7 Tips for Effective Blog Headlines

7 Tips for Writing Great Headlines

By Bronson Harrington

THE PROBLEM

Writing SEO Relevant & Engaging Blog Titles Can be

Difficult.

THE QUESTION

“So, what’s the secret to writing great headlines?”

THE SOLUTION

Think like a copywriter.

Understand your audience, think like them and make a conscious effort to persuade them using every strategy available.

Start with these 7 tips for writing great headlines:

Make a Big Promise

Make the promise of a huge benefit to your readers.

E.g. “How to Do Your Keyword Research 3 Times Faster.”

Arouse Curiosity

Arouse the users curiosity.

E.g. “Discover the Weirdest Strategy for Conducting Effective Keyword Research”

Use Trigger Words

Use words which trigger an emotional response from users.

Common trigger words: announcing, introducing, free, news, explosive, new, shocking, proven

E.g. “Shocking Truth: Why Your Keyword Research Strategy is Flawed”

Be Specific

Help users to visualize the story suggested by your headline.

“Make as much as $200 with this keyword research strategy in your first week.”

vs.

“Make as much as $197.83 with this keyword research strategy in 7 days.”

Version #2 is more specific = more realistic.

Speak Directly to Your Audience

Target user interests specifically, rather than targeting a person with generic interests.

E.g. A weight loss blog headline probably wouldn’t work equally well on a gardening blog –because the user personas and interests differ greatly.

Learn from Successful Bloggers

Identify those who write engaging headlines and emulate their techniques.

E.g. Check social aggregators for popular stories and analyse their headlines to identify the secret to their success.

Test, Track… Tweak, Repeat!

In addition to employing good headline strategies, you must also test them.

By failing to run proper tests and track results, you will have no idea of whether a particular strategy was successful or not.

About The Author

I'm Bronson Harrington, a location-independent virtual CEO and freelancer providing graphic

design, web design, web hosting, webmaster and SEO consulting services to a diverse portfolio of

international clients.

In my spare time I dedicate myself to living a healthy, active lifestyle comprised mostly of

training, surfing and travel in and around playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica.