You've written a great article, but now you need a headline. It's got to tempt people to click, it's got to convey its value. It can't be too long. It's got to fit nicely into a tweet or an email subject line. It can't be too dull, or too complex. It is a tricky business this headline writing, isn't it?
Luckily the good folks at Buzzsumo have analyzed over 100 million different headlines and how many Facebook engagements each has generated. This gives us a tremendous insight into what headlines are the most effective.
One clearly stands out from the pack: 'will make you'. This may be so effective because it established that the post will impart value for the reader. E.g. 'This will make you the best at X' or 'This will make you the coolest guy in the room'. It is about what you can do for them. I'm not suggesting you headline every post with 'this will make you...' in future but do think about how you can convey that all-important value to prospective readers.
By Robert Allen
Rob Allen is Marketing Manager for Numiko, a digital agency that design and build websites for purpose driven organisations, such as the Science Museum Group, Cancer Research UK, University of London and the Electoral Commission. Rob was blog editor at Smart Insights from 2015-2017. You can follow Rob on LinkedIn.
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