If you are in charge of writing content marketing for your company, be it a blog or posts on social media, there are ways to get more people to give your articles a look. There are literally millions of pieces of content trending every minute of the day. What catches the attention of people and what gets ignored? It starts with a good headline.

I have been writing my blog – the Nailing Post – for over five years. I have written nearly 300 weekly articles on marketing, business and life. Through trial and error, I have found that few people read a poorly written, less-than-engaging headline no matter how good the content is. If the headline fails to catch their attention, you are just wasting your time. So what is the secret to a good headline? Here are some tips that have worked for me.

Keep your headline to one simple idea

Your headline should reflect the essence of the article in one simplified concept. A headline is to give the reader a very general sense of what is being said. Don’t go into details. Don’t cover every bullet point on the outline. In fact, the idea of a blog is to make a good point, but to keep it brief. If you are writing about multiple ideas in a blog, you may want to break it down into several posts (or go ahead and write a book!) A headline that tries to convey more than one point looks too complicated to read quickly. That is the goal of most blog readers. They want to read your content in minutes, not hours, days or weeks.

Use action in your headline

Action words work in headlines. What would you rather read, an article entitled "McDonald's loses market share to Subway” or "Subway bites McDonald’s profits”? After you have decided what the one point of your article will be, spice it up with some verbs that convey action. Stay away from passive words. You want to grab the attention of the reader. That brings me to the next point.

Create intrigue

Curiosity has a very strong pull on us. Headlines that create intrigue will lure the reader into the story. The next time you are in a checkout line at the grocery store, take a look at the headlines on the tabloids displayed there. They are sensationalized to get you to pick up the magazine and buy it before you leave the store. "Woman gives birth to UFO baby! Husbands files for interplanetary divorce!” We can’t help but read those headlines. Let me remind you that one of those magazines - The National Enquirer – sells 1.2 million copies per week!¹ Those sales happen strategically with a headline.

Photos, photos, photos

We live in a very visual world. Along with your headline, you need to use a photo or some sort of graphic that will catch your reader’s eye. Think about the social media sites you frequent. Most will be filled with photographs. I have found that even with a format that was designed for texting (like Twitter) that more people read it when I attach a graphic of some sort.

If you want more people to read what you post, pay attention to your headlines. Use a photo that helps catch people’s attention. Use these simple techniques and you will get more readers.

_______________________

1. Inside the National Enquirer, August 17, 2008, CBS news.com