When it comes to writing blog content, many people dedicate a lot of their minds to writing the body of the piece. This is great because you will be able to create some great content that way, however, many times when that is complete, the headline ends up suffering.
You might not have the creative energy to think up a great headline and end up slapping up any old idea you can think of.
This is not a great move at all. To get more people to click, you really need to make sure you spend a good amount of time crafting an excellent headline. How can you do this and just how important is a headline? I am going to explore this for you and give you some great, data-backed research.
Just How Important is a Headline?
Before I get into how to craft a great headline, I want to look at just how important a headline is. The following portion is going to cite great information from HubSpot’s infographic on the importance of headlines and how much effort you should put into them. Let’s take a look!
1. A Headline Could be the Only Chance You Get. Posting your content to social media is a great way to get clicks and shares. However, you need to make sure you have a great headline to catch readers’ attention. Your headline might be the only opportunity you will get for clicks, shares, and revenue, and you don’t want to pass that up. You need to give a decent amount of thought to your headlines so that people don’t pass you by.
2. Headlines Tell Readers What to Expect from a Blog. One of the great things about a headline is that it gives readers the chance to know what to expect from the blog. If your headline is ambiguous, it won’t give them any information, and they are likely to pass it. When you give them a small amount of information up front, they will be able to decide if it is something they would like to spend their time on.
3. Great Headlines Help You Stand Out on Social Media. If you create excellent headlines, you won’t only get clicks from your followers but you can also grab people’s attention that are friends with them. When you craft an excellent headline and put a lot of effort into crafting it, you will stand out from other blogs being shared. It can also help you stand out from your competitors.
Five Ways to Write Truly Epic Content Headlines
Putting effort into your headlines will truly help you have a successful content marketing campaign, but you might be wondering how to write them. I found some great points that I want to share with you to help encourage you to put a decent effort into all of your headlines.
1. Use HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator for Ideas. If you are looking for some great inspiration for a headline, or even a blog topic, head over to HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator. You just put in a noun or three (however many you have) and the generator will come up with some ideas to help get you off the ground.
2. Leave the Client’s Needing and Wanting More. While I said earlier that you want to let your clients know what to expect in your blog through a headline, but you always want to make sure you don’t give too much away. When you create your headline, keep your clients wanting and needing more. Ask or present a question in your headline and answer it in your blog. This will encourage more clicks, and can help improve your engagement.
3. Ask Questions Like What, Why, How, and When. A headline that asks a question is a great way to encourage people to click on your link and read your blog. If you’re talking about how to garden and save plants from birds, you can say something like, “Gardening How-To: How Can You Avoid Pesky Birds in Your Garden This Year?” This will drive many new gardeners to click on your link, taking them to useful information that could be what saves their garden this year. No matter what your subject matter is, you can always ask a vital question that people want to know the answer to.
4. Let People in On a Secret. A great way to encourage people to click on your headline is to let them in on a secret. All you need to do is write, “The Secret” in your headline followed by something that will be interesting to your audience. A secret is a powerful thing, and letting your clients in on one is a great way to encourage them to click on your link and head to your blog.
5. Create a List of Mistakes People Should Avoid. We all know that learning is important, right? Which means when it comes to anything be it writing content, washing a cat, or how to wash certain clothes, people want to know what mistakes to avoid. When you create a headline for a list of mistakes, you can use the words “mistakes to avoid” or something similar to get your point across. People will want to click on that to learn just what to avoid and make sure they do everything correctly.
Just a Few Simple Words and People Will Click
Creating a headline that draws people in is vital to your content campaign. Because of how important a headline is, you will need to put in a decent amount of effort into creating them. If you are looking for an effective way to come up with headlines and create content to match, then look no further than Express Writers. Our team of copywriters works to make sure each piece they create is high quality with great, intriguing headlines that are sure to capture attention. Contact us to see how we can help your content marketing campaign, today.