Tips For Writing Headlines That Drive Traffic And Clicks

Have trouble getting skimmers to click on your article? The headline plays a vital role in driving traffic. It’s obvious that you want people to read your article since you put so much effort into it. It’s a sad truth that 6 out of 10 people only read headlines before sharing an article. Moreover, only 49% claim to have read it.

What can content creators do?

The headline of an article can determine whether people click on it, based on its value and interest. While journalism is not a precise science, a great deal of data has been gathered and researched over the years to provide some insight into what makes a good headline. A headline is vital to making a good first impression on a reader and first impressions count a lot.

It is not better to be average than to be bad. Either you make an exceptional headline or you make a forgettable one. The options are limited.

Here are some tips and methods for making a poor headline into one that draws readers in and earns clicks.

1) Search on Google

Analyze the search engine results page (SERP) to see which articles you’re competing with once you’ve identified the keywords you plan to target.

How can you make your content stand out?

What are users looking for?

Is your content a list? Instructions? Advertising?

For ranking on Page 1, you need a thorough understanding of what type of content is already there if you want to be a serious competitor.

2) Connect on an emotional level

The emotional headline performs better than a neutral one. By using powerful words to evoke emotions in your reader, you can enhance their first impression of your content while building curiosity, dread, and anticipation.

A good emotional headline targets:

• Pleasure.
• Affection.
• Fright.
• Rage.
• Abhorrence.
• Confirmation.
• Optimism.

Be cautious when using emotional headlines. It’s important to avoid the clickbait trap of not delivering what you promised your readers.

3) Naming conventions

To make this headline trick successful, your target audience must be familiar with the names. Companies can be just as powerful as individuals.

As an example, “Google” will bring in clicks when targeting SEO topics, as will “John Mueller.”

These are widely known industry names and brands. The names you choose for your headline should be relevant to the niche of your brand.

4) Use of numbers

Numbers are naturally eye-catching. Numbers catch our attention in an endless sea of words and make us pause. This is because our brain can organize information using numbers. To beat your SERP competitors, utilize listicles and numbers.

5) Make Your Readers Understand The Benefits

The question readers ask themselves when deciding whether or not to click on an article is, “What is in it for me?”

Clicking on your headline should indicate the value a reader can gain from reading it.

Good content serves the following purposes:

• Get involved.
• Make an impact.
• Contribute.
• Encourage.
• Inform.
• Motivate.
• Respond to a question.
• Offer a solution.

Clicking on your article and investing their time and attention means they already have expectations based on what your headline promised.

Be specific, but don’t over-promise.

6) Optimize for users and search

First and foremost, you should optimize so that your human audience finds your content and clicks on it.

Search engine optimization, especially Google optimization, should be your second priority.
In general, both humans and search engines like reading content that is:

• Relevant.
• Comprehensive.
• Credible.
• Engaging.
• Top-notch.
• Highly informative.
• Innovative.
• Exceptional.
• Worthy.

To optimize your content for Google and help people find it when they search for the topic, be sure to include your primary keyword in the title of your article

7) Use Multiple Headlines

There’s a chance that the first headline you think up won’t be gold. No worries. It’s quite normal. One method is to write ten headlines per content piece, and then select the most effective one. Use different headlines for different formulas. Simply rearranging the words will not suffice.

Instead, try targeting a variety of emotions, points of view, and styles, such as:

• Quite humorous.
• Cheerful.
• Surprising.
• A clever play on words.
• Calculative.
• Questioning.
• Provocative.
• First-person perspective.
• Second-person perspective (yours).
• Third-person perspective (he/she/them/they).

As you make your decision, keep track of each option’s SEO rankings by using headline analysis tools.

8) Check Your Headlines

Your Click Data won’t lie, but your brain might! We’re all biased, so don’t be too mad. We believe ourselves to be clever and creative, and of course, all of our headlines are brilliant. Nevertheless, many inventive headlines never receive a single click. In spite of what you think, the people who bypass your article aren’t at fault. The headline is to blame. Rather than relying on your feelings and opinions, use quantitative data to eliminate bias.

9) Also, experiment with headlines.

Writing click-worthy headlines takes practice, and it takes a while to feel natural at it. Don’t be afraid to throw the rulebook out the window if you’ve followed every rule and still aren’t finding success. Describe your favorite headlines. Then, proceed.

10) Comply with formulas

Although headlines are an art, keep in mind that they aren’t a whimsical writing exercise – they are a science. That’s for certain. Formulas for headline-writing work for a reason. The click-through rate of these ads has been tested multiple times. As a result, the question arises:

“How do I differentiate my headlines from those of my peers, if everyone is using the same formulas?”

Creating your own formula by tweaking others and then testing your click-through rate (CTR) is the best way to find the ones that work the best for your brand and for you personally.

11) Should Question Headlines Be Careful?

Absolutely.

The question headline can be an effective tool to spark reader curiosity, but it comes with a warning:

• Never pose a question to which the answer is self-evident. Your content will not be read.
• Make sure your article actually answers the question. Be honest with the reader and don’t waste their time!
• Ensure that your response is better than existing content that asks the same question.
• Don’t withhold information. This will make your content seem clickbait-like.
• Avoid asking a yes-or-no question in your headline if the answer is yes or no.

A headline that isn’t formatted as a question is generally more compelling.

12) Maintain a positive attitude

The world is already filled with enough negativity without adding more fuel to the fire. No matter what you do, whether it’s providing useful information, solving a problem, answering a question, or entertaining your readers, your primary goal should be to help them.

On the other hand, some brands seek negative attention. People tend to feel strongly when the topic of controversy is brought up, even if the response is not positive. Depending on your brand image and the message you want to convey, you can do either.