How to write attention-grabbing headlines

Newspaper and website headlines have little in common. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. More than one Nyman Ink staffer has been a journalist and we know the ins and outs of writing for newspapers, but when it came time to writing for the web, we needed some intense skills updating. Why? Because web headlines are much more akin to magazine headlines, and even more importantly in order to get people to read your website content, the site first has to rank on search engines. Search engines are scanned by robots, not people, and while web robots and crawlers are wonderful in many ways, they just aren’t as clever as people. They don’t get subtlety. Metaphors confuse them. Alliteration doesn’t cheer their robotic hearts. As a result, web headlines need to be straightforward, keyword dense and a lot less witty than you might expect. Here are just a few tried and true formulas for writing attention-grabbing website headlines that will get the attention of even the most mechanical of beings.

Truth/fact headlines

These types of headlines are based on tried and true magazine principles. They work because they’re intriguing, but also because they directly mention their subject. For example: The facts about online fundraising campaigns. If your target audience is interested in online fundraising campaigns for any reason, it’s likely they’ll read this post. And by including those words in the title, you’ll ensure that the robots will notice and help you get listed.

How to/learn headlines

These types of headlines echo the sorts of “how to” headlines that have long-appeared in magazines. Online, they are even more direct and lead to content that is far more targeted and step-by-step. For example: How to turn a one-time volunteer into a regular supporter.

If you decide to offer content that explains how to do something, a headline that describes exactly what your post contains will not only attract your target audience, it will capture the attention of web crawlers and indexers.

List headlines

List headlines are popular because they combine the best features of “How to” and “truth/fact” headlines (the straightforwardness, the promise of valuable information) with the promise of a short, easy-to-digest presentation. For example: 10 facts about web videos that ‘go viral’. On the whole, internet users are an impatient bunch. Different information is always just a click away. As a result, users are drawn to content that they can absorb and evaluate quickly. When they see a list headline, they know that they will be able to access information in a quick, easily digestible way. After all, a 10-point list is much easier to invest in than a 10-page article. (Just make sure those 10 points are good ones.)