How to Write Headlines: a Step-by-Step Guide

If you want your blog posts to perform well, one simple way is to achieve this is by writing magnetic headlines. By playing around with your title after publishing a post, you may significantly increase the post’s conversion rate.

In this article, I’m going to share a step-by-step process to get you producing consistently great headlines.

Why Should You Care About Headlines?

Traffic to your post will vary depending on the power of your headline. If you fail to make it impactful and clickable, every other marketing step that you take will be a total waste of time.

Infographic explaining that 8 out of 10 people only read article's headlines.

Step #1: Use Specific Numbers and Data in Your Headline

Integrating specific numbers and data into your headline is an effective way to make your article more enticing to readers. Several research studies have shown that headlines with numbers tend to generate more social shares and engagement.

According to Debra Jason, one of the reasons why using numbers works in your headlines is because numbers are like “brain candy.” They are addictive, and our minds can’t get enough of them.

Additionally, it’s very important to understand the science behind odd numbers in particular. Often, you find viral blog posts with seemingly random numbers in the headlines and you may have stopped to wonder why the authors didn’t use even numbers in their list post. For example, from Buzzfeed.com:

A screenshot of Buzzfeed's display page, with many headlines circled showing odd numbers.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, the brain seems to believe odd numbers more than even numbers. Odd numbers help people digest and recall information more easily.

What’s more, when they tested their hypothesis and tweaked their headline to include the number 7, click-through rates increased by 20%.

We’ve also found that instead of using the word “seven,” you should always replace it with the numeral “7” in headlines. Meaning instead of writing “Seven Steps To Start A Home Business,” use “7 Steps To Start a Home-Based Business” to appeal to the number-craving side of our minds.

We’ll also let you in on another secret. If you’re writing a step-by-step guide, don’t include more than nine steps, because the human brain typically finds it difficult to process more than nine items at a time. However, if you’re writing about tools or different ways to do a thing, there is no limit to the number you can use.