7 Ways to Make Your Headlines More Clickable
Most people are habitual skimmers, especially when it comes to choosing which piece of online content to click on and read. If a headline doesn’t catch a searcher’s eye within seconds, it’ll likely go unclicked no matter how awesome the accompanying blog article, social media post, email, or other piece of content happens to be. Luckily, there are some steps you can take to make your headlines and titles more appealing and clickable. The digital marketing professionals from Saba SEO, one of the leading content marketing companies in San Diego, offer these tips for creating irresistibly clickable headlines.
1. Keep It Simple
The most effective headlines are simple and direct. An easy way to streamline your headlines is to start brainstorming. After you have some “first draft” headlines, go back and tighten them up.
2. Be Specific but Honest
Most people skip over generic or broad headlines. Increase your odds of getting clicks by making your headlines more specific instead (e.g., “3 Ways to Write Better CTAs to Get More Conversions” instead of “3 Ways to Get More Conversions”). However, avoid making outrageous claims or promises you can’t deliver on. This is considered a form of clickbait, and it will only leave you with a high bounce rate and a not-so-good reputation.
3. Generate Instant Interest
It’s perfectly fine to get a bit creative and bold with your headlines as long as you keep your target audience in mind at the same time. Consider the following attention-grabbing headline additions:
- Witty alliteration
- Compelling statements
- Numerics
- New information or insights
4. Be Mindful of Character Length
In general, your headlines and titles should be as short as possible without losing their meaning. However, the best specific character length will depend on what type of content you’re presenting. If your goal is to have titles that generate clicks on search engine results pages, shoot for 70 or fewer characters. Just remember to include your main keyword/keyword phrase close to the beginning. With email headlines, do some experimenting to see how your titles show up on mobile devices to make sure important details aren’t being cut off, since most people check email with their various devices. With social media, optimal character length depends on the platform. For example, titles with about 10 words tend to work well for Twitter, while 12-word titles typically perform better on Facebook.
5. Address Common Problems
For this particular tip to be effective, you’ll have to tap into your data and really get to know your target audience’s common problems (“pain points”). For example, if you’re running a blog all about healthy eating, you might use “5 Ways to Avoid Bad Carbs” to target readers concerned about making healthy meal choices.
6. Pay Attention to Formatting
“Formatting” for headlines simply means using certain techniques that tend to inspire clicks. Research suggests the following formatting “tricks” help headlines stand out:
- Odd numbers for a list
- Hyphens/colons to add depth
- Time-sensitive titles
7. Use Online Title Generators
For times when you’re stuck for headline ideas, use an online title generator. With most of them, all you do is enter your subject and/or description or a few keywords to get suggestions. To get a better idea of whether or not you have a winning, or “clickable,” headline, you can also do some A/B testing, which involves presenting two versions of a headline or title and then comparing the results.
Following these tips can help you boost your click-through rate, generate high-quality leads, and enhance your overall marketing strategy. For assistance with all aspects of Internet marketing, San Diego businesses trust the experts at Saba SEO. We have more than a decade of experience in digital marketing, SEO, and web design and development. For help with your online marketing, give us a call at 858-277-1717 today.
