Why Only 20% of Readers are Clicking Through on Your Article Title
Headlines, post titles, titles, headings… whatever you want to call them, they’re the most important factor in every piece of content you deliver. How important? According to this Quicksprout infographic, while 80% of people read a headline, only 20% of the audience actually clicks. Title tags are critical to search engine optimization and headlines are essential to getting your content shared on social media.
Now that you know headlines are important, you’re probably wondering what makes a good one and how to write one, right? Well, today is your lucky day because Quicksprout has created an infographic that will teach you just that.
Use of adjectives, negativity, statistics and an overall formula of Number or Trigger Word + Adjective + Keyword + Promise equals a perfect headline. Neil mentions titles that are short and sweet because folks tend to scan nowadays.
While I always appreciate a concise title, we’ve seen many sites that have gotten incredible response rates with long, verbose titles that connect with the reader. I wouldn’t be afraid to test both short and long. You may want to just adjust the title tag on those headlines so the search engines don’t cut off the headline you worked so hard to develop.
Pay close attention to the last bit of advice… headlines often fail because they don’t match the article written, they’re not specific enough, and the titles are ambiguous. Need some additional help and want to have some fun? Don’t forget the
Content Idea Generator from Portent that suggests some hooks for your titles, including headlines that get attention through strategies like ego, attack, resource, news, contrary, and humor.