Titles that Grab You

The title is the MOST important thing!

In 1963, advertising genius David Ogilvy published ‘Confessions Of An Advertising Man’. In the thin, 140-page book he wrote, “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

Brian Clark, Founder of Copyblogger.com put it another way, “On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.”

Put the Subject First

We want the hard work you put into your article to be found, so would you please put the subject FIRST?

This is called “Front-loading the Keywords” It helps both humans and search engines to find the article.

Examples:

The most successful headlines:

have the subject as the first words
are not vague – the more specific the better
are 6-8 words in length
contain adjectives

Here are some examples of attention grabbers to get you started…

What people search for:

_____, a How to Guide (Example: “Re-design your shop floor, a How to Guide”)
_____– ____ (Example: “Cross-training — 10 Critical Lessons”)
What ____ want (Example: “What CEOs want”)
This vs that (Example: “Cutting with a Laser vs. Cutting with a Metal Shear”)
_______ Guide (Example: “Warehouse Lighting Guide”)
______ Review (Example: “Best LED Light Review”)
______ Comparision (Example: “LED Light Comparison”)
________ 2016 (Example: “Best LED Lights Available in 2016”)
This vs. That (Example: “Compact Fluorescent vs. LED Pros and Cons”)
Best _______ (Example: “Best LED Lights for Office Space”)

Question: (Always put subject first!)

Is your ___ lying about your ___? (Example: “HVAC – Is your HVAC contractor lying about your energy use?”)

Is your __ at risk for ___? (Example: “Finance – Is your business at risk for financial failure?”)

What are the new rules for ___? (Example: “Grinding – What are the New Rules for Grinding?”)

List: (Always put subject first!)

“Job – Keep Your Job in Today’s Layoff-Friendly Economy – 5 Ways”
“Facility – 10 Signs That Your Facility is in Trouble”
“Contracts – Before Signing Your Next Contract – 3 Things You Should Know”
“Income – Double Your Income This Year – How to”
“Time Management – Get More Done in Less Time – 7 Tricks”
“Sales – Help Your Sales Team Bring in More Clients – 6 Techniques”

Three-part “How-to” Headline:

SUBJECT – HOW TO (do a thing), WITHOUT (having to know or do something), EVEN IF (another common difficulty)

Example: “Sales – How to get phone numbers from prospects without having to cold call, even if you never go to a networking event”.

And here’s some more great ideas… (Always put subject first!)

What ___ want (Example: “Purchasing – What CEOs want from the Purchasing Department”)
This is your brain on ___
___ may be an illusion
___, according to 5 superstars
12 laws of ___
How to ___
10 answers to ___
Science reveals ___
Why we ___
What’s new on ___
8 Tips for ___
What I learned from ___
3 things to do before___
40 ways to ___ in 5 minutes
This ___ will let anyone ___
10 ways to make ___ more fun
16 things you don’t want to do ___
Undercover report: ___
Study confirms ___
Lessons from a ___
What is ___?
Why you should stop ___
Being slow is not ___(what you think)
8 Operations – experts share their secrets
What scientific research says you should do about ___
Why ___ will (change) ___
14 things to stop doing
4 short stories about ___
The complete guide to ___
The 3 most important things about ___
Beyond ___ – how to ___
What’s up with ___?
___(Surpassing thing) is a super ___(help)
How to get your ___ juices flowing
Is there a link between ___ and ___?
Meet ___, a hip ___
Hidden features of ___
Why ___ has so much trouble ___
9 things to know before you___
The ultimate ___
How to persuade someone to ___
The day I stopped (saying or doing)___
Here’s the schedule very successful people follow every day
___ (famous person) on finding your life’s purpose
__ steps to becoming a ___
Advanced principals of ___
New benefit to ___
What causes ___
How to make it through any ___crisis
Why ___ matters
Do you make these 9 mistakes in ___?
Learn the trick to ___
12 productive things you can do in ___ minutes
7 awesome ___ you’ve never heard of
10 surprising facts about ___
The hidden agenda: ___
8 tips for better ___
___ Lies
What causes ___?
5 books every ___ should read
The wrong way to ___
Why ___ doesn’t (do what you think it does)
___ reveals top 5 regrets of ___
___ things you should remind yourself when you ___
How to stop ___
These 10 best ___ for ___
5 Rules for ___
What to ___(do) when you are ___(broke, new, short on time…)
7 essentials every ___ should know
Try these 3 tricks/tips/hacks to ___
5 ways to get focused
10 myths about ___
Turn ___ (inspiration, failure…) into ___ (action, money, advantage…) by ___
8 ways to prevent ___
Why the ___ is dying
The timeless qualities that make ___
Easy ways to be a better ___
6 Common mistakes of inexperienced ___
14 brilliant ___
My journey to ___
Top ways to make money at ___
10 proven benefits of ___
What makes ___ so special?
How ___ needs to change in the next ___ years
Getting By: how ___
10 of the most controversial tips for/on ___