Headlines are the first thing that can grab the attention of your reader or web visitor. Your headlines are your first actual point of connection with your prospective customer, so you need to get them right.

Some writers would argue that the headline is more important than the article itself, as it’s the very first thing people will look at and if it doesn’t interest, they won’t read further.

Your headlines shouldn’t focus on selling to the reader since that can be a turnoff. Instead, they should entice users to click to your content.

Your headlines are also an accurate representation of the contents of the page. Users will quickly bounce from your page if the content doesn’t match the headline.

5 tips to make your headlines

Aim of headlines

The simple aim of a headline is to get people to read the rest of your content. If it doesn't do that, then the effort you have put into the rest of your copy does not matter. Headlines are important and the more experience you get in writing you will learn what type of headlines work best.

Length of headlines

How long should your headline be? An accepted length is between 5 and 10 words (though ideally it should be only 6 words according to KISSmetrics, headline expert Bnonn). Write your headline and then remove any words that are unnecessary and are not contributing to the headline being interesting.

Headlines should match the content

One thing you don't want to do is annoy your reader by having a fantastic headline that has aroused their curiosity and then produce content that doesn't seem to be related. Always make sure that headline and content are talking about the same thing.

Don't make wild promises

Okay, we've all seen those crazy headlines that say things like "How to make $10,000 dollars in the next 15 days" - but if you want to be trusted, I advise you not to go down this route. There's nothing wrong in using a promise style headline but don't over promise and don't try to cheat your readers.

Use of numbers

You will see a lot of headlines with numbers. They’re very popular. What numbers should you use? 3, 5. 7. 10, 20 are very popular but actually it doesn’t matter and you will see lots of different numbers used. Some are very large but you want to use those with care.

The question to ask yourself is whether the number of points you are making are all necessary and really offer the reader value.

[bctt tweet="Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a headline or post title that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist. - Copyblogger" via="no"]

How to make more headlines by doing less

With the use of blog idea generators.

Not only do they provide content ideas for your next blog but give you good ideas for head and sub-lines for your blog posts.

Simply type in your keyword and you will get a load of blog ideas/headlines.

Here are some popular blog ideas generators for you to use:

Hubspot Blog Ideas Generator

Answer The Public

Portent

Answer Socrates

Title Generator

Final word...

Article headlines are important. Remember the aim is to make the reader carry on from the headline to your content.

There are several techniques you can use to make your headlines more interesting. I have shown you a few tips and I hope you can apply what you've learned.

All the best,

Luc

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