Your Steemit story headline is the most important part of your blog. Here are some tips to make sure you are using headlines that get people to click on your blog.
When I said the headline is the most important part, it is. If you have a good headline people are more likely to click. If you have written the greatest blog ever, but the headline doesn't work, you won't the views. Here is how you write good headlines.
Quick background - During 2015 & 2016, I wrote 5-6 articles a day for different online publications with over 6 million total views. I have personally tested over 200 headlines and written over 1,000 articles. I can tell you, it is all about the headline.
There are two main ways to write headlines. Before you start writing and then after you finish. We will look at both, but there are a couple of rules that apply to all that we will cover too. Here we go.
Option 1: When you have finished your blog, write a good headline.
Most people write a great blog and then need to title it. You'll want to find ways tie in your content while following these three rules. This can be challenging but if you follow these simple rules whenever you can, it will work.
RULES FOR HEADLINES
1. Don't give away the farm
Fully explain what you are writing about and what the reader can expect, but don't tell them what the main point is in the headline. Example:
BAD - "Ethereum Will Continue To Drop For The Next Month" - In this headline you are telling the point of your blog, why would people click on it? They already know what it is all about and what your thoughts are. You think will go down.
GOOD - "Will Ethereum Continue To Drop Over The Next Month? - In this headline you are engaging the reader to decide if Ethereum will drop over the next month. By doing this, if they don't know the answer and are interested, they are more likely to click. If they have made up their mind, but want to offer their reasons after your advice, then you get more interaction and more views. Asking questions is a great way to get people to read and engage.
Also GOOD - I Know Where Ethereum Will Be At The End Of The Month - You are making a strong statement, saying you know something, that they may want to know.
If you are talking about a travel blog think of saying something like... The One Place You Have To Visit If You Go To Hong Kong. Make a strong statement.... look at the title of this blog... "How To Write Headlines That Make You Money On Steemt" It is a strong statement and it is one of the main reasons you clicked.
2. Know Who You Are Writing For
Know who you are talking to and don't be general. Find ways to speak directly to your specific audience and don't be boring.
BAD - "Who Likes Food?" - Sure a headline like that might work and you could get some people to click, but if they love food and you are talking about sushi, they might get mad and leave a bad comment. They won't upvote.
GOOD - "Who Likes Food Wrapped In Seaweed?" - Instantly people who like sushi will know what you are talking about and are more likely to click and engage because they are already very interested in what you are writing about. The people who don't like it will stay out, and that is ok because you will have more of the people you want to read it.
The better you "qualify" your readers with the headline, the better chance you are to get votes and replies.
3. Keywords
On Steemit, you get the tags, the headline, the picture and the first sentence to make people click. If you are writing good headlines, then they all need to be working together. It starts with the Headline. If you are going to use the Steemit tag in the first spot, then make sure that "Steemit" is in the title. If you are going to use writing, then have writing in the headline.
If you can't do it or it doesn't work and seems forced, then make sure you try to get at least one of your keywords in your headline. The reason being, when people search for certain headlines, that is exactly what they want to read about. If you are writing crypto blogs then find ways to get that word in the headline because that is already in the mind of the reader. They just clicked on it.
If you go back and look, I have Steemit in almost every title that I used the steemit tag. Why? The people that click on Steemit are trying to learn more about Steemit. If that is the case, then my blog should appeal to them. It speaks directly to the need or desire of the reader. It connects and that will help you get more clicks. It may help with SEO, but I don't care about that.
Those are the three main rules when writing headlines on Steemit. Follow those and you should be able to write more appealing headline that fit your content.
Option 2: Write the headline first (More Experienced)
I keep a notebook by my desk all day and write down headlines as I think of them. Things that if I saw, I would click on it. Or after reading a bunch of replies, seeing what kind of information people need. If you write a bunch of headlines and then pick that topic, you can then write the blog to fit the headline.
This option is especially useful to the more skilled writers that pump out a lot of content and can write to a topic, but it isn't for everyone but a skill worth working on.
I hope you found this helpful. I know this was a long one, but I really wanted to fill it with some info that can really help you. Let me know if this helpful in the comments below.
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