How to Create a Catchy Headline

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So, for my next few blog posts, I am going to be talking about headlines. If you were to look at some of the most popular posts on various websites, essentially the "template" for the headline is the same, with an infinite variety of tweaks to make it unique.

Today, I am looking at the "how to" headline, which of course, I have used myself for this post. Believe it or not, this type of headline has been around for nearly 100 years. Readers naturally are drawn to posts which will help them achieve something.

In its simplest form, just start with the two words "how to" and add an appropriate ending on your niche topic. Of course, it goes without saying, that any headline should have your keyword in it. Here are some examples:

How to
Create a Social Media Marketing Plan
How to
Build a Sales Machine Which Works While You Sleep
How to Make Lavender Lemonade to Get Rid of Headaches

Taking this concept a step further, we move on to "how to be". This particular type of headline ties into your readers wanting to transform themselves. Here are the examples:

How to Be
an Interesting Blogger
How to Be
More Productive on Social Media
How to Be
an Unforgettable Writer

Next, we have "How to *** Without ***". This is an idea which draws the reader in, by offering them a solution to a problem, but doesn't force them to take an action they don't want to. Here are the examples:

How to
Make Money Online Without an Initial Outlay
How to
Double Your Writing Speed Without Lowering Quality
How to
Find the Best Laptop Without Hours of Searching

For our next idea, we have "How to *** and ***". You are now offering two benefits at the same time with just one action. Lets see it in headlines:

How to
Meet Your Own Needs and Make Others Happy
How to
Find Affiliate Programs and Get Approved
How to
See Your Competition on Google and Beat Them


Now, we introduce a timeframe. "How to *** in Five Minutes". People are notoriously impatient and are intrigued by tips which offer them a result in a short time. Here are some sugestions:

How To
Make Your Wife Happy in Five Minutes a Day
How to
Write an Article in 20 Minutes
How to
Start a Blog in 10 Minutes

I am going to finish with a phrase I don't actually like, but is definitely becoming more common. How to *** Like a Boss". Here's how to use it:

How to Cut a Pineapple Like a Boss
How to
Restore a Classic Ferrari Like a Boss
How to
Order Coffee in Five Languages Like a Boss

So, I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and it is has given you some ideas on how to create a catchy headline!

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Recent Comments

46

Hey Diane - can you point me to the link for this one: How To Make Your Wife Happy in Five Minutes a Day? :-)

Great ideas. It's amazing how often these formats appear in sales pages, and theya re relatively easy to create.

Boss doesn't work for me, either. I think of Boss Dog or Boss Hogg! :-)

Ian

Great points! These definitely are proven to work.

A long time ago I created a tutorial on creating catchy titles and according to the research that I've done, it was discovered that "how to", numbers, and words like "without" attract viewer's attention and often appear in the top rated blog posts.

If interested, here's the link for further reading: Looking forward to your next blog post, Diane!

Great article and info. Thanks, Diane. :)
Paula

Very helpful Diane, I'll use it in the post I'm about to start writing.

Nice trick for creating catchy headlines. However, it is recommended to keep blog titles within a 60-character limit. Any title that is too long gets truncated while being shown in Google's search results.

Hi - a good point which had clearly slipped my mind! I will amend the suggestions which are too long. Thank you!

Great info, thank you

How to - create a blog that I will read. must be good!

Thank you I love all the insights here ... good stuff

Thank you for sharing! This is a helpful article! I will try it!

How to
is the most catching wOrd in searches indeed!
Great share

Thank you
Marked as top

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