3 Easy Ways to Write Better Blog Headlines

In every blog post, there’s a single component that has the power to either launch the post into internet fame, or cause it to fade away into obscurity. It’s not the content of your post, although phenomenal content is a must to grow your presence. It’s not the format of your post, though posts that are easily scanned and digested are often shared more. It’s not even the call-to-action at the end of your post, even though no post should be without a call-to-action. Those are all needed components for a great blog post, but THE component, the one that either draws people in or pushes them away, is your headline.

Mighty Power in 150 Characters

According to Brian Clarke from Copyblogger, 8 out of 10 people on average will read the headline copy of your post, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. Think about that - only 20% of people who see your post will actually click through and read it. That’s a lot of pressure resting on the 150 characters that make up our blog headlines. So how to do you go about writing blog headlines that will captivate your readers and draw them into your content? Here are 3 proven strategies that will help you write better blog headlines:

1) Copy the Pros

There are tons of headline writing geniuses out there who have put their wisdom on the internet for you to grab for free. These are men and women who make a living out of writing blog posts, have tried and tested various techniques, and know what works best. Why reinvent the wheel when you can let them do the work and benefit? [Tweet "The secret to writing great headlines is this: copy what the pros do. #blogging"] Do a quick Google search for Blog Headline Writing Advice, and you’ll come up with thousands of results. We highly recommend 52 Headline Hacks: A “Cheat Sheet” for Writing Blog Posts that Go Viral by Jon Morrow from Boost Blog Traffic.

2) See What’s Already Working

If you’re anything like me, you need to see a sample of a great headline to get your creative juices flowing. If that’s you, you’re in luck! Buzzsumo allows you to see the highest performing headlines from any website on the internet. Here’s what you do:

• Go to Buzzsumo.com.

• Type in the domain name of any site you want to review. We suggest buzzfeed.com, huffingtonpost.com, entrepreneur.com, and copyblogger.com.

• Click Go, and watch as headline gold appears on the page.

Scroll through the titles that pop up to see what is being shared the most, and use those frameworks for writing your own headlines. Bryan Harris from Videofruit put together a short video tutorial that walks you step by step through this process. He shows you exactly how he transforms any popular headline into something that works for your business.

3) Let the Pros Do it for You

Call it shameless self promotion if you want, but if you need help writing compelling headlines and content for your blog, consider hiring us to do it for you. We have an experienced team of writers who love researching, crafting, and delivering headlines and blog posts that are not only written well, but get results. We know all about SEO, writing attention-grabbing headlines, optimal blog post formatting, and crafting calls-to-action.

Conclusion

The headline of your blog post is the gatekeeper to your content. You can write the most epic post of all time, but with a headline that sucks...nobody will read it. Why would they? Use the tips above and never write a bad blog headline again.Are you struggling with your company’s blog? Check out this 5-part email course, and start turning your blog into a sales machine.