Here Are 12 Useful Tips for Writing Headlines

SEO content creation can be challenging without the right strategies in place. When writing SEO content, a publisher should ensure a clear connection between the value of an article’s headline and the readers’ interest. Therefore, one should always write a solid headline to entice the target audience into clicking links in the search results.

Below are 12 helpful tips that content creators can follow to create click-worthy headlines and make a huge positive impression on their readers.

1. Analyse the search results

Publishers should analyse the search results to see their competitors’ articles and determine how their content can stand out.

2. Make an emotional connection

Emotional headlines are more effective than neutral ones, so most publishers include powerful words to evoke their readers’ emotions. Some of the best emotional headlines usually target the following feelings from their readers: love, happiness, affirmation, hope, disgust, anger, and fear. However, publishers should be careful when writing emotional headlines as they could fall into the trap of making clickbait or content that’s irrelevant to the article’s topic.

3. Include names

Including names in the headline – whether it’s a person or a brand – is a great trick, but publishers should make sure that their target audience is familiar with the name. For instance, including John Mueller’s name in SEO topics that he discussed would most likely attract more clicks.

4. Use numbers

Numbers always catches the readers’ attention. The search results are an endless sea of words, so numbers help make readers pause. They are easy to remember because they help the brain organise information. Therefore, using the power of numbers and listicles can help beat competitors in the search results.

5. Make the benefits clear

When readers decide whether or not they should click on an article, they think about the benefits they’d get from reading it. To make the benefits clear to them, the headline should indicate the value that the article can provide. Headlines should show one or more of these purposes:

• Empower
• Engage
• Entertain
• Inform
• Educate
• Inspire
• Provide a solution
• Answer a question

Once a reader clicks on the link, it usually means that they’ve already set expectations on what they can get from the article. It’s important to clarify the benefits, but one should not overpromise.

6. Optimise for humans and search

Publishers should prioritise optimising for their human audience to make the SEO content easier to find and make readers want to click on it. Their second priority is optimising for Google’s search engine.

Human audiences and search engines usually agree on what they want to read. An article or a blog post should be:

• Unique
• Specific
• Comprehensive
• Credible
• Accurate
• Engaging
• High-quality
• Useful
• Valuable
• Informative

7. Write multiple headlines

Some recommend creating 10 or more headlines per article and choosing the best because the first headline draft likely won’t be as good as the others. One can write various headlines that follow different formulas or target various perspectives, emotions, and styles instead of swapping the word order. Your headlines could be:

• Unexpected
• Upbeat
• Humorous
• Numerical
• Thought-provoking
• Witty
• In first-person
• In second-person
• In third-person

8. Test headlines

Sometimes, content creators and publishers are convinced that their headlines are creative and clever, but plenty of them do not get a single click. One should not rely on their opinions and feelings when determining what makes a good headline and instead rely on quantitative click data. From there, SEOs can determine which headlines are effective and which are not.

9. Experiment with headlines

Writing creative and click-worthy headlines is an art; it takes time and practice to make the task feel natural. If an SEO follows every rule but doesn’t get a single click, they can start experimenting with headlines and trust their intuition instead.

10. Follow tried-and-tested formulas

Although creating great headlines is an art, one should still note that the task is not just a whimsical creative writing assignment. Most successful SEOs follow headline-writing formulas because they work; it’s all about science. These methods have been proven to produce great click-through rates (CTR) from users.

With that being said, if all SEOs are using the same formulas, one must strive to make their headline stand out from the crowd. From this point of view, writers should create their own methods by tweaking others and testing their CTR to distinguish which ones work.

11. Exercise caution with question headlines

Although question headlines can effectively spark the readers’ curiosity, SEOs must be careful when using them. Below are some factors to keep in mind when writing such headlines:

• Question headlines should not have an obvious answer; otherwise, people will not read the content
• The question should be answered in the article to make it worth reading
• SEOs should not withhold information in the content, or the headline will seem like clickbait
• Content writers should avoid yes-no questions in their headlines

12. Create positive headlines

Readers usually love positive headlines. They look for articles that answer their questions or provide solutions, information, or entertainment. However, some brands aim to be associated with negativity. They like sparking controversy to provoke people and create emotional responses, but it is not positive. Nevertheless, it all depends on a site’s brand image and the message they want to deliver to their readers.

Position1SEO Can Help You Create Compelling Headlines

Writing creative headlines require a lot of time, as well as trial and error. There are no sure-fire formulas for successful headlines, but one can increase their CTR through tried-and-tested headline writing methods.

Here at Position1SEO, we can help you create compelling headlines that attract clicks from interested readers. Based on quantitative data and research, our content writers follow tried-and-tested formulas for writing headlines. We will also provide you with content relevant to your products and services, as well as to the users’ queries.

Our team has years of experience in the SEO industry, working with a wide variety of businesses in different niches. We are confident that our SEO content creation strategies can create the best content that perfectly represents your brand.

If you need help with boosting your search result rankings and site traffic, give us a call! Our up-to-date white hat SEO tactics and no-stone-unturned approach will help you achieve a position on Google’s Page 1, ranking you higher than any of your competitors.