Ask

Posing a question, one of the oldest tricks in the book, remains one of the best ways to engage a reader.

• Thinking of Creating Original Research? 8 Things to Consider
  (Content Marketing Institute)
• Is Retirement the Only Way to Live the Live You Want?
  (Further.net)

Benefits

Features tend to bore readers. Make an emotional appeal by putting benefits in your headline. An effective shortcut is to fill in the blank: How to [Blank]. Features won’t work there.

• How to Make an FAQ Page That Generates Sales
  (Marketing Words)
• A Lead Magnet Promotion Checklist to Build Your Email List Faster
  (Feldman Creative)

Colons

A proven headline approach (which can be especially effective for search) is to begin with a topical keyword phrase, followed by a colon—or dash—followed by a statement or question.  

• Social Trust Factor: 10 Tips to Establish Trust and Credibility for Your Brand
  (Social Media Today)
• Quora Marketing: Tips, Tactics and Best Practices
  (Orbit Media Studios)

Do’s and Dont’s

What to do? What not to do? Write a “do or don’t” headline to indicate your content is going to deliver a tactic or list that does or doesn’t t work for a task your audience needs to accomplish.

• The 12 Do’s and Don’ts of Web Design
  (Adobe)
• Don’t Make These 7 Facebook Advertising Mistakes (Lessons We Learned from 50+ Facebook Audits)
   (Bamboo)

Emotion

Decisions—be they to buy a product or “bite” at a headline—are based on emotions. Capitalize on the power of emotion by aiming for a feeling or describing one.

• 8 Very Real Reasons People Hate Monday
  (Inc.)
• 5 Reasons Why Fashionistas Will Swoon Over Apple Watch
  (InStyle)

Facts

In the world of non-fiction, we all hunger for facts. A well-timed, topical, or provocative fact (or list of them) can be the ultimate hook for your story.

• Six Social Media Facts You Need to Know
  (Entrepreneur)
• 28 Surprising Stats About Prospecting in 2018
  (HubSpot)

Greats

No matter what you’re writing about there are “greats” you might attach your story to: great accomplishments, great leaders, great landmarks in time, etc.

• How to Speak Like MLK Jr.
  (Big Think)
• This is How Bill Gates and Elon Musk Tackle Their Busy Days
  (WeForum.org)

Help

Help is a universal foundation of content marketing, non-fiction, and so many forms of publishing. As headline writer, you can always fall back on the simple strategy to highlight how your piece will be helpful.

• The Beginner’s Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing
  (Fomo)
• 41 Must-Have Digital Marketing Tools to Help You Grow
  (Sprout Social)

 

Inspiration

Online content should be inspiring. It tends to guide you into new territory. A great headline may focus on the basic idea “you can do this.”

• 10 Skills You Need to Thrive Tomorrow – and the Universities that will Help You Get Them
  (World Economic Forum)
• 6 Steps to Awesome Canvas Art Even If You Suck at Painting
  (Trust the Vision Décor)

Jack an Article

Jack something, as in “steal” (or borrow). Writers often turn to “newsjacking” to borrow interest from a trending story or famous figure.  

• The Ice Bucket Challenge: A Case in Viral Marketing Gold
  (Digiday)
• Lessons Your Kids Can Learn from Black Panther
  (Parent24)

Keywords

Headline writers have always searched to use words that were key to the story, but in the age of search “keywords” has new meaning. The challenge is to include words people use when searching.

• How to Upload a Video to YouTube from Start to Finish
  (Constant Contact)
• How to Hide a Pimple—Keep A Zit Covered for Hours
  (Cosmopolitan)

Lists

Lists are the most popular approach for writing headlines for online content because they work. Readers instantly know what they’re getting and appreciate how lists bring order to their lives.  

• 32 Ways Your Ecommerce Company Can Boost Engagement and Sales
  (Kissmetrics)
• 26 Things You Need to Know to Build Credit
  (Go Banking Rates)

Mistakes

Mistakes, misconceptions, myths… Don’t fear flipping the sunny side down. Experienced pros embrace negative headlines that beginners fear because they have tremendous pulling power.

• 7 Mistakes Leaders Make That Make Everyone Miserable
  (TalentSmart)
• Common Dog Training Myths to Ignore
  (Reader’s Digest)

Numbers

Using a number in your headline is powerhouse tactic. Beside the obvious use of numbers in list posts, you add intrigue to your headlines by citing results, timeframes, measurements, or anything that can be enumerated.

• How to Start a Blog That Generates $3817 a Month
  (Neil Patel)
• How the Curiosity Gap Brought in a 927% Lift
  (Copy Hackers)

Opinions

Write a headline that indicates you’re going to express your opinion—or that of another expert—and you’re likely woo many readers.

• Why Colleges Suck At Making Programmers
  (Codeup)
• Why I Don’t Believe in Unicorns
  (The Bullet)

Power words

Most headlines can be improved with power words. Revisit your headline looking for soft or vague words that can be replaced with more energetic, emotional or descriptive words.

• 21 Campaigns that Captivated and Converted Consumers
  (Stackla)
• 10 Tantalizing Ways to Boost Freelancer Productivity
  (Jeff Bullas)

Quotes

Pull a quote from a speech, interview, research report, song, play, movie or anything you believe makes for a tasty appetizer for the content soon to be served. Or simply create a post based on quotes.

• 25 Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes That’ll Help You Reach Your Goals
  (The Muse)
• Did Michael Jordan Really Say “Republicans buy sneakers, too”?

Roundups

Roundup articles generally present the insights of a number of experts or sources. Headlines for roundups almost write themselves. How many experts? What will they share? Done.

• 21 Experts Share Their Single Best Piece Of SEO Advice
  (Search Engine Journal)
• 11 Brilliant Toys Recommended by Child Development Specialists
  (Romper)

Starting

Understand getting started tends to be the hardest part of any task. A smart headline technique is to indicate your content presents the reader with an effective way to begin.

• The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Marketing
  (Feldman Creative)
• Guitar Basics: Getting Started with Open Chords
  (Music Radar)

Teasers

The “curiosity gap” is an age-old and proven headline technique. Simply write a headline that teases the reader into a state of “I must know where this is going.”

• Women Are Freaking Out Over This Easy Hack To Make A Beauty Blender Like New
  (BuzzFeed)
• Science Says the Most Successful Kids Have Parents Who Do These 9 Things
  (Inc.)

Uses

Here’s a simple technique, a derivative of the “How to.” Write a headline revealing how X can produce Y. Maybe… How the alphabet provides 26 headline writing tips.

• 5 Ways to Use Social Media In Your Job Search
  (Social Media Today)
• 10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Eggs
  (Food Network)

Verbs

Does your headline have a verb? Could it start with a verb? Can you make the verb urgent and interesting? Inject action into your headlines with interesting verbs.

• Command the Crowd: 3 Tips to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking
  (Elite Daily)
• Love Your Body and Yourself By Trashing Your Insecurities
  (Odyssey)

Who, what, when, where, why

Whether your headline is a question or a statement, these five “W” words can help you shape an interesting one.

• Why Content Marketers Need to Start Thinking Like TV Advertising Execs
  (Taboola)
• What Twitter’s New Rules Mean for Social Media Scheduling
  (MeetEdgar)

Examples

eXamples can give you an eXciting way to tee-up your content. Showcase a person, group, companies, accomplishments, or any type of relevant example.

• How Did Oprah Make All of Her Money? 10 Surprising Stories
  (Time)
• 5 Clever Social Media Marketing Campaigns that Went Viral
  (Jeff Bullas)

You

Your headline isn’t going to callout the reader by name, but the word “you” is the next best thing.

• The Most Valuable Thing You Can Do For Your Kids
  (Huffington Post)
• 11 Things You Should Never, Ever Tell Your Boss, Even If It Seems Like a Good Idea
  (Bustle)

Zingers

A zinger is writer-speak for a quip or phrase that comes last. In the case of headline it gets tagged on as if it were an afterthought. You can do add zing with a second sentence (or place a thought in parentheses).

• This is the No. 1 Reason Why People Fail at Switching Jobs (and What to Do About It)
  (Inc.)
• The Ethical Way to Earn Money Online (Even if You Have Nothing to Sell)
  (SmartBlogger)

Expand your audience and fan base

• Beginning business bloggers inevitably discover very few people read their content. The most practical shortcut to expanding your reach is to publish on blogs that already have the relevant audience you seek.

Build authority in your niche

• Getting published on credible websites positions you as an expert on the topic.

Generate quality, targeted traffic to your website

• I’ve guest posted on 50 or so websites because it’s is an effective strategy for sending traffic my way. Here I am on Relevance delivering a lesson on content marketing. My hope is you’ll value what I’ve written, visit my blog, The Point, and subscribe.

Earn exposure via search

• The websites for which you guest blog are likely to have higher domain authority than yours. As such, your content will have great potential to rank for keyword phrases you covet.

Capitalize on valuable network opportunities

• An underappreciated, but immensely valuable benefit of guest blogging is establishing relationships with industry leaders and their readers, which can open all kinds of doors.

Audience first

• The editorial focus of the blog should be foremost in your mind before selecting the blogs you’ll approach.

Quality

• It’s subjective to be sure, but invest some time into reading recent posts, top posts and the most relevant posts. Are you satisfied with the quality of the content? Would you be in good company?
  

Performance

• How does the blog perform? Examine its traffic ranking with Alexa. Take heed of the social share counters. Are readers sharing the content?
  

Promotion

• Look at the social media accounts of the blog. Does the publisher consistently promote posts by its guest bloggers?
  

Interaction

• Not all blogs feature comment streams and many that do fail to get comments. If interacting with readers is important to you take a look at this.

Author bios

• Some blogs give contributors ample opportunity to present themselves with author bios while others don’t. For the purpose of recognition, you probably prefer to have author bios that feature your photo, links to your website, content, and social profile, and a link to your other posts on the site.

Following the leaders

• You need to get a sense for what works on the blogs you’re targeting. Read many of the posts and pay special attention to the hits.

Understanding the ground rules

• Multi-author blogs often publish writing and style guidelines. Read them. If you can’t find guidelines, take it upon yourself to get a good feel for the publication.

Using social media

• Get on the editor’s radar first by sharing posts you found valuable on the site you hope to get published on. Go beyond just clicking the share button. Say something thoughtful.

Connecting

• Try to connect with the editor and some of the blog’s most successful writers, Follow and interact with them. Work your way into their cyberspaces.

Joining the conversation

• If the blog features comments, join the conversation there with interesting feedback, questions, suggestions, and perhaps even rebuttals.

Trash the templates

• 
  Write a genuinely personal email making it clear you recognize the editor’s needs.

Get to the point

• Managing editors are busy. Don’t bore them with your resume or life story.

Make it clear you read the blog

• It’s easy for an editor to tell if you’re trying to bluff your way in with false claims of affection. Don’t write to editors unless you can demonstrate you value their blog.

Get over yourself

• I get self-serving pitches from guest bloggers all the time containing mentions of “what’s in for me” (WIIFM). I delete them. Tell the editor what they’ll gain by publishing your post. Make it clear you understand how your contribution furthers their cause, not yours. Explain the topic (or topics) you’ll write about.

Highlight your headlines

• Editors think in terms of headlines. Will they resonate? Do they have pulling power? Offer your ideas in the form of headlines. If you’re pitching just one idea, lay it out in an ultra-tight synopsis that’s just one or two sentences.

Present your writing powers

• Do not (repeat: DO NOT) assume your reputation precedes you or your idea alone will get the deal done. And therefore, DO NOT impose a research project on the editor, that is, forcing him or her to figure out if you can write.

Prove you can write.

• Mention where your work has been published.
• Link to the best guest posts you’ve written.
• If you’re a first time guest blogger link to the best posts on your blog.
• If you don’t have great posts on your blog, you’re not ready to guest blog.  

Show some search savvy

• If you believe you’ve identified a search term for your prospective guest post that may rank high on search, explain as much. It’ll be music to the editor’s ears.

Be a team player

• if you believe publishing your guest post comes with benefits, say so. If you have a substantial following on social media or a solid email list, tell the editor you’ll further their cause by promoting your guest post.

Write an amazing article

• Write something original and outstanding. Make if your best work. You want a steady stream of “yesses” in all your future guest blogging endeavors.
  

Be a great guest

• Do all you can to comply with the site’s standards. Structure the post correctly. Triple check for errors. Include everything the editor requires: links, images, sources, your author bio and photo.

Promote your post

• Promote the post in your enewsletter. Share your post on social media immediately and often. Notify people who you think might like and share it.

Tune in

• Check back often for comments. Respond fast and thoughtfully.

Follow up

• Follow up with the editor. Ask for feedback. Find out how your post performed. Build a relationship.