Is your blog traffic suffering lately? If so, you may want to take a look at your blog headlines.
The simple truth is that blog headlines make or break your traffic.
Don’t believe me?
In the 5 ½ years that I worked at a Christian online magazine, I saw this principle play out over and over.
I recall several times when an article would totally flop. But once we rewrote the headline and posted it again on social media, the views skyrocketed (sometimes by thousands more views).
All because we tweaked the headline.
And don’t just take my word for it. According to Copyblogger, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline (if it’s good).
So why does a headline have so much sway over whether or not a person clicks an article?
Blog Headlines Are Your Articles’ Billboards
Think back to the last time you drove down the freeway. You may have been driving at 50 or 60 miles per hour.
You sped past dozens of billboards and suddenly—“Hey wait! That billboard says I can pull over at Chick-fil-A at the next stop and grab a bite to eat.”
You feel the growl in your stomach and, without a second thought, you pull over at Chick-fil-A for some chicken strips and Polynesian sauce.
How come you saw that billboard but not the dozens of others you whizzed past? Because you desperately wanted what that billboard was offering. It stood out to you above all the other irrelevant signs.
That’s how blog headlines function.
When you’re scrolling through social media, you are constantly scanning for content that is interesting or relevant to you.
If a headline doesn’t immediately meet those two requirements, you’ll scroll right past it.
So how do you write a scroll-stopping headline?
1. Speak to the felt need.
Think back to the billboard metaphor. That Chick-fil-A billboard caught your attention because it spoke to your felt need.
In other words, you were hungry, and the billboard offered a solution.
That’s what it means to speak to someone’s felt need.
A felt need is whatever your ideal readers are struggling with. It’s the pain that they want to stop. The problem they want to solve.
Your blog headlines need to promise the solution your readers crave.
Let’s say your ideal reader is a stay-at-home mom who has a really hard time dealing with her little kids’ bad behavior.
Some blog headlines that speak to her felt need would be:
7 Parenting Tips to Get Your Kids to Obey the First Time
What to Do When Your Child Screams, ‘I Hate You!’
4 Types of Rebellious Kids and How to Parent Each One
A Little-Known Trick to Get Your 2-Year-Old to Stop Screaming
Now picture a mom who just finished disciplining her child for throwing a fit and screaming, “I hate you.” She sighs and flops down on the coach for a brief moment to scroll through Facebook. Suddenly, she sees one of those headlines.
How can she not click?
Bottom Line: Make sure your headline promises a solution to your readers’ problem.
2. Include SEO keyphrases in your blog headlines.
This is helpful for two reasons.
A) It improves your blog’s SEO.
Your headline is prime SEO real estate, so you definitely want your keyword to be in there.
Putting your keyword in the headline doesn’t automatically mean people will click on it, but it will make Google a little happier with you.
That’s why it’s crucial that you first write the headline to attract human readers. Then go over it again and make sure it’s optimized for search engines.
Neil Patel does a great job explaining this.
B) It clearly communicates the blog’s contents to your readers.
Typically, you want to optimize for keywords that you know your audience is searching for. And what they’re searching for is usually a solution to their problem.
By highlighting that keyword in your headline, you’re waving a bright red flag to your readers, indicating this is the content they want to read.
3. Be simple yet creative.
Convoluted headlines don’t get clicks. At least not nearly as much in my experience.
Keep your language in headlines as simple as possible. Consider…
3 Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog Traffic
Or
3 Uncomplicated Ways to Get Your Blog Page Views to Increase
Which one would you be more likely to read and click on? Probably the shorter one.
Not only is the first headline shorter, but the words in it are also easier to understand. When writing headlines, make it as easy for people to read. After all, the more they read, the more you can pique their interest so they click.
That said, a little unconventional spark is great for nabbing attention. Try using words that are interesting or uncommon but NOT complicated.
For example: 3 Easy Ways to Skyrocket Your Blog Traffic
We all understand that this article will teach us how to grow our site traffic, but the headline caught our attention with the word “skyrocket.”
It’s not a complicated word. But it’s action-packed and paints a mental picture of our traffic shooting straight up in numbers.
This leads me to my final tip:
4. Write actively and avoid passive voice.
Passive voice is a surefire way to ruin your headline. What do I mean by “passive”? Let me show you.
Passive: I was shocked by his announcement.
Active: His announcement shocked me.
With passive voice, your subject receives the action. With active voice, your subject performs the action.
Passive voice is almost always harder to read and is … to be honest … usually boring. On the other hand, active voice adds life to your headlines and tells readers exactly what to expect.
Here’s an example in a headline.
Passive: How My Blog Was Transformed by This Simple Trick
Active: How This Simple Trick Transformed My Blog
Or even: This Simple Trick Transformed My Blog
Basically… take out unnecessary words when you can and make sure your headlines are active.
That’s it for today! If you’re wanting to start or grow your business blog, check out my free roadmap: 5-Step Roadmap to Build Your Biz-Boosting Blog.
And click here to learn more about writing compelling headlines!
Jenny Rose is a freelance copywriter and content marketer specializing in B2B marketing, real estate, and accounting. She's written for clients like AAA, Edward Jones, Flyhomes, Guild Education, and more. Her writing has also appeared in publications like Business Insider and GOBankingRates.
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