An effective headline is one that not only captures the reader’s attention and interest, but also accurately reflects what the article will be about. Above all, it should have the power to make the reader click on it and read the article. The headline should create the expectation of valuable information in the article. Think about how you search for information and the articles that you click on. Chances are you read the ones that a) sound interesting, and b) seem like they might contain information you haven’t come across before.

One of the easiest ways to make a headline more effective is to add “solution” or “benefit” words to the subject. When people are searching online, they are usually looking for a solution to some sort of problem. For example, if you were searching for ways to create effective headlines, how likely would you be to click on a blog post entitled “Good Headlines”? Probably not very likely. That headline does not give you much information as to the contents of the article. It might be relevant, but it’s quite dull and vague.

You might be more likely to click on “How To Write Good Headlines”. At least it sounds like the article could contain some sort of instruction or helpful hints. Chances are you would probably read “Create Effective Headlines Quickly Using These Five Phrases” because it looks like it will provide a solution, and because you believe you will find phrases you can use.

Phrases that can indicate a solution include how to, ways to, why you should, how you can, and so on. Words that imply a benefit are quickly, easily, increase, improve, success, effective and results. To create the headline, let’s call your product or service “My Product.” Simply combine it with solution and benefit words for some engaging headlines:

“How To Increase Your Sales Easily Using My Product Every Week”
“Ways You Can Use My Product To Generate More Traffic”
“How You Can Write Better Headlines With My Product And Increase Your Profits”
“Why You Should Use My Product If You Want To See Results”

Obviously, there are many more words you can use. There are also several timeless formats such as the list (The Three Top Reasons To…), the inside secret (What You Need To Know About…), and the question (Do You Know How To…)? The key is to create a phrase that makes the reader want to find out more. They should be able to understand what the post will be about, yet be intrigued enough to want to read on and discover what you have to say.

When you title a blog post, it’s also important to avoid ambiguous phrases, metaphors, and words with double meanings. While this can be an effective tactic for print articles, it can backfire for online text. When someone reads an article in the newspaper or a magazine, they already know what the publication is about, and they can appreciate a play on words as creative or humorous. If a reader is new to your blog or stumbles across your article online, he or she may have no idea what your business is about. The blog may have nothing to do with what they are looking for.

How does this happen? It’s actually very simple. When search engines scan newly created text, they need to correlate the headline to the article text in order to provide relevant search results. A new blog or website that has not yet been fully indexed in the search engines may not have enough other content for the search engines to fully “understand” what it is about. Use this technique judiciously until your blog is more established. It’s also a good idea to include your business or your product name somewhere in the headline so that your blog posts will be indexed correctly and rank higher in search results.

You should also be aware that search engines only display the first 70 characters of the title in the search results. There is some debate in the blogging community about whether short or long titles are more effective for ranking purposes. However, since the reader will only see the first 70 characters or so, it’s important to include the “meat” of the title near the beginning. This will make it more likely that readers will see it as relevant and click on it. Avoid too many adjectives and exclamations at the beginning of the title. You have a limited amount of space to work with, so be sure to include a solution word and your product so that readers will see it.

As you get more familiar with blogging, you will probably have many flashes of inspiration of topics to write about. It’s good to go ahead and get them in writing as soon as you can. But when you are sitting down to create a blog post, most blogging experts recommend creating the title first. This will help set the tone for your post and keep you on track. When your title creates the reader’s expectation, it’s easier to fulfill that expectation in your post.