Article Marketing Secrets: Secrets to Article Titles That Grab Attention
Have you ever gone to your local supermarket with no thought of shopping for magazines, but as you stand in the checkout line you reach for one or two magazines and adding them to your purchases? Why? For the most part your attention was caught by an interest-arousing title, you were intrigued and wanted to read more.
The most important part of any article is the title. This is because although you may have lots of valuable information to share, your potential readers will usually spend only a few seconds glancing at the title before making the decision to continue reading or to move on. This means that if your title does not grab their attention, you’ve lost them for good.
Secrets to Great Article Titles:
1.           It must arouse the reader’s interest and grab their attention. A good way to do that is to involve your reader. For example: “Do you make these mistakes…?†or “What you should know …â€
2.           Make a promise and deliver the benefits. Example: “How to lose 10 pounds in the next 10 days.â€
3.           Vary the length of your article title short attention span often calls for short titles. Example: “What makes a happy marriage?â€; “How to grow organic tomatoes.â€
4.           Most important article title secret: Your title must contain your keywords, and the most popular free article directory recommends that your keywords should be in the first three words of your title.
Keep in mind that your title can be in the forms of a statement, a statement with an exclamation that motivates to action, or may be a question. The goal is to spark interest with attention grabbing headlines that the reader will want to keep reading to the end of your article and into your Resource Box.
Yvonne,
When it comes to great titles I vote for Melanie Kissell. She is so good at grabbing your attention.
You hit it right on the head with #4. So, we better put on our genius caps for getting our Keywords in those hot titles….or hire Melanie.
1Aw, Sheila, you’re making me *blush*. But thank you kindly for that vote of confidence. I’m glad you enjoy my titles.
Yvonne, this piece is fantastic! Every tip you’ve offered will help everyone write better, more intriguing, more compelling blog post titles and article headlines. No question about it!
Although you and Sheila are right about tip #4 — I’m still struggling a bit with using keywords. It’s not that I don’t know how to research them or where to strategically place them and “why” …
It’s that the stubborn “creative writing” part of me won’t let go. I realize as a small business owner my writing needs to more structured and keyword-rich. I get it!!
It’s just that it always feels like I’m fighting a battle inside myself to “force” myself to get out of my much more comfortable writing style and habits. Hope that makes sense.
Really wonderful post! Two thumbs up! 🙂
2I agree with you there, Sheila. Melanie has an amazing ability of coming up with attention grabbing titles and don’t forget the graphics to match!
Actually, you both do this effectively and follow with good content, both of which are so important to not only attracting attention, but holding the attention. Keep on blogging, ladies. We love to read those posts!
Hope you’re re-purposing them into articles as well. The world wants to hear what you have to say 🙂
3I know what Melanie means about those keywords! They can really mess up a great title, especially if you’re trying to put them into the first three words. You have hit on all the points we need to remember. My favorite: The “callout.” Example: NEWBIES!
4Martha, I’ve taken a page from ezinearticles.com where they recommend that you place your keywords in the beginning then add a dash or color and expand on it. Snowboarding for Newbies – How to Purchase the Best Equipment. Of course, I know nothing about snowboarding 🙂
With that method you can remain creative on the 2nd part. I’m not great with exciting titles at all…but keep working at it; and I’ve found that your titles do arouse curiosity to read more.
5