When it comes to SEO content, headlines are essential. Not only can they be useful for your title tags, but they can transmit your message in one hit. A good headline can mean the difference between a user reading or passing over your content. For the ones that pass over or skim, you want to transmit as much of your message as possible.

Headlines are difficult to write, regardless of your reasons for needing them. Headline composition is a specialist skill in print publication, and it’s no less tricky on a website. Your headline needs to contain the right SEO components, because the search engines will give extra weight to headline content. Your headline also needs to pack a punch, so that readers will peruse the content underneath. Sometimes doing both of these things at the same time can seem impossible.

The way you headline your content for search engine optimisation can seem counter-intuitive, but the truth is that including your keywords in the headline is a way to catch user attention as well. As for the catchy part of a headline, there are some tricks that professional writers use that work for the majority of internet users. It is always a good idea to consult your SEO company for tips on content, and you can talk to us at SEO Consult. In the meantime, there are things that are guaranteed to catch even a jaded user’s eye:

• Numbers: Whether it’s the number of tips, a top-ten list or a percentage, numbers make a user stop and think. Users particularly like numbers used in lists because they make the content easier to digest. The number in the title of this article is just one example

• Questions: A question immediately engages the user in your content. Usually, a user’s brain will be answering the question before their eye has time to move further across the page. Their mind is drawn into the content without their knowing it. For example, ‘Do you have headline hassles?’

• Promises: Including a value offer within the headline is one way to draw a user into content. For example, ‘Let me solve your headline hassles’ is a promise that the solution to headlines can be found within the content

• Quirkiness. Using a quirky term can make your content stand out from the rest of the page. For example, ‘Is your content suffering from Bad Headline Syndrome?’ features an obviously made-up term, but is eye-catching nonetheless

• Assurances: These differ slightly from promises. They address an unnamed worry and assure that everything will be all right if the user reads the article. For example, ‘Don’t let your headlines let your site down’ both puts forward the problem, namely that headlines are letting your site down, and the assurance of a solution, as the article won’t let that happen

Some of the above methods can be combined to create an even more effective headline, although you shouldn’t get silly with them. Usually, combining a number with other methods is beneficial.

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