You may call them headlines, or you may know them as headings. Some refer to them as post titles, while others only describe them as titles. Whatever they are called, they play the most important part.
Headlines are the most important factor in every piece of content you deliver.
These are critical to search engine optimizations, they are essential to getting your content shared on social media. But not all headlines work — in fact, there is evidence that while 80% of your audience might read a headline, only 20% actually click.
Damning evidence, but easy to rectify with just a few simple tricks.
This infographic from Quicksprout tries to determine the ideal formula for crafting a perfect headline. It specifies what makes a good headline, and how to go about writing one.
In short, use of adjectives, statistics, negativity, keywords and promise is suggested. And although the advice is to keep the titles short and sweet so that people can quickly scan them, there are enough pointers that suggest that long and verbose titles also get incredible responses.
There are also some hints on writing optimized headlines for SEO purposes.
Ultimately, it is all about connecting with the reader — do that and you are gold. But as long as a headline is specific, targeted and matches the content or article it point towards, it is in business.
Click the infographic below to view the full high-resolution version.
