If you’re just joining us, we’re going through a series on Twitter that shows you how to get thousands of followers and then helps you to manage your social network.
Today’s blog post is going to show you how you can write great headlines, not only for your tweets, but also for your Facebook updates and blog posts.
Whether you want to share Jesus online or get people to click on the links that you share on Twitter and Facebook, you’re going to want to start writing great headlines.
I know that I suffered for years not knowing why people weren’t clicking on the things that I shared, even though I knew that they were good things.
A majority of people today have no idea how to write catchy headlines and they don’t even know why.
But if you begin to do this one thing, you’re going to be a part of a small group of social media savvy people who get thousands of people to click on their links.
What Catchy Headlines Can Do For You
Think about your local news channel. They always use catchy headlines to keep you from turning the channel.
The other day I was watching ABC News and I heard the anchor say, “Up next, are you keeping pills in your medicine cabinet that can kill you or a family member? After the break, a shocking new report accusing a pharmaceutical company of not disclosing all the necessary information on its label.”
Do you think I got up from my couch?
No way! I stayed there glued to the TV, anxiously waiting for all the commercials to end so I can find out if I needed to do a cleanup on my medicine cabinet.
You can do the same thing with your tweets, Facebook updates, or blog titles. The more catchy that they are, the more that people will want to click on your link, especially if your content is good.
One Word of Caution However
Just a reminder, please make sure that you are always ethical when you’re writing your headlines. There are bloggers, news agencies, advertising companies that lure you in with great headlines but the content behind it has nothing to do with the headline.
Bait and switch techniques are seen as traps and should never be used
This is what’s called a “bait and switch” and you should never use this tactic because your readers will never trust you.
Just know that if your readers sense that you are lying to them or overtly exaggerating, they will shut down the browser window on your website faster than you can say, “Hakuna Matata!”
Some Examples of Catchy Headlines
Here are some examples that you can use for your tweets, Facebook updates, and blog titles. They’ve worked for me and I know they’ve worked for lots of others on their social networks and websites.
1) The How To Headline
The how to headline is one that can get you lots of traffic if it’s crafted the right way. This is usually how it goes:
- How to [insert something that your reader will be interested in] or
- How to [insert something that your reader wants] by [doing something – make sure it sparks the reader’s curiosity by not being too specific]
- How to create fantastic headlines that get clicked on by boatloads of people
- How to bring people to Christ without ever meeting them
- How can we love people into the Kingdom online?
2) The One Headline
The one headline singularly focuses on either something positive or negative that is of interest to your reader. It usually goes something like this
- One [insert one thing that’s either positive or negative] and [optional: how to change it]
Some examples:
- One mistake people make on Twitter and how to fix it
- One surprisingly positive thing that happens to you when going through a trial
- One social media mistake some Christians are making that’s affecting their relationship with God
3) The Sensational Headline
If you have an article that’s going to stir up emotions, include that in the headline.
People are drawn to read things that cause them to feel extreme emotion, even if they’re negative.
It usually looks something like this:
- [insert sensational headline that sparks the reader’s curiosity and emotion]
Some examples:
- There is absolute proof that Yeshua (Jesus the Christ) rose from the dead! (My friend’s blog, Greg, had an EPIC article on it last week)
- Video on making your baptism stylish causes Christian outrage
Next Action Step
The next time you’re composing a status update on Twitter or Facebook, or when you’re writing a blog post, stop and think about the headline.
Is your headline catchy? Will it spark the interest of your followers and friends?
Spend some time thinking about how to make a great headline and then measure the difference in the number of clicks, retweets, or Facebook likes that you get. You’ll notice a HUGE difference.
There’s more examples of headlines to come after the New Year.
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Comments 17
Great article Peter, you are a wealth of information. I hope others out there are paying attention to the wisdom you present in these articles, why do the hard work all over again when you have already done it and are gracious enough to share.
i wish I had met you a long time ago and these articles were out then, I like you learned a lot the hard way, and I’m still learning.
Thanks for your help to the Social Media world, I think many appreciate it, I sure do.
Thank you very much Greg for your very encouraging words, you are too kind 🙂 I’m so glad that you’re finding this material helpful, my aim is to give people the shortcut to success instead of taking the long way like you and me.
I love what you are doing at believinggodtoday.com. I can see that the Lord is using it in a powerful way and I believe that the future is really bright for you and your ministry, my brother.
Thanks again Peter for doing the research so we don’t have to. Great information. You can have the best post on earth but without a good headline to draw attention, it won’t get read.
Right on Kurt, and thanks for your feedback – it’s incredibly kind of you 🙂 Merry Christmas too 🙂
Great information Peter, I love using How to and Number headlines. Your tweets are very inspiring. I had to click the follow button.
Author
You’re welcome, I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂
Thanks for this great vision for Christ, am inspired
You are most welcome, I’m glad that you found this article helpful 🙂
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Nice post, Peter. I was just speaking with a friend & fellow writer about this topic last night. Perfect timing to be able to pass on your words of wisdom!
thanks so much Tracy, I appreciate that.
So when you were talking with your friend and fellow writer about this topic, were you all in agreement about how important headlines are?
Yes, Peter.
Tracy, I’ve uploaded for you a great resource for writing great headlines. It’s by a famous blogger,his name is Jon Morrow, I don’t know if you’ve heard of him.
This resource has 55 headline hacks that really do work. I’ve used a lot of them on my blog and they brought me great results. Maybe you’ll find it helpful.
Here’s a link for you to download it http://bit.ly/1pHRbpE
Thanks so much, Peter. That was very generous of you!
You are most welcome Tracy 🙂
I hope that you’ll find them helpful, and I hope that they’ll save you a ton of time.
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