to what your website or business is about. Incorporate keywords into your headlines that readers and search engines can easily relate to your products and services. The second step is to talk directly to your end consumer and target audience. Use words that relate to their lives, and throw in the word “you” to speak directly to them. Never feel like you might alienate someone by being too specific—that’s the beauty and value of writing to a target audience.
Always be Unique
Use unique and interesting adjectives in your titles. Every internet user has become accustomed to the same-old same-old clickbait words that pop up in headlines over and over again. Learn what these words are and dare to be different. Come up with uncommon adjectives that are compelling to the reader. Before publishing or even settling on a headline, do a quick Google search with double-quotes around your title. Make sure this very headline hasn’t been used before. If so, go ahead and tweak.
We all grew up with the advice to “never judge a book by it’s cover,” but if every book was only 500 to 1,200 words, it might cross your mind that if the headline doesn’t catch your attention, how will the the remaining 739 words? Effective and compelling headlines are the secret sauce to getting readers and customers to engage with your writing. Don’t let these invaluable blog visitors pass you by. Get help from the professionals. Yakkety Yak is a full-service content marketing company and we write headlines for a living. Contact us to learn how we can help your business gain credibility and trust, on and offline.