A Writers Portfolio

Headlines and Headings

Headlines and headings can make or break your content. How do we stand out from the rest of the data on the web? 👉 With snappy headlines and well-organized, relevant headings. 👈  Both perform a number of important functions: they give search engines a way to find your webpages, they catch the reader's attention, and they help readers scan web pages efficiently for content of interest. We'll start with headlines first.

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WRITE A TANTALIZING HEADLINE, OR YOU'RE DEAD IN THE WATER!

Did that title intrigue you? Did your adrenaline rush a little when you read it? Good content needs to do three things: educate, inspire, and entertain. But the best content in the world may not get read without a hook to lure readers in.

We can think of headlines as the fishhook in the sea of social media, wiggling proverbial fingers and telling readers they need to click on the content even if they didn't set out to search for that content. Here are a few top headline keywords you can use if you want more clicks:

A Guide To . . . Mistakes To Avoid . . . Everything You Need to Know About . . . Increase Your ___ With . . . Stop Doing This . . . Thirteen Things To (insert # of things) . . . The Simple . . . This vs This . . . Why Successful People Do This . . . Here's Why You Need . . .

This, by no means, is the only way to go about curating a headline to stop readers in their tracks. You can use a witty play on words Verbs Wanted: Dead Or Alive  or a skillfully worded cliché Some Still Like It Hot. Whether you're expanding on a well-known topic or sharing something unique and innovative, you will want to start every article or post with a tantalizing headline. Be sure you're doing keyword research (as mentioned in the chapter on Emotional Marketing) to make the most of your headlines.

HEADINGS (and SUBHEADINGS)

Short and to the point. That's what you should be shooting for with your headings. Long blocks of text will have your readers groaning. This is true for novels as well as social media posts. But a properly organized article with clear headlines will give readers a well-delineated path to follow. You might think of it as a map with a legend. 

When you've chosen to write a lengthy post, there are a number of points to consider when breaking up your content into sections. First, ask yourself these two questions:

 ❓ What is the most important part about this topic?

❓ What do I want the reader to take away from this topic?

Use this method to come up with an appropriate heading; something obvious that tells the reader exactly what they will find in that section. Headings signal to readers how information on the page is organized—what is subordinate to what—so be consistent with the size, font, color, etc. of your headings at different levels of importance.

After you have your heading on the page, you'll want to decide if you need subheadings. Again, one way to do this to ask yourself the following question:

❓ Do I have more than two points to make within this topic?

If your answer is yes, then you should break up the topic into subheadings. Effective subheadings should pull the reader down through the content and perform one or more of the following functions: Explain more - Talk about benefits - Encourage action

You will also want to:

Focus on Length: Choose a bite size length for the content within your subheadings and try to keep the length consistent. 

Focus on Keywords: Use keywords that your visitors might use to search for the content you're providing. Or start the heading with that keyword. Web readers tend to skim the first two words of headings and paragraphs as they look for the content they're after.

Focus on Format: Present each subheading in a consistent and easy to follow format using: bullets, numbers, bold font, keywords, emojis, etc. 

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Up next: Infographics

Image credits: LUM3N from Pixabay / maja7777 from Pixabay