You clicked on this article, and now you're diving right in for a hearty read. Why'd you do that? Because I sucked you in with my "direct markety" headline. Now, before you go running away in defiance of being manipulated, know that this is a trick you can use on YOUR articles to get other people to read them and hear what you have to say. Here are Five Sneaky Maneuvers you can pull to stand out in the article crowd, get noticed and keep those clicks coming. 1. Make It Personal - Address Your Reader. Jump right in and start talking to your reader like you're old pals; do it in the headline because that's where you'll meet. Ask him a question, tell him that you plan to share some amazing, highly coveted marketing secret... tell him he'll be rewarded, if he'd only just CLICK. 2. Make It Emphatic - Use Superlatives. Imagine if this article's headline said something like, "5 Ways to Write Better Headlines." What's your first reaction? *YAWN.* Bold descriptives add energy and a dynamic quality to your writing-- and that's what keeps the reader moving along, absorbing and enjoying what you have to say. The headline is the prelude to the goods, so hook them here or lose them forever! 3. Make It Informative - Tell Them it's a List. Although he's not thinking about it, your reader knows when you've written a list article just for him just by reading your headline. Example: Five Ways, Five Tips, Five Reasons... all of these hint at what's to come. Your "list" article should be brief yet powerful, broken up into five or so bullet points, and leave the reader with some tasty informative nuggets to nosh on. 4. Make It Proactive - Include Keywords. The more you Search Engine Optimize your article, the better it'll serve as your ticket to higher page rank on Google, Yahoo, AskJeeves and the other major search engines. So please, DO add keywords! You can find good keywords and keyword phrases here: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ 5. Make It Categorical - Tag It. The web is surely becoming a place for classified information... classified into groupings, that is. With so many article directories utilizing topic categories and sometimes even tagging their articles (Technoratitag.com is a good example), it's a wise idea to tag your own. Think about what topic your article covers, and then add a categorical header before the headline. Example: Dating and Relating: How Do You Know When It's Love? Keep this headline checklist handy so that each time you write a new article, you can do a quick run-through and make sure all your bases have been covered. It pays to be diligent...and your efforts will be rewarded with more clicks, more page views and more future business prospects! Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved. Are YOU Content With Your Content? Get Top Secret Marketing Tips from the Web's Biggest Gurus and Expert Authors on The First Annual Web Content Awareness Day on FEBRUARY 9, 2006. |
