7 Types of Blog Headlines That’ll Increase Your Traffic (Even if You’re a Beginner)

So, you’ve managed to create and post epic articles on your blog, but how do you get people to actually read them?

It’s unfortunate that there’s such a huge number of quality blogs out there that never get read by searchers. This is because quality content is not enough to make people read your blog: you have to get them to click on your link, to begin with. This means increasing your site traffic.

So what’s the secret?

It’s all in the blog headlines. Some types of headlines attract traffic to websites while others are just not clickable.

Here are a few types of click-worthy headlines you should be writing for your blog posts. And guess what? I’ll even tell you how you can write such compelling headlines, even if you’re a complete beginner.

Let’s dive in.

1. ‘Skimmable’-Content Headlines: Use Odd Numbers

Research by HubSpot shows that 43% of people skim through posts. That’s a big number of people seeing that only 29% take the time to thoroughly consume the information. Therefore, by showing readers (using your headline) that they can easily skim through your content and get quality information, you increase the chances of getting them to click.

One way to achieve this is by the use of numbers in your headlines. First of all, numbers have a way of standing out on a page. More to that, using numbers to show how many takeaways are in your post means the reader can easily skim through, find the X number of points and move on.

But not just any numbers will do the trick. It’s said that odd numbers are catchier than even numbers.

Now you understand why so many pro bloggers use headlines that read “9 Tips to,” “5 Ways,” “7 Tactics,” etc

2. Instructional-Content Headlines: Add “How To” in Your Title

These are what I’d like to call “timeless headlines”. As long as humanity exists, there’re always going to be people searching for instructions on how to carry out tasks they don’t know or achieve specific results.

If your content is in any way explaining ‘how to’ do something go ahead and add “How to” to your title. You’ll get people clicking on your headline in no time.

This doesn’t mean your article has to be a complicated tutorial of some sort or an expert guide; you can easily convert most titles into How-to titles. Let’s take some examples:

• “Get a Niche for Your Blog” can be “How to Choose the Perfect Niche for Your Blog”
• “Lose Weight Fast” can be “How to Lose Weight Fast”

After this, make sure to follow through with content that actually delivers answers as promised in the title.

3. Intriguing Headlines: Incorporate “Buzz Words”

Everyone likes to be wowed, more so in this time and age when our attention span has so drastically dropped, thanks to technology.

For you to grab the attention of readers and make them click on your blog, you’ve got to excite them with your headline. Make them pause long enough for them to click.

Incorporate “Buzz Words” in your title to create an intriguing headline. These are words that arouse certain emotions in people and cause them to be drawn to the text. They also stand out from the many words that one reads on a page.

Examples of “Buzz Words” are “Super,” “Fast,” “Free,” “Effortless,” and so on.

The thing about this type of headline is that it resonates with people’s intrinsic desires or feelings. Most people want solutions that are easy, and therefore effortless, quick, or free. Find variations of these words and use them in your next headline.

4. Authoritative Headlines: Include Social Proof

Authoritative headlines tell your readers your content is credible. They get the feeling that the results promised in your title are attainable because someone else achieved them. 

Including social proof is one way of focusing your title on the ‘who’ and boosting credibility. Do thorough research on your topic to be able to quote specific outcomes based on the information you are giving.

Here are some examples:

• “7 Content Marketing Tips That Will Rank Your Blog Like Neil Patel’s”
• “1000 Bloggers Used These 5 Tips to Increase Their Email Lists”

Can’t get such high-quality authorities? No need to worry. You can simply use your own successful experiences to give social proof e.g. “Top 3 Optimization Tactics That Ranked My New Blog in 1 month.”

The fact is, your readers are more likely to click on your blog if they think they can trust your content. Social proof greatly increases people’s trust.

5. Headlines with Visual Variety: Use Parentheses

When you open a search engine page looking for articles you obviously see a bunch of words and maybe a few images. You have to filter through the many words before you decide to click on any particular link.  This is what your potential readers have to go through before they get to your post. Not very exciting, is it?

It’s obvious that routine things can get pretty boring really fast – that’s why artists use contrast to create variations in their artwork. As they say, variety is the bliss of life.

But we’re talking about headlines. How can you possibly create visual variety in a bunch of letters and sentences?

Well, that’s where punctuations come in. And not the usual commas and full stops, those are found in every kind of writing. I’m talking about parentheses or brackets. These have a way of breaking text to create that visual variety your potential reader is subconsciously looking for.

Start using headlines with visual variety and browsers will begin clicking on your blog simply because it cuts their boredom. But ensure you don’t end up disappointing them with boring content.

More to that, a study by HubSpot showed that headlines with brackets improve traffic because they clarify content.  

Here are some examples of headlines with parentheses:

• “Best Way To Make Money Online (For A Beginner) In 2019”
• “How to Raise Your Freelance Writing Rates (With Scripts!)”
• “How I Built My Freelance Writing Business (And Earned $2793 Last Month)”

6. Optimized Headlines: Use SEO Keywords

This should have actually been first on this list because optimized headlines are the ones that make it to the top of search engines.

As a writer, one of the most important skills you need to have is search SEO (search engine optimization) writing. 

According to Enquisite, organic search results generate 8.5 clicks more than paid search results. Therefore aiming for organic ranking clearly pays off.

Use keywords in your title. Well researched keywords. And be tactful when selecting them for your blog posts – go for those that are easier to rank and not the highly competitive ones that will take you years to appear on the first page of search engine results.

That’s why many bloggers go for long-tail keywords. Consider injecting this in your headlines to rank your post.

7. Time-Based Headlines: Specify ‘When’

Time-based headlines are attractive to most readers because they promise results within a specified period of time.

This kind of title works like the ‘Intriguing headline’ if the time frame quoted is surprisingly short e.g. “5 Ways to Lose 20 Pounds in 1 Month.” But of course, it should also be believable.

Specifying the timeline in which your readers can expect to get certain results will make your headline more click-worthy.

Follow up Your Catchy Blog Headline with Quality Content

Now that your readers are finally clicking on your link on the search page, go on and wow them with the amazing content we spoke about at the beginning. This will mean you can now move to the next level of converting them into your subscribers, buyers, fans, and brand ambassadors. And that’s how your web traffic will continue soaring even higher.

Practice writing different catchy headlines every time you write a post and you’ll soon be able master at it.

Have you tried these types of headlines? Do you have other powerful suggestions? Leave a comment below and let us know.