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1 AMAZINGLY Successful Blogging Tip!

by Niall Devitt on February 11th, 2010 | Comments

Ok! So I got your attention, right?

Yes, you guessed it! the HEADLINE is without doubt the single most important piece of any blog post that you create….

That’s why you should give it lots and lots of attention and come up with one, that works really well and grabs the potential reader as soon as he or she sees it.

The funny thing however is that we (me included) are often guilty of spending a lots of time researching and constructing a post – but only investing a few minutes (or sometimes even seconds) coming up with the headline. Are you guilty?.. I know I am.

With just a little effort and some additional time, it’s definitely an area where most business bloggers could improve significantly.

Here are some super resources to help you craft incredible headlines:

How to Write Magnetic Headlines

The Sexy Art of Writing Headlines that Kill

How to Write Compelling Social News Headlines

How The Huffington Post uses real-time testing to write better headlines

And these are some recent examples of headlines that grabbed my attention here on Bloggertone:

MR. Topsy Turvy’s Job Rant

Blog, blog, blah, blah – bland, bland?

Oops – Where Did The Money Go!

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Is Anybody Listening?

Now over to you!

Do you agree that headlines are really important?

How much time do you spend on headlines?

And have you come across any great examples of headlines at work?

Pic: seobook

Category: Blogging, Social media Marketing

Tags: , , , , ,

The Author: Niall Devitt

Niall Devitt is a leading Irish sales management consultant & co-founder of Bloggertone. He is a member of Top Sales Experts International & on the board of advisers of My Venture Pad, part of the Social Media Today Group. http://www.btbtraining.com

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  • lol, going by the attention my last post " I don't care where you tweet you twat" is getting I would have to agree. I also think that Title's have become so much more important as our lives become so much more intertwined with social media.

    In a world where so much noise exists it is my contention that we have become faster at processing information, making decisions and sifting through an incredible amount of information where our brains quickly discard anything that it thinks we may not be interested in in pursuit of something we may.
  • ElliStGeorgeGodfrey
    One of my favourite resources for learning better blogging tips is CopyBlogger (www.copyblogger.com) They have fabulous titles that just make you want to read the post. I keep working at my titles so this is a bit of an art, I'd say.
  • Elli, I agree, it's a great resource! "How to Write Magnetic Headlines" links to a series of headline articles from CopyBlogger. Thanks for sharing.
  • Well - just about to put on my crazy-headline cap for next week :)
    great post btw
  • lol, thanks Elaine. Looking forward to it :)
  • Hi Niall,

    The results could be a blog post. I had not thought of doing that.
  • Susan, please let me know if you do :)
  • I will Niall
  • Twitter: Great training for headline writing. Thanks Niall.
  • Thanks Andrew, Excellent point!
  • @Paul thanks for that! You make a insightful contribution when you say that Blogging is no different than CV writing, tweeting or Linkedin when it comes to great headlines. Thanks!
    @Susan, thanks! that sounds like a fascinating exercise and worth the effort. It would make a really great blog post??
  • This is a good reminder Niall and one I know I do not spend enough time on. One thing I have started to do is look at posts that have done well versus others and review the headlines of each. Interesting results so far.
  • paulmullan
    Very true Niall.

    A creative catchy header is critical in drawing people in to read a post. This doesn’t always have to be extreme or daring – just a bit of thought. Barney/Una rightly point this out. Catchy headlines are a waste of energy unless you can engage readers and keep them. This means investing your time on the content of the post is essential too. By the way what many bloggers miss out on is the visual layout on the post.

    Blogging is no different than CV writing or tweeting with an associated link. Or what about Linkedin Profiles – how many people have “click and come see who I am” headers?

    P
  • @Fred, thanks for the heads up and yes Seth's blog is gold.
    @Una, you are right of course, getting the balance right can sometimes be tricky.
    @Barney, trust me, I'm as guilty as any in that regard :)
  • Is that true Fred? The tags attached to a blog post are important for google pickups? I had looked into that and thought they just linked to other posts on similar topics within the blog. How important are they do you think? Should I go back and tag all my posts or is it too late?!! Thanks.
  • Hi Roisin, I actually meant "Title tag" which is what the search engines read. If you have a Wordpress blog, you can install a plugin called "All-in-one-SEO" which lets you enter this information easily. As for the regular tags, you are right, is more for internal purposes although I understand that they can get indexed too depending on your blogs settings. In a nutshell, get All in one SEO installed, and for the regular tags, if you have spare time go for it but don't panic :)
  • 100% correct Niall (taking on board the point Una makes about not over-sensationalising!). They need to be relevant but snappy/attention grabbing otherwise it's just more noise in an already over-crowded space. A useful reminder. I am generally not spending enough time on the title!
  • You're right Niall. And the trick is not to make it so sensational that it either disappoints or puts people off - it's an art!
  • Good post Niall. Thanks for sharing those examples.
    I do agree, the tile is the most important thing. Also, the title tags that you enter on your post are the most important pieces of information for search engines.
    When it comes to great titles I strongly recommend Seth Godin's blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
    Read it everyday and makes my day...
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