Imagine writing an outstanding novel that received critically acclaimed reviews. The only issue is that there was no marketing plan behind the book so nobody was ever able to read the fabulous novel. The intense plot and amazing ending was only read by a handful of people.
Bloggers can run into a similar issue of small readership despite amazing content. Even if the blog is relevant and insightful, if it is not properly promoted on various social media channels or optimized for the search engines, the blog can go to waste.
One way your amazing blog can be read by the masses is if you create a killer headline. Just think of how an amazing movie trailer has lured you into the theaters. If you can entice your audience to learn more about your content with a captivating headline, this will increase your readership.
According to Moz, 80% of readers never make it past the headline and traffic can vary by as much as 500% based on the headline. A killer headline can lead to your most successful blog posts in terms of web traffic, backlinks and exposure.
By following our 5 tricks to write a killer blog headline, you will be pleasantly surprised by a nice uptick in Google Analytics the next time you are analyzing your blog traffic data.
1. Set a Timer
After you write your blog and have proofread it several times, you will be very familiar with your content and the most important points within the article. This is the perfect opportunity to start thinking of headlines!
Set a timer for 180 seconds and write down as many title variations that you can possibly think of. After being pressured to come up with clever headlines, you should have several different titles that will be extremely captivating! The timer will force you into coming up with ideas; otherwise, you will be starring aimlessly for an hour before coming up with 5 different headlines.
2. Utilize Google Keyword Planner
You want people to find your blog on Google, right? Utilizing Google Adwords Keyword Planner will show you how much search volume is associated with each one of your different headlines.
Let's say you are a video production specialist and want to write a blog to help people create their own videos. If you use the headline, "How to create a YouTube video" versus "How to create a video", you would receive double the search traffic using the first headline.
Start outthinking the competition with amazing headlines that will get optimal search engine traffic!
3. Always Be Testing
A great way to test a headline is to run a simple A vs. B test and let the users determine the best title! Run a Facebook advertisement and invest $10 into two separate advertisements. The creative should be the same and both advertisements should go to the same blog. The only thing that should be different is the headlines.
Based on the overall click through rate, interaction, social shares and bounce rate, it will be pretty easy to determine which headline is the most captivating. Once you start to receive insight on what headlines the users like, this will help you to think outside of the box for future posts.
4. Numbers Headlines
It is no coincidence that BuzzFeed reaches more than 130 million unique visitors globally each month. They are the kings at luring the user in by creating captivating headlines! What is their trick? They are always using numbers in the headlines!
· 19 Candid Facts About Lindsay Lohan According to Lindsay Lohan
· 26 Boozy Milkshakes That Know How To Party
· 22 of The Coolest Places To Get Marries In America
Raise your hand if you were enticed to check out one of the headlines above? (Don't be ashamed if you were interested in the Lohan blog). Start using numbers in your headlines and emulating BuzzFeed's model and this will result in an uptick in traffic.
5. Superlatives
Earlier in the post, we made a reference to a blog with the headline, "How to Create a YouTube" video. We know that this receives a lot of search traffic on Google, but let's take this headline to the next level! According to Moz, if you add 1 superlatives in the headline, you will generate more success. "How to Create Unforgettable YouTube Videos" sure seems more enticing than just, "How to Create a YouTube Video." Start adding a superlative along with numbers into your headline and watch your blog traffic leapfrog to new heights.