SEO | Headline Writing Tips To Drive More Traffic & Clicks

You want people to click on your article, but how do you get them to do that? Make sure your headlines appeal to them.

Imagine you spent hours researching and composing a thoughtful article.

Since you put so much effort into writing the article, it is obvious that you want people to read it.

It is a sad fact that six out of ten people only look at headlines before sharing an article. Less than half of them actually read the articles.

The content creators must do what?

There is a clear connection between the quality and interest of the headline and whether people are interested enough to click through to the article.

It's not rocket science to write an effective headline. Over the years, there has been plenty of data collected and analyzed to provide some guidance on what makes for a great headline.

Here are some headline-writing tips to grab readers' attention and get them to click.

                            

How to Write a Click-Worthy Headline

 

1. Look At Google Search Results

2. Build an emotional connection

3. Use names in the headline

4. Use Numbers in Headline

5. Explain How Your Reader Will Benefit

6. Optimize the site for search and humans

7. Write More than one Headlines

8. Put Your Headline to the Test

9. Make headlines interesting, too

10. Be Positive

11. Be Careful When Writing Question Headlines

12. Utilize the formulas

 

1. Look At Google Search Results

Once you've researched the keywords you're planning to target, you can check the search engine results page (SERP) to see which articles you're competing against.

What are some ways to make your content stand out?

User intent - what is it?

Are listicles the most popular results?

Do you have any how-to articles?

In order to rank on Page 1, you should understand the type of content that is already there if you intend to be a serious competitor.

 

2. Build an Emotional Connection

Emotional headlines are generally more effective than neutral ones.

You can enhance your readers' interest in your content by evoking emotions in them and building curiosity, apprehension, or anticipation.

Headlines that target emotions are more engaging like:

 Happiness.

 Love.

 Fear.

 Anger.

 Disgust.

 Affirmation.

 Hope.

 

If you intend to use emotional headlines, be careful. If you fail to deliver what your readers are expecting, you could fall victim to the clickbait trap.

 

3. Use Names in the Headline

You must make sure your target audience is familiar with the names in your headline.

A brand name has just as much power as a person. When targeting SEO topics, "Google" will also bring in clicks, just as "John Mueller" will.

Industry figures and brands associated with these companies are well-known.

Ensure that the names you use in your headline are relevant to your brand niche.

 

4. Use Numbers in Headline

We are naturally attracted to numbers.

Numbers stand out among endless words and catch our attention. They allow us to organize information in our minds.

 

5. Explain How Your Reader Will Benefit

If a reader is deciding whether or not to click on an article, they are asking, “What am I going to gain from it?”

Clicking through and reading it, the headline should reflect the value the reader will receive.

At least one of these purposes is served by a high-performing piece of content :

              

Thrill and entertain.

Engage in discussion.

Motivate.

Educate.

Provide information.

Encourage.

Provide an answer to a question.

Solution-provider.

 

When readers click on your article and invest their time and attention, their expectations have already been set based on the promise of a benefit in the headline.

Don't overpromise, but be clear about the benefits your reader will receive.

 

6. Optimize your Site for Search and Humans

The first step you must take is to optimize your content so that it can be found and that your human audience can click on it.

Optimizing for search engines, especially Google, is the second priority.

Most humans and search engines enjoy reading content that is:

 Accurate.

 Detailed.

 Authentic.

 Engaging.

 Good quality.

 Useful.

 Quite valuable.

 

To help Google find your content when people search for it, your primary keyword should appear in the title.

Take a look at the free headline generators available to get some inspiration.

It is important to remember, however, that these tools do not know your audience as well as you do. It doesn't always mean that a headline is SEO-friendly because it was generated automatically.

We recommend using these free tools for idea generation and analysis, not to replace human-made headlines.

If you use WordPress, AIO SEO and Yoast are great plugins for analyzing your headline SEO (as well as the entire post).

7. Write More than one Headlines

Your first headline isn't likely to get much attention.

to target different formulas.  That's okay! It's quite common.

There is a recommendation to write 10 or more headlines per content piece, then select the most appealing one.

Use different headlines. Consider several points of view, emotions, and styles.

When using headline analysis tools, keep an eye on the SEO rankings of each option.

 

 8. Put Your Headline to the Test

Your brain is the one that lies; not your clicks. Don't be upset at your brain, as we are all biased. It is our belief that our headlines are geniuses. Our brains convince us that we're clever.

Despite this, many creative headlines never get clicked.

Your brain may think that people who ignore your article are to blame, but they aren't. That's because of the headline.

Instead of relying on your personal feelings and opinions, use quantitative data.

 

9. Make Headlines Interesting too

A catchy headline is an art that takes practice to master.

Even if you've followed every rule and still don't succeed, don't be afraid to throw the rulebook out the window and follow your gut.

Are there any types of headlines that attract your attention? If so, start there.

 

10. Be Positive

The world is already overflowing with negativity, so let's avoid adding to it.

Provide useful information, solve a problem, answer a question, or entertain your readers, but make sure that your primary goal is to help them.

However, some brands would rather be associated with negativity. By sparking controversy and energizing people, even if it isn't a positive response, strong emotional reactions are elicited.

What your brand conveys and the message that you want your audience to hear all depend on how you want them to perceive your brand.

 

11. Be Careful When Writing Question Headlines

It is effective to draw readers' attention with a question headline, but it should always be accompanied by the following warning:

Don't ask questions with obvious answers.

The article must answer the question.

Never deceive the reader!

If you are answering the same question, provide an answer that is better than the others.

When it comes to withholding information, you need to be careful. If you do, your content will appear clickbait-like.

The headline should not include the question of the answer is yes or no. There are usually better headlines that are not formatted as questions.

12.  Utilize the Formulas

It is an art to craft a headline, but you should keep in mind that writing a headline is not simply a creative assignment - it is a science.

It's true, I'm not kidding.

Writing headlines is based on formulas because they work. Tests have been conducted over and over again to determine click-through rates.

In the context of universal headline formulas, this raises the question, “How can I make my headlines stand out from those of everyone else?”.

If you want to develop your own formulas, you should tweak others and then test your click-through rate (CTR) to see which ones work best.