STOP: Do NOT read this article!

5 Ways to Write Arresting Article Headlines

On the assumption that some people like to do the exact opposite of what they are told to do, I wanted to conduct a quick experiment to see how much a title that asks you not to read something - coupled with a picture of an authority figure - might compel you to take a quick peek instead. It obviously worked, in your case ... congratulations, you are clearly a contrarian, who doesn't like being told what to do and I am now ordering you not to read any further or even 'like' this post (don't you dare).

An Arresting Title ...

But on a serious note, and assuming that you are still reading, I wanted to explore how much the title influences the decision to stop and read the content and come up with 5 ways to write an 'arresting' headline (if you'll excuse the pun). Some might say that being drawn to an article because of an arresting title and picture, might be the virtual equivalent of 'judging a book by its cover', but in a world where we are inundated with information from multiple media, what other options do we have to cut through all that 'noise'? The title becomes an important tool in ensuring which content is read and which becomes part of the detritus of internet data and confined to cyber obscurity.

Getting Liked

There is no doubt that having a headline that is powerful and has impact will then attract viewers, which then encourages 'likes', which ensures, on LinkedIn at least, that the algorithms pick it up as relevant content, leading to further promotion and a snowball effect in terms of further likes and readers. This is a process that can happen very quickly, so if you are a little-known scribbler, then that arresting title becomes all-important. I am not saying that the title is the only way to get attention, because you can promote your article through social media as well, but it is increasingly a powerful first step in getting noticed.

5 Ways To Get Noticed

Having made a few posts, both on LinkedIn and elsewhere, it became apparent that some posts get read more than others and the title clearly plays a part in that, so here are my 5 points for writing a headline that gets noticed:

1. Intriguing - You might have gathered that I was playing this particular card, so time will tell if the headline was intriguing enough. Ultimately, you want something that poses a question, suggests a new way of looking at things, or hints at offering more in a way that tantalises and grasps the attention.
2. Brevity - the shorter the headline then the more that the reader's attention seems to be drawn to it, particularly if they are scanning their timeline and their brain only devotes a fraction of a second to each title as it whizzes past. The briefer it is, then the more I am likely to process it and then stop and actually read it.
3. Encouraging action - if you can create a title that encourages your reader to take some action, or suggest that they will be able to do something better, faster, or more effectively, after reading your post, then they may be more likely to see the potential value in what you have written and stop and read it.
4. Clarity - I have probably broken my own rule with this title - because it intrigues more than it is clear - but you can use subheadings to give greater clarity to what is contained within the body of the post. Remember that part of the first few lines is picked up by LinkedIn and posted, along with the title and photo, so you can use this to give further clarity to what your title is saying.
5. Keyword-conscious - be conscious of what the keywords are for the body of the content, whether that is in the main heading or by clarifying further in the subheading. Whilst I am probably breaking this particular rule, it becomes more important in terms of posts that are found by search engines.

I will be very interested to know your thoughts on this topic: did my headline work for you? What headlines have you seen recently that grabbed your attention? What was it about them that made you stop and read the content?

Will Trevor is the Founder and Training Consultant for Windsor Training and also an occasional blogger.

Picture credit: "British Policeman" by Southbanksteve from London, UK - My name is Will or Policeman as (arresting) model. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Policeman.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Britis