Advertising guru David Ogilvy once said: “The headline is the most important element in most ads, and it can determine whether readers will see the ad.”
A good title is half of the success of the article. The title is the first to attract people, and then impressions and clicks to the content greatly increase.
If the title is not attractive, the click through rate (number of people wanting to read the article) will be low, and in turn, this affects the impressions as well as the system serves popular content to more readers; and less popular content to fewer readers.
After all, no one wants low clicks for the articles that they put a lot of effort into. As an Opera NewsHub writer, you must find a way to create attractive headlines.
Here are 6 practical writing skills to make each of your headlines attractive and catchy – without being sensational, exaggerated or clickbait.
1. Make the reader feel that the title is relevant to him/her
People usually only care about things related to themselves.
Whenever you are writing a title, the first thing to think about is what is the relationship between the title and the reader? What is the reader’s identity tag? Then include information relevant to the reader in the headline to make it more compelling.
Cases:
“Otile Brown I’m sorry, I like you without authorization” is mainly written for Otile Brown’s fans
“6 magic weapons for married men, the more you use, the healthier you are”, mainly targets married men. What of single men?
2. Make good use of detonating words
Titles with “feelings” tend to trigger readers’ clicks, such as “counterattack”, “get rich”, “worst moment”. These words can quickly trigger people’s emotions, and make it hard for the readers to skip – they get attracted to click.
Case 1: Covid-19 strongly impacted Kenya’s hotel industry, 40 hotels were temporarily shut, and 5 suffered heavy losses
Case 2: The world’s popular elderly divorce tide swept into Kenya: 65 years old, I can still restart my life
“Strong impact”, “temporary withdrawal”, “heavy losses”, “world popular” are detonating words. Learn more words like this, use them smartly, avoid clickbait and the number of clicks on your articles could greatly increase.
3. Use more nouns, verbs and numbers in the headline to give more descriptive details
The richer the details, the more attention it will receive. Therefore, specific nouns, verbs, numerals can normally attract more attention from the readers.
Case 1 : From a monthly salary of KSh. 2,000 to an annual income of KSh. 600,000, how did he do it?
Case 2: He saved 669 children, but never announced it to the public
4. Unique angle for a hot news that is trending
Compared to a normal news report, a unique angle or story related to the news will always attract readers’ attention.
Case: While everybody is talking about the deputy presidential debate in Kenya. These unique articles are likely to attract more readers:
“From a rural girl to deputy president, Martha Karua’s transformation story”
What kind of family raised Justina Wame to become a presidential running mate?
5. Take advantage of human curiosity
The most primitive driving force of human beings is curiosity. A headline with conflict, flip, contradiction, or suspense will definitely attract more readers to click.
Cases :
Would you put your parents in a nursing home? Look at this old man through the lens of a British photographer
People who fart a lot are more likely to get colon cancer? Doctor’s Tip: These are the reliable ways to check colorectal cancer
6. Simplify your headline, don’t make it too complicated
Simple is always better and easy to understand can often achieve a multiplier effect.
With all the skills stated above, now let’s see some template formulas for attractive headlines for your reference.
Remember, do not write a title for just the title. Clickbaits will not only be rejected but also lead to the loss of fans and readers even if it was passed by mistake.
Formula 1. Curious questions + suspense setting
How can we grab the reader’s attention to explore and make them click on the title immediately?
The simplest and most straightforward way is to ask curious questions to make readers feel uncertain, arouse their curiosity, and attract them to click the article.
However, make sure that the questions asked are consistent with the content – not clickbaits for clicks.
Cases:
How difficult is it to get married in rural areas? The old peasant’s 3 jingle sentences express the bitterness and helplessness of many people
How to boil eggs without using a lot of water
It is clear that the ancients also had wisdom teeth, why should my wisdom teeth be pulled out? Check thes 3 reasons out
Formula 2. Direct quote + sharp point of view
A direct quote gives an easy way to understand the point which attracts people to click on it.
Then add a sharp point of view to break people’s cognition, or a question sentence, arouse the curiosity of readers, and attract readers to keep reading.
Cases:
“His mother forced him to marry her friend’s daughter”: How long will the marriage last?
“Houses are more reliable than men”: You can’t imagine the happiness of rich women
“Dear, please help me to get the voucher”: Your so-called friend is stealing your time
Formula 3. Subversive cognition + smartly use of contrast
Subverting cognition and breaking common sense is the easiest way to attract people’s attention. The easier you grab the reader’s attention, the longer they will stay on the headline.
Cases:
Is it Ok to fully cover your baby during the cold season? No. Learn the most appropriate way of dressing a baby from me
Whom to blame for the rising cost of living in Kenya? The details are out and it has nothing to do with Russia-Ukraine war
Formula 4. Insightful phenomenon + direct quotes
Detailed observation of a phenomenon is actually an accurate grasp of the user’s pain points. When writing such titles, pay attention to being grounded, specific, and relevant to the pain points.
Cases:
Before marriage “I raised you”, after marriage “I raised you”
I’m sorry, what I want is marriage, not targeted poverty alleviation
After reading these 7 articles, the annual salary of one million is just a small goal
Formula 5. Hot topic + sharp point of view
For hot topics, on the one hand, you can follow the hot spots and put the hot content in the front. On the other hand, you must fully identify the pain points and understand what everyone cares about the most.
Cases:
A former colleague with an annual salary of KSh. 600K was seriously ill and pointed out: Extreme self-discipline is self-destruction, work must be cherished
Middle-aged and old mothers can no longer afford designer shoes: the battle between women, starting from the baby’s pre-school
Formula 6. Highlight the Point + state amazing facts
Make sure to put the most important and catchy keywords in the beginning of the headline, then state the amazing facts about it
Cases:
KSh. 37 million! 28-year-old junior Treasury official’s account frozen over suspicious wealth
Stivo Simple Boy: An artist who has been underestimated by event organizers, his music is now being played across Africa
“Mom, get a divorce, stop pretending!” A letter from a 15-year-old high school girl | Real Story
by: NewsHub-KE