This article should really be called ’11 Great Articles …” because if you’re reading this then the headline of this article needs to be added to the 10 other headlines below.
Credit for this article goes to Jeff Bullas and you can read his full article here.
If, like most people, you don’t have the time to read all of it and just want the, well, headlines, Aspire Digital is happy to assist.
Firstly, here are the types of lists you can create:
- The “List” headline
These lists can be 5, 10 or mega. The mega list is often guaranteed to produce a ton of traffic. It means you might have to spend longer writing the article but it will be worth it.
Example: “57 ways to Boost your Blog Traffic“
- The “How to”
Everyone is trying to work out how to do something. How to be rich, beautiful or fit. Tell them how and they will not only read the rest but tell their friends about your article and retweet and share on Facebook.
Example of this “How to Get More Retweets on Twitter“
- “Get what you want” headline
People want to be wealthy, successful and healthy. Provide a promise that tells them how to do that and they will feel compelled to read the article.
Example: ”5 Ways to Make Money from your Twitter Account“
- “Best and the worst” headline
This is where you either go positive or negative. I have found that negative works best. But you can’t be writing those every day.
Example “30 Things you Shouldn’t Share on Social Media“
- Facts, figures and statistics
Want to get readers to click then provide facts, figures and statistics that they can use at a dinner party or in a conversation.
Example: “21 Awesome Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics for 2013“
- Predictions and trends
Predicting the future or trends will pique people’s curiosity and make them want to look round the corner or over the next mountain.
Example: “7 Marketing Trends you Should Not Ignore“
Learn the skill of combinations of the above types and the results may surprise you. Eg. 21 Awesome Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics is a mini mega list with facts and figures in the headline.
Sometimes the inspiration and ideas don’t show up for bloggers and writers. So sometimes having a list of headline categories that work can be a good reference list.
Jeff Bullas did an analysis of his blog posts and prepared a list of the headlines for his most popular articles, so here is the list of his top 10 headlines with the traffic numbers for each.
- 35 Mind Numbing YouTube Facts, Figures and Statistics – Infographic – 135,297 views
- 20 Awesome Facebook Cover Photos – 103,245 views
- How to Get More Likes on Your Facebook Page – 99,289 views
- 10 Must Have WordPress Plugins Of 2012 Every Blogger Should Know About – 98,063 views
- 48 Significant Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics Plus 7 Infographics – 90,601 views
- 72 Fascinating Social Media Marketing Facts and Statistics for 2012 – 88,896 views
- 20 Ways to Increase Your Facebook Likes and Engagement – 73,175 views
- 10 Powerful Tips to Increase Fan Engagement on Facebook – 72,623 views
- Who is Using Twitter? – 57,031 views
- The World’s 20 Most Popular Facebook Pages – 49,268
And, to conclude, Jeff’s Insights from this were as follows:
- The standout is that “Mega lists” rock. Sometimes it feels redundant and like ground hog day. You cannot do it all the time but it works.
- Another insight is that the “How To” is in the mix and needs to be in your headline toolbox.
- “Facts, figures and statistics” are vital but you need to consider that they will date over time. My goal though with most of my content is to make it evergreen.
- What surprised me is that using words and phrases like awesome, mind numbing, fascinating, powerful, and significant were in the majority. Bit corny? Who cares if it produces results.