15 Must-Use Words in Your Headlines [+Examples]
Headlines.
The single most important piece of copy in a blog post.
One of the ultimate determinants of a blog post’s success.
If you don’t get them right, all the hours you spent crafting the post will go to waste, since nobody will read further than the post title.
If you do get them right, your blog post has the potential to go viral and bring your business obscene amounts of traffic and customers.
To help you jazz up your headlines, here’s a detailed list of 15 tried-and-test words that work excellently in titles and are proven to attract more traffic.
1. Must
Must is a word that conveys urgency and the feeling that someone has to do something – it’s a basic form of a command.
Example: 15 Must-Use Words in Your Headline
2. Surprising
Who doesn’t love a good surprise? Your blog post readers sure will.
By adding the word surprising in your headlines, you’re basically telling your readers that your blog post has new content that they’ve never seen before elsewhere. Curiosity makes them click.
Example: 21 Surprising Statistics You Never Knew about Blue Whales
3. Facts
One of the primary reasons why people read blog posts in the first place is to gain knowledge. One of the most common words associated with knowledge is “fact”. So, by adding fact into your headline, you’re basically assuring the would-be reader that he or she will gain knowledge from reading your post.
Example: 7 Facts about Volcanoes that Will Blow Your Mind
4. [Number]
Ah, list posts. Perhaps the single most successful type of blog post. Ever.
The vast majority of popular blog posts today are, indeed, list posts. All list posts contain a number in their headline; that number makes it clear to the potential reader about the size and depth of the blog post’s content.
Example: 8 Modern Brand Building Tactics for Your Online Marketing Campaign
5. Ways
Ways is another one of those words that convey a sense of added knowledge. That’s because any blog post that talks about a different number of “ways” to do something is basically teaching the reader about the subject.
Example: 21 Ways to Make Cooking Simpler in the Kitchen
6. Strategies
Strategies is a synonym to the word ways and works much the same way in a headline. However, this word appeals to a more professional audience than ways (in other words, it’s more for b2b blogs).
Example: 5 Core Content Marketing Strategies to Make Your Business Rich
7. Easy
Convenience is one of the ultimate priorities in the world today. Convenience is what drives new technology and new products. By implying convenience in your post title, your post instantly sounds a whole lot more appealing.
Example: 7 Easy Ways to Make a Chicken Parmesan
8. Fun
If an Internet surfer isn’t reading blogs to gain knowledge, then they’re most likely reading them to amuse themselves. The word fun communicates that exact idea to your readers.
Example: 17 Fun Facts about the Human Brain
9. Tools
People are always on the lookout for things that make their life easier or help them to solve a problem: tools. By using this word in your headline, your post will attract those readers who are looking for products to help them do something (this can also result in a highly profitable blog post should you be able to gain affiliate commissions from resulting purchases).
Example: 8 Must-Have Tools to Help You Become a Better Freelance Bloggers
10. New
There’s a reason why new cars are priced so much higher than even just slightly-used ones. People. Love. New.
Having something that’s never been touched or used by a previous owner just is something that everyone loves.
Example: New, Inexpensive Cars Aren’t Hard to Find … If You Know Where to Look
11. Instant
When a human wants something, he/she wants it now. Not later. Now. The word instant satisfies that need for immediacy in your headline.
Example: How to Instantly Improve Your Lifestyle and Live a Better Life
12. Cheap
Everybody loves an awesome product … especially when it comes with a very inexpensive price tag. Careful, though – using the word cheap can make it sound like whatever you’re talking about in the blog post is of subpar quality, so make sure to offset that effect with a praise word.
Example: 21 Cheap, But Fun, Ways to Spend Your Next Christmas
13. Luxurious
This word appeals to the exact opposite target market as the word cheap. If your business targets more of an upper class audience, make sure you use this word in your headlines.
Example: 5 Luxurious Cities to Visit Before You Die
14. How
How is another popular knowledge word that also conveys the message that you’re going to be teaching your readers how to do something your blog post.
Example: How to Kick Off Your Summer With a Bang
15. Secret
Everybody loves knowing something that someone else doesn’t – that’s why the word “secrets” is so successful in a blog post headline.
Example: 7 Secrets NASA Will Never Tell You Themselves
Which of these words do you think is the most powerful in a headline? Got any more to add to the list? Leave a comment below!
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