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3 Types Of Headlines That Convert Readers Into Followers Of Your Blog

I recently blogged about the first three types of headlines that convert people into avid readers of your blog. After all, that’s what you want when you blog, right?

You want people to read your posts. You want them to learn, to grow, to subscribe, and to tell others about your blog…so that those new readers will themselves learn, grow, subscribe, and become your blog’s greatest evangelists as well.

That’s what this article will empower you to do with your blog.

Grabbing a reader’s attention upfront is critically important for the following reasons.

  • Most people won’t read your article, but they’ll glance at your blog title.
  • Most people won’t read your article, but they may scan your sub-headings.
  • Most of your Twitter followers won’t click the link in your tweet, but they’ll wonder what it is about.
  • Most of your Facebook fans won’t click that link to your latest blog post.

In my last post, I explained that the first three types of headlines you should use can be remembered by: REASON, SECRETIVE, and HOW TO.

In other words, give readers a REASON to click your social media link and actually read your article. Tell your readers a SECRET that will help them do what they need to get done. And explain HOW TO do something in a few easy steps. (Trust me, they’ll love you for it!)

Here are three more types of headlines that convert internet surfers into loyal fans of your blog (examples are under each one). Study these and put them into practice. You’ll be happy you did, and so will your future blog subscribers.

1.   MISTAKES. Nobody likes to make mistakes, right? That’s why they need to read your blog.

  • 4 Mistakes Most Christian Bloggers Make When Choosing A Domain Name
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  • The #1 Mistake Christian Bloggers Make Every Single Day (And How To Avoid It Yourself!)

2.   SHOCKING. Sometimes people need to be jolted out of the monotony of their daily life (in a godly way). What better way to do that than to give them a good neck-popping shock?

  • 2 Embarrassing Things I Did While Preaching My Very First Sermon
  • The Woman Who Fell From A 17-Story Building…Bounced…And Then Blogged About It
  • 3 Things Not To Do When Getting Baptized (It’s Confession Time)

3.   SAVE ME MONEY. Who doesn’t want to save some coin in this rotten economy? Then teach me how to do it!

  • 15 Ways To Save $500 Off Your Christian Bookstore Purchases Next Year
  • How To Save $375 Every Month By Doing Nothing More Than This One Thing
  • 3 Things Every Christian Needs To Change In Order Not To Waste God’s Money

So, what do you think? Can you create titles, headlines, and links like these? Of course you can!

If you begin today, and do it consistently over the course of a week or two, I truly believe that you’ll be bamboozled (I just had to use that word!) by the positive results. At least I have. Readers will start showing up, and they’ll come back to read your blog again, and again, and again, and…

QUESTION: What headlines or social media blurbs have you written lately that generated a significant amount of traffic to you blog? Type the headline or blurb in the comments section below, and provide a link to the article itself. I want to read it!

 

* Image credit: faiper (Creative Commons)

Comments

  1. says

    What headlines or social media blurbs have you written lately that generated a significant amount of traffic to you blog? Type the headline or blurb in the comments section below, and provide a link to the article itself. I want to read it!

  2. says

    “God is Bigger than Your ‘But'” was the name of one of my most popular posts. Here is the link. http://ayearinthespirituallife.blogspot.com/2012/05/god-is-bigger-than-your-but.html hope it makes you smile and go hmmmm. Be blessed! 

  3. says

    I have SUCH a hard time with this “stuff.” I feel like a carnival clown when I write such words. I know I need to get over it. So I’m telling myself to get over it. But I’m not over it. When I write words like that I can hear the car salesman whispering, “Have I got a deal for you!”
    I am such a skeptic that when somebody uses the word “secret” I automatically close my mind. I don’t want to hear any more “secrets” that are just famous, overused aphorisms. When the book “The Secret” came out, I knew before anybody said anything about it that it would be a lie. When people began to rave, I sighed and looked inside, and lo, it was a lie. So I don’t read secrets as a general rule.
    I am sure there is something wrong with me, but what do I do? Can I not be myself? Must I be somebody else in order to attract readers? If I use words like that and then people discover that my words are not secrets, not shocking, not magic, won’t they be more disdainful of me afterward than they were before?
    I want readers. Is there no other way?

    • says

      Katherine, I know exactly how you feel. I sometimes think the same thing. But try to think about it this way.

      If you were to write a novel that is destined to be a best-seller, your publisher would NOT want to put a lame cover design on it, or give it a title that was boring or irrelevant, correct? Of course not. Both the cover design and the title are there to “spark interest” in the reader. The goal is the enhance interest, not sell something that is garbage.

      The same goes for blogging. Your article is your destined best-seller. The design of your blog is the cover design of your book. The title of your post is the title of the book. In the title, you need to tell me what the article is about and do it in a way that makes me want to read it.

      It is not sleazy salesmanship. Sleazy salesmen sell lies. What I am talking about here is wisdom exemplified in your writing. Be as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove. 😉

  4. says

    I wrote about people always saying that facebook/twitter is the devil’s playground. I think I put “devil’s playground” in the labels for the post and my stats went crazy!