Keep a record of your best headline formulas


For many years the Internet was rife with implausible headlines promising to teach you how to become rich or lose weight overnight. In fact, it still is, we've just (for the most part) become blind to them.

Though for a while those ridiculous headlines did work on a large portion of the Internet-surfing population, plausible but exciting headlines have always done better than ridiculous ones.

As you learn which types of headlines work, through trial and error and research, keep a record of those that worked for you, and even those that didn't. Until creating headlines becomes an instinct, this will help you when you're stuck.

It'll help you find a formula that worked for you in the past and avoid those that failed.

Eventually, formulating headlines really does become an instinct. You don't need to think so much about how to word it so that the article content is described and how to hook the reader – it just happens, and as with all things, you just need to keep at it!

Most kids are taught that you should always write titles, introductions, and conclusions last. Unfortunately, this tactic promotes sloppy thinking and sloppy articles.

It's important to know where you're going from the start, and writing the headline first helps you define your angle and the content you'll cover. It keeps the article on target.

While as a blog owner or editor you may not be writing the content, giving your authors a title to work with can yield good results. If you don't want to come up with the article idea, have them pitch one to you and then give them a title.

Words like "How to…" instantly create interest, as humans are inherently driven to learn how to do new things. List posts catch our attention because "7 Ways to…" must be better than learning just one method.

A list post featuring food that McDonald's used to make and has since discontinued with a headline like "Past McDonald's Products" won't work as well as "12 McDonald's Products that Failed" will. Don't cripple the effectiveness of popular content by hiding what makes them work in the headline.

It's your job to practice the art of headline writing and analyzing the results from a business perspective.

I haven't given you a list of formulas to use like many resources on headlines do because I believe that unless you understand how your headlines work you won't become adept at this skill. You need to deduce those formulas yourself, to understand why they work in order and in which situations they will work.

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This article was sent to us by: Roger Hill at 02172011

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