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reading time: 2 minutes

On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. In the fast paced world of online marketing where everyone is vying for eyes and attention, your first impression really could be your last.  Writing captivating blog titles is crucial for capturing the initial attention of your reader. If you’re lucky, they may even stay and read the rest.

Here are some tricks to crafting better blog titles and making them suck less.

  1. Make it Clear

    Whatever it is that your title claims, make sure that the article itself can back it up.  I like to knock out the headline before I even write the article itself as it helps me stay on track, but the others on our team typically write the article BEFORE drafting title ideas. Whatever you do, make sure your headline clearly depicts the focus of the content. Don’t waste people’s time with vague or misleading titles.

  2. Ask a Question

    One great way to captivate your audience is to get them involved in the conversation right away. Pull them in with a question and you’ve already hooked them. They want to know the answer!

  3. Catch Their Attention

    When it comes to creating incredible blog titles, it’s important to get creative and keep things interesting. Using power words like easy, fast, free, surprising, inspiring, huge, tricks, best, how to, tips, etc. can really add dimension and strength to your titles. Be careful not to overuse these words, as your readers might consider that a bit cheesy and insincere.

  4. Make a Big Claim

    To really catch readers’ eyes, set the scene right away for controversy and debate. Big claims like “Your Blog Titles Suck” or “Dogs are Cooler Than Cats” can really get people fired up enough to read through your post. Beware! You have to be willing to back up what you write and stand by your opinion.

  5. Count It Out

    It’s been found that headlines featuring numbers (specifically odd numbers) resonate the most with readers by a long shot. It has also been found that eight is the magic number when it comes to how many words to include in your title. In fact, headlines with eight words perform 21% better than average. Want more clicks? Count it out and include an odd number.

  6. Remember the 4 U’s Formula

    Don’t forget to keep your titles urgent, unique, useful, and ultra-specific. By following these 4 U’s, you really can’t go wrong. Make sure that your title captures attention while also providing true value to your reader. If your content truly solves the dilemmas of your target audience, you should not have trouble creating sexy and clickable titles.

How do you captivate your online audience through blog titles? We’d love to hear from you!