3. Add some finesse
No one likes a boring headline. So once you’ve started working with a rough outline and have your facts ready, you can begin to have some fun with your headline to make it more exciting and draw a reader in.
Here are my favorite tricks to use:
- Using alliterations: I enjoy a good alliteration, and they can really add a special touch to your headline. (Example: Tech-Driven Transformation: Tackling Tomorrow’s Challenges Today)
- Using strong or emotive words: These can really make an impact, though I would suggest using them in moderation. (Example: The Most Hated Engineering Jobs, or, as contrast, The Best Engineering Jobs)
- Adding a visual component: If your text has a large visual component, it’ll make sense to tease this in your headline as people are often attracted to visuals. (Example: 5 Photos of the Most Catastrophic Sinkholes)
- Using numbers: I’ve teased this above, but adding numbers is really helpful, regardless of whether you’re depicting a factual number or simply illustrating the number of points you’ll be discussing. (Example: 6 Essential Steps for Implementing AI in Engineering Projects
By adding some more playful bits, you can make your headline more exciting and increase the likelihood of a potential reader clicking through.
4. Keeping it short
Even though it may be fun to go crazy with your headlines, it’s a good idea to keep them shorter rather than longer.
This is especially true on the internet, since your headline doubles (or should double) as your meta title, an important part of SEO basics that will be shown in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). If your headline is too long, it’ll be cut off and potential readers will only see a part of it, decreasing the power of your headline.
Try to keep your headline between 50 – 60 characters if you’re using it as your title tag so that your post appears well in searches.
And even if you’re aiming on using a different title tag, it’s been shown that shorter headings do better. There is some debate on just how many words you should be including, but most research is pointing towards 6 to 14 words.
Crafting a headline that fits into a certain character or word count can be difficult and you may need to experiment a bit.
Sometimes, the trick is simply to rephrase your heading, but other times you may need to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch. AI can also assist if you’re stuck, though I’d certainly recommend taking AI-generated ideas with a pinch of salt.
Are you ready to write killer headlines?
If you need any help writing engineering articles with fantastic headlines, contact me today – I can help!