A STUNNING headline means more traffic

If nothing else the recent launch of Blog Rush has reinforced how important headlines are for building up our audience. In fact lately I’ve read so many articles from fellow bloggers exhorting us to work on our headline writing in order to make most effective use of a tool like Blog Rush.

A stunning headline…

is self explanatory

The headline should portray exactly what the story is about. That doesn’t mean it will tell us the details, but that the reader knows before having to view the article what that article will talk about.

is honest with the reader

The only thing that lying in your headline to attract a few clicks will do for you is cause people to remember you in the future. In this case being remembered isn’t a good thing. They’ll remember not to waste their time with what you have to say.

stands out from the crowd

On the Blog Rush widget there are a total of five links presented to the viewer to click on. Your link is one of the five. It might be on top, it might be on the bottom, it might be anywhere. It won’t be bold or another color or anything distinctive aside from the words you use. It must stand out from the crowd of other links.

is original

How many times a day do you see a headline that looks something like this x ways to do x or something similar? They’re about as far from original as I can think of. Take some extra time and make your headlines original.

must lead to a worthwhile article

While the headline will get their attention the article itself is what will hook them. Every word of your first paragraph should be pulitzer prize quality and it should relate directly to what you have portrayed with your headline.

must not be too long

Keep your headlines short. Three to seven words is a good range and gives you plenty to work with. If your headline is much longer than that you risk losing reader attention before you ever even have it.

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