Your article's headline gives readers their first impression of your content. A compelling headline can encourage them to click through and read the rest. If you live up to that headline, they'll even link to it and share it with friends – who will then click through and share it further as that headline continues to work its magic. So how do you write a headline worth clicking on and linking to?
Every copy writer dreams of those magic headlines, and the Internet is full of articles on how to achieve them. Rather than get deeply into the theory of what motivates us, I'm going to talk about a few things that seem to reliably pique a reader's interest. You can use these ideas singly or in combination to really grab an audience.
Before you do, however, you need to keep two things in mind. First, when you write a headline, you're making a promise. By the end of the article, you need to have delivered on that promise. If you haven't, you've cheated your reader, and they won't share your link – unless it's to hold you up as an example of what NOT to do. It's not a bad idea to write your article or at least an outline before you create your headline. For instance, I'm writing with an outline in front of me; my headline promised eleven tips for creating headlines that will make readers want to link to your headline, and you will have all eleven before I'm done. Simple, right?
Second, if you've read SEO Chat for a while, you know that I advocate maintaining your site's focus and writing articles that are relevant to your niche (http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Website-Promotion-Help/Promote-Your-Website-in-the-Right-Niche/). Some of the ideas I'm going to mention might not seem particularly applicable to your niche. You can choose to not use that idea, or if you're creative and don't mind doing a little research, you can work on finding the tie-in to your niche.
Say you run a craft-focused website and you want to tie your headline (and article) into a celebrity. You don't have to stick with Martha Stewart! Vanna White crochets, and has lent her name to several crochet books. But she's just one example; there are many others, you'll just have to work a little to find them. Got it? Good. Now with those details out of the way, let's dive into some creative headline ideas.
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