11) Headlining and Sub-Headlining Effective Content Pieces

Article titles (headlines), as well as subheadlines, are one of the first things a reader reads.

In this discussion, we will understand effective strategies to write headline titles as well as subheadlines to these titles.

Some general tips include:

• Avoid long article titles: try to fit the title within 62 characters or limit it to 5-7 words.

• Consider using “What”, “Why”, “How”, or “When” as these are catchy and add to curiosity.

• Use Numbers - numbers ensure the availability of organized information, and are generally liked: using Odd Numbers in the title has helped in terms of SEO. Remember to write the number itself (5 instead of five).

• To add specificity, consider using “the” before the number.

• Provide an answer to why people should click and read your content: words like “tips”, “strategies”, “facts”, “reasons” all help provide a rationale.

• Include the word “Guide” where applicable.

• Consider using emotional adjectives that describe the topic. For example, “essential”, “free” etc.

• Consider outlining Negative aspects - spin this to meet mental health content goals. For example, The 5 Essential Things You Did Not Know About Depression.

• Use common words to ensure people understand and grasp the topic while finding the title simple

• Consider using a “Things I Wish I Had Known” approach to content if applicable.

How to test your headline as being unique:

Copy and paste your headline with quotation marks into the Google search bar. (e.g. “The 5 Essential Things You Did Not Know About Depression”) - if the results come back as “no results found”, your headline is unique!

Helpful Resource: Useful Title Capitalization Tool

Note: The bottom line to success in terms of marketing and content is to ensure that your content body reflects the great headline/title. It might be worth considering to write final titles after the content body.

Subheadlines: Effective subheadlines summarize the content body while also linking it to the title.

Activity

Using the knowledge attained through this discussion, propose a new article title as well as a subheadline for this published article at 7 Cups.

Reply to at least one other student’s response and share your feedback with them

(Edited by @SoulfullyAButterfly: 12/2/2021 to clarify "subheadline" instead of subheading)

-

This post is brought to you by the Content Development and Marketing Program, find out more information about the program here