HOW TO WRITE VIRAL TITLES

If your articles are not getting enough clicks, 90% of the time, your titles aren't engaging, they're just bland. Before anyone clicks on your article, he or she is thinking, what will this article offer me? Bufferapp believes that 55% of blog readers read articles for just 15 seconds or less, irrespective of how much blood and sweat goes into your article.

It's like a constant struggle; a war for attention. Many bloggers tugging at people's small attention. Creating content is gradually becoming more of a science than an art. So, folks with pathetic content have a long way to go. Let's delve a bit into the science of article writing. 

WHY WILL PEOPLE CLICK ON YOUR ARTICLE?

1. Your article offers to reveal a secret.

2. You offer something that will improve their performance or enhance their life.

3. You want to tell a story that seems interesting.

The title tells the reader what to expect. No wonder stats show that on average, 8 out of 10 blog readers who share an article only read the headline. Only two out of 10 will read the rest of the article.

Again, talking about the science of article writing and writing a great blog title, human beings do not like uncertainty, we prefer everything is being told in the title. A title like “7 HEALTH BENEFITS OF DRINKING TEA EARLY IN THE MORNING” would pique the interest of the reader because it actually ticks the second box in our list above. But also because it isn’t vague. A title like “SELL YOUR HOME WITH ME” is vague. Why? Because your reader doesn’t care what you do unless you make it clear how you can help him/ her and you make this clear right from the title.

Analysis by Buzzsumo of the top titles on Facebook show that these titles perform best and this might just be what you need to learn how to write viral titles:

1. List posts: 50% of the top ten titles are list posts.

2. Amusing posts: ‘make you laugh’.

3. Pictures: ‘x pictures that’. ‘y photos that’.

4. Warning posts: ‘you should never’.

5. Questions and quizzes: ‘can we guess’.

The right headlines will improve your traffic by up to 500% as proved by Upworthy. People have millions of things clogging their mind. Why would they listen to what you have to say about eating coconuts? You lose them or get them at the headline. So what makes a great headline:

ELEMENTS OF A GOOD ARTICLE TITLE

1. A clear promise: As mentioned earlier, people are wired to prefer certainty over uncertainty. Your article must make it clear that you have something to offer and that it appeals to your reader. What do you have to offer? On the other hand, don’t promise something you can’t offer just to promote your blog. It would come back to bite you.

2. Good structure: Sometimes it all depends on structure. Analysis shows that “the future of” works better than ‘the rise of’ when used as headline on LinkedIn. Facebook viral headline structure sometimes varies from headlines that perform best on LinkedIn. Writing a great blog title might just depend on sentence arrangement.

3. Content format: Research the format that work best with your audience. You need to include this article format in your headline e.g. a list post, quiz, 'how to' post etc. Buzzsumo’s research found that list post and 'how to' articles work very well across all sites.

4. Content Type: Check the types of content that resonate with your audience and include them in your title, for example, photos, quotes, or suggestions. We have found in general that 'tips' work well on all SITES.

5. Topic: Select a topic that resonates with your audience. Search for trending topics using BuzzSumo Trend and leverage these, alternatively take advantage of a trend theme or a permanent theme. You can also work a popular topic in your title for example "Content Marketing: Every time you mention your product a kitten dies".

6. Have a definite promise: Exactly what does your headline promises the reader? What do they get if they click on your article?

Learning how to write viral titles, much like an art, demands a significant amount of testing. You need to test the performance of your titles on each platform. Create different content for social publications and ads on different networks and keep using words and phrases that work.
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