BuzzFeed does this really well. The publication recently featured headlines like these:
Choose your favorite breakfast food and we'll tell you if you're a Jedi or a Sith
This person was completely duped by online photos of the hotel they booked, and people can't stop laughing
Can you figure out the deep meaning of this comic about social media?
Headlines work because they spark curiosity. The content itself may not be life-changing, but the headline gets clicked.
You can do the same with more serious pieces by asking a leading question:
What type of runner are you?
Which of these mistakes are you making during marathon training?
We trained for a marathon in 3 weeks. Here's what happened.
9. Create humor by playing with some words
Have you ever watched the HBO TV series “True Blood”? When vampire Bill Compton tells Sookie the name of a vampire bar in Shreveport— Fangtasia —she rolls her eyes.
Compton replies, "You have to remember that most vampires are very old. Puns used to be fantuan database the highest form of humor."
I may disagree with the fictional vampire, but puns are still fun. And they still work in titles.
If you can write headlines that include wordplay, it will spark instant curiosity.
Yes, punctuation matters! It sounds silly, but it can pique readers' interest. It can also help with SEO.
You'll notice that the title of this article uses a colon. You could also replace it with a hyphen or em dash to achieve the same effect.
Let's look at three headlines:
Training for Your First Marathon: The Complete Guide
Training for Your First Marathon — The Complete Guide
The Complete Guide to Training for Your First Marathon
There's nothing wrong with the last headline. However, it doesn't grab the reader's attention that quickly.
We focus on the first part of the headline. So do search engines like Google. If you can get your primary keyword at the beginning of the headline, you have a better chance of getting clicks and better placement.
Dashes and colons essentially allow you to split your headline into two parts, allowing you to convey more information and organize your headline for both reader interest and SEO.