When it comes to reading blogs, I'm pretty sure I have the attention span of a four year old. And sadly, so does most of the traffic that stumbles upon your blog. Luckily, there are a few things that can get me to put on the brakes and see what you have to say. Let me teach you how to optimize the one part of your post that makes all the difference – an effective headline.
What Draws Me In About Your Headline
Writing an effective headline is a key to getting your content to go viral. I need your blog's headline to draw me in. 
The best way to draw me in is to show me what I will gain from reading your post. If what you're offering coincides with what I'm looking for, you've got a win. Take this headline for example:
“Writing so Google Will Find You”
Not that impressive, but not a total loss. Compare it to this:
“How to Get on the First Page of Google”
Now that's more like it. I want to write so Google will find me, but even more than that, I want to be on the first page!
A Good vs. A Better Headline
In the example above, as well as in your own writing, deciding on an effective headline will often be a battle between what is good and what is better. As bloggers, we need to keep in mind our two deepest goals – having our voice heard and making money. Knowing that, the next step is to find the best way to reach those goals. Writing so Google can find us is a good way, but landing on the first page of Google is even better. Building Twitter followers is a good, but getting your Twitter followers to promote you or make purchases would be better. See the difference? Writing great headlines becomes even more important when it's on a landing page. Losing readers is bad, but losing sales hurts even more!
Speak to My Soul
There is only one reason why I read blogs – especially yours. I want to learn how to do something better. I don't just read because I'm bored. On occasion I will read to be entertained, but I normally head over to YouTube for that. I want to learn.
As a human, I have basic and often primal needs and fears. I have a need for sustenance, success and relationships. I fear failure and being alone. If you can give me solutions to these problems I will lap up your content like a thirsty puppy. Your headline needs to speak to my soul. It needs to address real concerns I have. It may sound a bit philosophical, but your post needs to address those innate questions we all have.
In a nutshell – solve a problem for me and I'm all yours.
Some Caveats to this Headline Lesson
Unfortunately, this isn't a fail proof system and let me explain why. First of all, you have no control over the specific problems your readers face or the solutions they're looking for. Being an authority in your niche, you probably have a good idea, but you'll rarely be able to write a headline that resonates with everyone, and that's normal. To maximize your successes you can vary your topics regularly to cover all your bases as thoroughly as possible. You can also ask for feedback and look for trends. Who better to let you know what your readers are looking for than your readers themselves!
Some good news is that experience plays a big part in what your readers are looking for. That's why knowing your market is so important. If you're writing for beginners, an article about being found by Google could be the perfect introduction to getting indexed. On the other hand, if you're targeting experts, they will want to know more advanced strategies to land on the first page in the SERPs. So what you deem to be a better headline will depend greatly on who your audience is.
Now there you have it! I know I'm a picky reader. I sincerely hope all your readers aren't as stubborn as I am! But even if they are, you're now properly armed to craft great headlines for all your blog posts. Use your skills wisely!
Hi Brandon,
I’m also a picky reader and always search better blogs which can tell me more about SEO and SMO techniques. As far as Headline is concerns, if you have attractive headlines which clearly tell what your post is all about…. then you can easily attract more readers but if you don’t have better content then you can’t utilize those traffic so Headline and Content both go hand in hand.
Too true! Unfortunately flashy headlines can’t make up for terrible content. Too many times have I been fooled. Maybe that’s why I’m so picky today. Thanks for reading!
Knowing your target audience is important before we write. Sometimes people just write blindly after they had decided on the keywords and neglected who is going to read the blog. Is it the expert or the beginner? I think by now I should know the importance of optimizing my title to get readers to read my blog. 🙂
I’m glad you see the importance of both your headlines and knowing your target audience. There are some blogs I’ve subscribed to that are still too technical for me, and I’m bored to tears with their headlines. The sad part is I KNOW they have valuable things to say, I just can’t get into it. Too bad we can’t please everybody at once!
Brandon, I don’t think that you are picky at all. I agree with you on all your points here. Most of us are looking for ways to improve our businesses and giving how to information is a great way to achieve this and get our attention.
To be fair, there is an awful lot of garbage out there. We have no choice but to be picky! Thanks for reading!
Thats very much true.
As GOOD HEADLINES is the only to get hold visitors on our site and it also becomes one reason to reduce BOUNCE rate.
As I have seen many post which is highly informative but visitors just bounce as their title is not catchy or attractive or meaningful.
Yes, I’m glad you mentioned bounce rates. It’s important to be consistent with your quality posts because if you only have one creative headline on your front page they’ll lose interest really quickly. Thanks for reading!
I also often go to Youtube for entertainment but your post is not less entertaining. How nicely you’ve composed yar, your are too good.
I’ll think two times before I finalize any post title. 🙂
Well thanks for the compliments! Thinking twice (or thrice) before posting anything is a must! Another strategy I use is to write the post first and then think about the headline. Thanks for stopping by!
Yea, thinking about the title after the post is ready will help to have most relevant and catchy title. Sometime when you have really catchy title but the post fails to justice it will rocket the bounce rate. Its better to have lesser traffic than highest bounce rate.
Hello Brandon,
The sentence that hit me in this post was “I want to learn how to do something better.” I think this a good starting point to creating your headline. If you can show a) what post is about and b)why someone should read it over another post, then you are doing ok.
Thanks!
You’re exactly right, every headline should answer those two questions. I checked out your blog and think you’ve done a great job with your headlines too 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Great post, you hit it on both counts: informative and entertaining! Perhaps not as much as YouTube, but close! What really attracted my attention is your saying that you’ve got the attention span of a 4-year old. I think that’s so true, that’s what Internet does to all of us…We’ve become incredibly impatient and if the content doesn’t grab us within 2 seconds (or less), we’re off. Very important point, there! Thanks.
I only wish I could be as entertaining as YouTube! But in our defense, the internet has bombarded us with garbage and we’re just now figuring out how to weed it out. I think having a short attention span online is partly a coping mechanism! As bloggers we have to embrace it if we ever want a chance to succeed. Thanks for the comment!
this is awesome advice. the one thing that you have to be careful of though is making sure that you deliver on what you promise in the headline. Too many people hype it up, and their post is won’t fulfill the promise of the headline. too many of these will turn readers off, and they will soon ignore the hype.
Well said. You may draw me in with a fancy headline, but if you don’t deliver I’ll ignore you forever. Don’t cry wolf! Great point. Thanks for reading.
I don’t write the headlines right away. I finish the post and then spend time to think of a suitable title ! By reading this article, in my next post I would spend double the time to think of a good title.
That’s what I do too. I usually give myself a general title at first to make sure I stay on topic, then I come back and make it more enticing. Thanks for the reply!
Your welcome Brandon! Great article I must say!!
Headline is the first thing that grabs a reader attentions.Catch headlines always sells better then the usual headlines.
Thank you Brandon Freund for remminding me.
Regards
jacky
You got that right! Thanks for reading!
Hi,
I love this article because I have problems coming up with good Headings. I am going to have to attempt to make them more centered on the active than the passive, which is what is what I got out of this article. Thanks for the post. Sally
Thanks for reading it! You’re absolutely right, “active” is a great word to describe the types of headlines we need to create. Good luck!
Brandon – I’ve read more than one post on this subject, but I have to say I really like yours. It’s more personal and I felt more like you were speaking directly to me than to a general audience… Which really helps! Thanks, I feel a lot more confident in my headline writing abilities with this (and the other posts like it) backing me up. 🙂
Well that’s probably the best compliment anyone could give me. Thanks! I’ll always be here to validate your efforts 🙂
I’m a picky reader too. There’s not much that interests me. Headlines, however, play a huge role in the chance of me reading an article, and I think it’s the same with everyone. The problem is that many people create their headlines to be read by search engines, not real people. I want to see something different—something clever.
Thanks for sharing these tips, Brandon!
Search engines are a great form of traffic, but for someone in our niche there is just so much competition! I think we’ll have greater success if we start targeting real people and impress them. Then they can share us and we can carve out our own little piece of the pie that way. Thanks for your comments.
Headlines will always grab my initial attention but for me, at least, the way I see the article at first glance, like the design, is also very important. I need to read a well structured article not some continuous non-sense.
You bet. It’s all about we judge books by their cover. We’ve always been told not to but we do it anyway! Thanks for the comment!
Some headlines just stand out. It’s what shows talented writers. The key is coming up with the headline first and then writing the content later. Don’t do it the other way around. It just doesn’t work.
I agree. I find that I need some kind of headline to really sum up the point I’m trying to get across. But don’t let finding the perfect headline keep you from writing the rest of your article. You can always modify it as you go, which I almost always do. Thanks for reading.
Hey Brandon,
Headlines are critical for your posts to get read and is a key component of viral effect. Without an attractive headline, no matter how good your content, if no one open and read it, it is useless.
What I like to do is to craft out an attractive headline to get the attention and modify the permalink to please Google.
Cheers,
Ming
Well said. Optimizing for Google can bring you a lot more traffic. Thanks for reading!
I love to write headlines and I love to read them. You headline “How to Get on the First Page of Google” is really a cool headline, but I have one more cooler headline that goes like this “7 Sneaky Ways to Get On the First Page of Google!”
I bet if you were to see both headlines, you will probably want to choose the one I wrote. Writing headline is an art, especially in copywriting, and there are rules to writing headline, the first rule is to have a trigger word in it, and the trigger work is “sneaky”, I mean who does want to know “sneaky” stuff?
The second rule is keywords and the keywords are “First Page of Google” and final rule is, you need to be personal and the personal is this “!” why? Because is like I’m shouting out at you. Just imagine you read it without this “!”
Here’s how it look : 7 Sneaky Ways to Get On the First Page of Google
And if you look at both, you will realize the one with this “!” looks more like I’m shouting at you and it looks more personal.
This is psychology 101, it’s human nature people are more alert when they see signs such as “?” and “!”
I’m not going to say I’m really an expert in headlines but I can admit, I love to write headlines more then content, not sure but it’s my nature.
But I’m glad you have written something I can consider new lesson I learn and that is “speak to your soul”. Thanks for the share and hope my comment could be useful for writing better headlines 🙂
Great rules! Trigger word, keyword and personal touch. Simple and effective. You’re right, you’re headline sounds even better than my example. One thing I pay attention to is hype. Having just the right amount is crucial. Know your audience. A novice will definitely be attracted to hype, but maybe not so much the expert. So just use it wisely! Thanks for the tips!
Hey Brandon
I’m with you. If you don’t have a great enticing headline to get your content noticed then nobody is going to read it. It is the same for all headlines. I like to test headlines in emails.
To get my open rates as high as possible. I then rework some of them for blog post titles, tweets or adverts.
Great idea mentioning your open rates to test your headlines. It’s a great test. I always struggle trying to get the perfect headline before I send anything because I have a hard time stomaching the idea that half my readers might not open it! I need to get over that, because more effective headlines on your blog posts are what attract new subscribers in the first place. Thanks for the comment!
Unless you do it you will never know. I sometimes send the same email out but different headlines and when I find a good headline that is working
Test the content to see if it is the headline or content that convert the best
Another little tip, always keep a swipe file of the headlines that are converting well and also when you are visiting so many sites in this cyberspace world.
Pop the headlines in your swipe file when other interesting headline’s pop out at you
I’ll own up to the reality that I’m a lousy headline writer. My mind just doesn’t work that way; it took me 2 years to come up with a title for my first book. lol I’m not sure why my mind doesn’t go that route; I always loved commercials as a kid.
Hey, owning up to a problem is the first step to recovery 🙂 Like all worthwhile things, it just takes practice and a conscious effort on a regular basis. Don’t give up! Thanks for reading!
Brandon,
Great tips! The art of copywriting a attention grabbing headline isn’t just important: it is essential.
For those people who have problems with this I reccommend making a swipe file the idea behind a swipe file is to collect all of the headlines (a simple word/txt doc is fine) that grab your attention over a long period of time.
Occasionally reading this list should help you to generate your own ideas and inspire your headline writing.
That’s a great idea too, I like it. Magazines are a great place to find headlines if you’ve run out of blogs to check up on. Thanks for reading!
Brandon,
I’m still new to the blogosphere, but this post has basically summed up things I have learned over the past couple of months in a really concise way… I’ve learned from trial and error what dictates a good headline and a bad headline – and generally I can see the difference in my traffic! It’s much better to find a general theme of what I’m writing about and then turning that into a headline than to try and come up with something witty off of the top of my head. And as others have said, even the greatest headline can’t make up for bad content.
Great post, best regards,
Bradley
I think you’ve got the idea! I’m glad it’s worked out for you. I think we all learn from trial and error how to craft the best headlines. Even the best bloggers still get boring sometimes! Thanks for reading.
This is something that is really hard to teach to young bloggers, but with constant practice, this will eventually develop such skill.
You bet! I think I’m still practicing as well. Hopefully it gets easier! Thanks for the comment.
I guess we are all in the same page. 🙂 It gets easier when you get yourself involved into the blogging community and as well as reading other people’s blogs.
agree with you its best to have finest headlines instead of having best and good. an attractive headline always attract more reader to your post.
You bet, thanks for reading!
Great tips you have here! I definitely agree with you on the headline. Actually I enjoy to play around with the words in the headline. But in the end I usually just go with my gut feeling. :p
Thanks for your wonderful blog! 🙂
I’ve found the same to be true. My gut will tell me in the end which headline to stick to. Glad you liked the article. Thanks for reading!
Skip the broken track records. Always read the important people, even if its just one sentence from them. Conversely, scrutinize the strangers – read long commentators. Short comments are typically not worth it. Repeat the mantra, “Jerks will be jerks.” Push past annoyances and listen to what people are saying.
Brandon,
Totally agree about headlines. One example I can think of is Steve Pavlina’s website. When you look through the list of headlines in his sidebar, you are like “Man I have to read that one!” then you go “Man I have to read that one too!” then “Man, this blog is full of awesomeness!” and so on. His writing is good too, but the headlines suck you right in. I wish I had his talent.
I know how you feel! I follow a few blogs that continuously make me feel so dull and boring! Maybe someday we can have their talent!
I agree.. When a headline is catchy, it draws more attention to the readers. But better make sure that the content is interesting as well. Some blogs may have an eye catching headline, but when you get to see the content, its not as satisfying as you expected.
Yes, that’s like the golden rule of headline creation – be sure to deliver! If you don’t you’ll lose readers faster than you can even imagine!
That’s good. I think paying attention to magazine and news headlines helps as well. Write down what you like so you can adapt it to your own articles. Thanks for stopping by!
Heading is the strength , It creates a great attention towards the reader ,It is cool information to get better in this trick.This is some thing online marketing , I can remember that my friends father was running cafe and with the change in name he was able to do more sales within the same circumstances.
Sometimes changing a headline can improve your results a great deal. Thanks for the comment!
Writing really catchy headlines are my biggest challenge since I started blogging a couple of months ago. Thanks for the suggestions and the pointers you mentioned here. I’ll keep this in mind.
Thanks for reading! They’re a challenge for me too. All we can do is keep up the practice. I hope it goes well for you!
Thanks Brandon! I’m able to get lucky with some, but others can be quite challenging. Hopefully, it won’t take too long for me to get the hang of it.
I always try to find out the best way to encourage people to read my post. At present, i put main keyword in starting of headlines. Is that O.K?
Putting your main keyword in your headline works well for search engine optimization, but to attract readers you have to find a way to make the headline interesting at the same time. We all need lots of practice to get good at doing both. Good luck!
We can always assess the quality and the “catchy”ness of the headline by running the test on ourselves. I usually stand as a third person when I write headings for my blog posts. If I’m convinced that the headline is attractive and catchy and that I will click it then it passes the test.
Ha! I’m glad you mentioned this. I actually wrote a small post on the same thing a while back. My test works because I’m forgetful. I often see my headlines among the others in my RSS feed reader and since I’ve usually forgotten what I wrote, if I see it and go “ooooh that looks nice” and then realize it’s my own post, then I know my headline was good enough 🙂
http://www.bigdogsinternetmarketing.com/blog/headlines-that-are-good-enough/
I always read something that catches me. I guess the eye catchy title will always make me clicking on the post. Looks like this post indeed has one eye catchy title i supposed. 🙂
Well I’m glad it caught your eye! Thanks for reading!
I have yet to write an effective headline, even though I am constantly working on forming catchy headlines. It is a challenge for me but as I read and explore more I will hopefully get better at it. Thanks for yet another great article! I will remember this info. when next I’m formulating a headline or writing a post.
I think “effective” is determined on a sliding scale. There’s no such think as an ineffective headline – just less effective. It’s an art we all have to practice to get good at, so don’t give up!
I know it’s a bit tacky but throwing a few select expletives into the headlines seems to work quite well for me. Just occasionally though you don’t want to overdo it!!
Hey, if your audience responds to that, go right ahead! Thanks for the tip!
I agree that you should make a good headline that will turn heads your way and make people come and read what you have to say.
However, another important thing is – at least in my case; “You better deliver, or I’m outta here”.
I hate it when I see a good title and then the text fails to deliver the “promise” from the title. That blog can get me to come once, but that’s it!
A good headline is essential, without it no one will even take a look at your post. But the rest of the article has to be good to, one thing is worse than a visitor leaving after 10 seconds and it’s a disappointed visitor, I think.
Thank you for the headline ideas, they are great.
Having an interesting topic is important. What good is a highly educational and valuable post if your headline doesn’t fancy your potential reader. A headline is the most visible in the reader, thus it must get attention. Thanks for the tips on making a good headline!
Absolutely agree! Catching the attention of the reader and drawing them in is crucial to the success of a blog. The next challenge is keeping their attention– examine your content, making sure your thoughts are well-written and delivered in an effective way are all key elements to blogging success.
Knowing what your readers want is important so you can meet their demands and get their attention. It is necessary that you make a striking headline because it is the key in capturing visitors to be our readers and eventually convert them as leads.
Wonderful post. What I always do is aim to write eye catching headlines that catches my visitors attention and then write an amazing introduction to my blog post.
Nice write up!