{"id":125285,"date":"2018-10-16T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/?p=125285"},"modified":"2018-09-28T08:49:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T07:49:00","slug":"how-to-write-headlines-that-drive-traffic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/content-management\/content-marketing-creative-and-formats\/how-to-write-headlines-that-drive-traffic\/","title":{"rendered":"How to write headlines that drive traffic"},"content":{"rendered":"

A headline can make or break your content<\/h2>\n

A good headline drives traffic, social media shares, and even helps (indirectly) generate leads. A bad headline, on the other hand, will get overlooked. There is too much amazing content being published every day and if you want to be able to compete with it, you not only need quality content that provides value, but also a headline that will make people want to click on your links, as well as share your articles with their own friends and followers.<\/p>\n

In this blog post, I\u2019m going to show you how to write headlines that drive traffic.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Use relevant keywords in your headlines<\/h3>\n

Keywords not only help with your search engine optimization<\/a> (as those are the words people use to search for content like yours), but they also make it clear what your article is about.<\/p>\n

Even before you start writing a blog post or any other type of content, you should first spend some time researching keywords and writing down those that would make great focus keywords.<\/p>\n

Use a keyword tool like Ubersuggest<\/a> or the Moz Keyword Explorer<\/a> to start looking up relevant keywords:<\/p>\n

\"Moz<\/p>\n

These tools will also provide keyword suggestions of similar long-tail keywords (of 2 or more words) that people search for, along with their monthly search volume (how many people search for them).<\/p>\n

Write down any relevant keywords you find into a spreadsheet, along with their monthly search volume; then, you can decide which of these keywords you want to focus on and use as a basis for your content and to write more effective headlines.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Use words that make people want to read your content<\/h3>\n

Last year, Buzzsumo<\/a> (a content research and influencer marketing tool) wanted to see what makes people want to click on a headline; they researched 100 million headlines between March and May of 2017 and made some interesting findings \u2013 by far the most used phrase in the most popular headlines is \u201cwill make you\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"Buzzsumo<\/p>\n

Other popular word were \u201cthis is why\u201d, \u201ccan we guess\u201d, \u201conly X in\u201d, and \u201cthe reason is\u201d. Following that, most of the headlines that follow contain words that are designed to provoke emotion: freaking out, tears of joy, make your cry, melt your heart, and so on.<\/p>\n

So, what can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

For one, that you really need to try using \u201cwill make you\u201d and \u201cthis is why\u201d in some of your headlines.<\/p>\n

And two, if possible, use words that tug at people\u2019s hearts or their emotions \u2013 these types of words and headlines work particularly well on social media (therefore, more shares).<\/p>\n

Step 3: Listicles, listicles, listicles!<\/h3>\n

We love listicles. Probably because they\u2019re easy and quick to read, especially if you\u2019re on a smartphone. They\u2019re also very easy to skim. And, in some cases, they can really arouse our curiosity.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re so popular in fact, that some of the world\u2019s most successful online publications pretty much only rely on listicles \u2013 yes, I am talking about Buzzfeed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Buzzfeed<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s lots of data to back this claim up; like this study<\/a> made by CoSchedule<\/a> and OKDork<\/a> that found that listicle posts are the clear winners of online content:<\/p>\n

\"Popular<\/p>\n

Listicles with 10 in the title tend to get more social media shares.<\/p>\n

So when you write a blog post try to think if there is any way to structure it into a listicle \u2013 and write a headline to match.<\/p>\n

A few examples:<\/p>\n