In an era where online content must be distilled into purposeful, single-sentence promos that compel fussy online scanners to screech to a halt and click – the headline is EVERYTHING.
The headline is essentially an advertisement for a post and it needs to communicate a few key things instantly so that it not only appeals to the right people, but that they also feel compelled to click on it for fear of missing out on something that might be truly worthwhile.
Writing headlines that compel the right people to click on them has therefore become both a science and an art. It involves more than just playing around with what “sounds good” (although that’s an important factor): It requires a calculated approach, proven techniques, an understanding of best practices in writing for the web, and a sacrosanct commitment to making sure a headline reflects the actual content that awaits within the post itself, so that readers feel rewarded (and never cheated) for clicking through in the first place.


FOR EXAMPLE:
“Felix” might write a post titled “The Most Incredible Discovery since Sliced Bread!” and get a HUGE click-through rate, because who wouldn’t want to find out about such an incredible discovery, right?

If you came across a post titled “What you need to know about the top 5 fish everyone loves to eat”, there are several possible angles that may have been used to write the post, but not all of them may apply to you based on your specific interest. For example, it may be about:

Headlines that indicate at least to some extent who the post is suitable for as well as what the post is about not only boost the likelihood of a click, but also that the post will actually be read, because the content is relevant precisely to those who clicked through to it.

But there’s a difference between writing an irresistible headline that delivers what it implies it will within the article or post, and writing a headline that’s as juicy as possible just so people click on it, but then lets them down with content that’s either totally irrelevant or really bad.
I have personally seen cases where marketers used the term ‘clickbait’ to describe headlines that ‘get clicked’ almost as a badge of honor, ignoring what the word really means and using it nonchalantly as a term that’s synonymous with ‘highly clickable headlines’. But although the term does imply high clickability, it’s wrong to use it to describe a standard we should aspire to, because by definition – it’s a term that implies a shady approach to writing.
Writing irresistible headlines that deliver on their promise is the mark of clever writers with integrity who care about creating a great user experience. Writing irresistible headlines that bait people to click through to irrelevant or poorly produced content (a.k.a. clickbait) is the mark of conniving writers who have no qualms about misleading readers purely to boost page views.

Think of a keyword or search phrase as a beacon that helps people zero in on the precise post they’re looking for, and use your common sense to determine whether using it in your headline is likely to boost its appeal for your target audience.

Perhaps inexperienced writers might struggle with this technique (which is totally understandable), so they should stick with other effective techniques instead. But if you’re a seasoned writer who can pull it off with relative ease, then go for it!

For example, you could write a post titled “How to set a formal dinner table”, but you’d stand out more with “How to set a formal dinner table fit for a Downton Abbey Crawley”. The Downton Abbey TV series – centered on the aristocratic Crawley family (for whom dinner is always a formal occasion) – was watched by more than 120 million viewers worldwide. So for anyone searching for tips on how to set a formal dinner table, chances are they’ll be more drawn to a post that references the super popular TV show than to a typical headline that sounds just like a hundred other versions of “How to set a formal dinner table”. Even if some of your potential readers haven’t got a clue what Downton Abbey is, the added twist of using it in the headline makes it sound more interesting than it would be without it.


Hubspot’s Dan Lyons consulted “a few shrinks” to weigh in on the psychology behind the appeal of list posts. Some of the reasons they offered include the notion that they restore order in an otherwise chaotic world, or that someone else (who is already knowledgeable about the topic) has narrowed the points down to ‘the most important’ ones you need to know, rather than you having to figure it out for yourself.
The nice thing about writing headlines for list posts, is that it requires minimal effort, because they tend to practically write themselves. Still, if you can apply one of the other tips listed in this post to a standard (and usually plain) list-post title, it could boost its FOMO-factor even more. For example, instead of saying “12 tips for writing great headlines“ (yawn…), you could say “12 ways to write FOMO headlines your readers won’t be sorry they clicked on” 😉


But the concept of writing a ‘regular’ headline and then adding a mini-teaser or ‘bonus’ at the end can be extremely effective at piquing people’s curiosity. As long as your ‘irresistible teaser’ refers to something specific in your post without being too cryptic or overly sensationalist, then your headline will be deliciously intriguing while remaining perfectly respectable. For example, “How to bake the ultimate chocolate brownie (HINT: Chocolate has nothing to do with it)”.

So, if you’re writing a post that includes relevant data or if there’s an existing research-backed statistic you can reference in your post to help make your point, consider incorporating it into your headline to turbo-boost its click appeal.

- According to a study by SEMrush, “Articles with really long headlines (14+ words) turned out to be the most effective, getting x2 more traffic, x2 more social shares and x5 more backlinks than articles with short headlines (7-10 words)“.
- And, a Backlinko study based on BuzzSumo data also discovered that Question headlines (that end with a “?”) get 23.3% more social shares than headlines that don’t end with a question mark, and ‘List’ posts (also known as ‘listicles’) are heavily shared on social media. In fact, list posts get an average of 218% more shares than “how to” posts and 203% more shares than infographics.
