29 Aug 09 Write A More Appealing Headline

If you write anything on the internet, for which you hope to garner attention, you absolutely need a good headline.  Studies have shown that 8-10 web surfers will notice your page based upon the headline of an article alone.  But that number drops to 2-10 after that headline is read, which means you need to always make sure that your headline is as interesting, as well as informative, as possible.  In order to beat that popular curve, and drive more traffic to your site, you need a headline that is going to pull in the readers.

That means using the right keywords.  If we’re talking about the videogame world, for example, you want to throw out the name of the platform you’re talking about immediately.  That means emphasizing “Xbox 360” or “Wii” as that’s where most of your searches are going to come from.  But after that, it’s how you use the keyword to your advantage.

You want a good short headline, that’s going to catch someone’s attention, while informing them of why they want to read your article.  For example, sticking to the videogame world, something like “How To Beat Your Friends On Xbox 360” isn’t really going to pull anybody in.  Sounds too generic, uninformed, and also doesn’t excite the audience for what your writing can do for them, not to mention it’s much too long.  “Dominate The Xbox 360” is a much more concise crowd grabber, more general, so as to lure in a broader interest.  Plus the shorter headline just makes you feel more pumped to read the article, and get what you can from the information.

Go for big keywords, short headlines, and use gripping vocabulary.  Words that really jump out and grab people, so that they have no choice but to read what you’ve written.  Remember, your headline is your first introduction to your piece, so try and make sure it’s something that people will want to read.

Tags: Advantage, Audience, Crowd, Curve, Drive Traffic, Headlines, Videogame World, Vocabulary Words, Web Surfers, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360