The C-Suite Digital Handbook

Learning How to Write Winning Blog Headlines

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This morning, a colleague who runs a significant media website, sent me a New York Times article from May that discusses search engine optimization considerations for writing news story headlines.  Some of the examples are funny, but the article reflects that copywriting has changed.  Headlines that meet what people are searching for now trump clever headlines.

The article also made me think about how every website needs to incorporate the headline editorial practices of the 21st Century news room, particularly those of us like myself who are also building business blogs to help their customers.  So, I spent some time today analyzing what is involved in writing headlines to drive traffic.  (I am also hoping that the lessons will pay off as it relates to people reading and sharing this post!)

Here are the top considerations that I picked up and have also incorporated into this blog post:

• Pay Attention to Headline Length.  Headline length has always been important for print layouts.  Online, headline length needs to be kept to 60 characters or less.  If it exceeds 60 characters, the search engines will not display the extra words in search results.  Also, given the 60 character-cut off, it is also a good idea to put the most important words in the front of the headline.  As for my headline, I came in at 44 characters, including spaces and made sure "how to" was near the front. 

• Keywords Do Matter.  It is important to use keywords that focus on what your audience cares about or your prospecitive audience could be searching for.  In the case of this blog post, I am looking to help clients who are building their own blogs as well as other business professionals who are considering how to improve their blogging headlines to drive readership.

• Fulfill Your Headline Promise.  Your headline should tell the prospective reader what the article is about.  It needs to draw their attention when viewing titles from search results or in an RSS reader.  In addition, your headline is your pact with your reader.  You could choose to game the system and build headlines that will lift search results or get people to click.  But if the headline and the blog are not in synch, you have broken trust with your reader.  In this blog, I have kept my promise to you by talking about "learning how to write winning blog headlines".  I did not write a "how to" post about writing headlines that have succeeded.

• Learn from Winning Headline Formulas.  Copyblogger has an excellent collection of articles on its site under the heading Magnetic Headlines.  Several of the articles focused on using winning formulas that attract readers.  It is a great series and I encourage you to go there to explore more.  In the meantime, here are some of the winning formulas:
  
  • How To Headlines [used here!]
  • Lists
  • The Secret of [blank]
  • . . . and many more

How do you manage writing headlines for your business blog?  Do you think there are things I could have done better here?  I look forward to any ideas or input.