5 Tips to Gain Readers With Great Headlines

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How to Choose a Compelling Headline
Most Popular Words & Phrases in Blog and Website Headlines – or Non-Fiction Books for That Matter: Your blog or website headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective readers and lure them into your article. A compelling headline must promise some kind of benefit or reward for the online visitor.

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Most Popular are – in this Sequence:

1. List Post, for example “Top 33 Websites …” or “99 Top Websites …”
2. You / Your, for example “How Do You Decide…” “Your Success …”
3. Free / Giveaway, for example “Free eBooks …” “Goodreads Giveaway for …”
4. How To, for example “How to Choose a Compelling Headline”
5. Secret, for example “The Secret to Becoming Successful and Happy”

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It doesn’t make sense to spend hours in creating high quality content and then put little thought into writing a good headline. If you want to attract more views to your website or your writing, then your headlines should also be optimized for search engines. Use likely search terms and front-load your headlines with the most important keywords.

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Dress it up With Emotion-stirring Words
Author Kathrin Tschiesche in Bookboon.com: “Frequently, when two headlines are relevant, clear and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly, the headline that gets more clicks is the one that uses emotionally stirring words aimed at capturing readers’ attention. You too, can really ‘dress up’ your headline by adding a few compelling words to it.”
“For example, try to add the adjectives “eye-catching”, “sizzling”, “compelling” or “magnetic” to the word “headlines” and you achieve an appealing and attainable effect. If you are not sure which power words to choose – a variation of “fast”, “simple”, and “easy” are your safest bet.”
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Mark Thompson Compiled a Great List of 150 Compelling Headlines:
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# Tips To Simplify ______________
Greatest _________ Tips of All Time
Avoid ______________ Disasters
________________, What It Can Do For You
# Things You Didn’t Know about ______
# Reasons to Hate _________
#Amazing Blogs about ________
# Secrets about __________
How Does ______ Work?
How to be Great at _______
# ____________ Myths Exposed
_________ Myths vs. the Facts
# Deadly _______Mistakes You Might Be Making
# Shocking Facts about _________
# Questions to Ask about _________

Get them all at Stayonsearch.com

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Last But Not Least:
Keep your headlines short – no more than eight words. Most visitors will scan the first few words before deciding to read further – or to move on. If your headline / tagline combination is short but summarizes your content, visitors will be more likely to read on. Remember: On average, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. That’s why your headlines are so important for your writings’ success and to entice more than 20% of potential readers.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
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How to Become a Successful Writer? WRITE !

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Even the shyest author, who would never speak at writer conferences or to a group of book lovers at a library, can write his or her way to success. I am not talking about your next book, which is certainly important, as your readers want to get more books from you, once they discovered you as an author.
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So, what else can you write to become successful?

• write short stories that you can sell (or give away) on Amazon
• write articles for newspapers and magazines
• write regularly blog articles
• write guest blog
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OMG, I hear you saying, the day has not enough hours… to do all this…
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Write short stories
In a former blog post  I explained “why you should split your book apart and sell each piece separately” and “divide it in chapters which you can sell to magazines or to web publishers”. To use a chapter or two for a short story means no work at all, but you certainly could change or shorten it a bit. Offer these short stories for download on your website – this way you get the email of your readers. Install an opt-in email form and offer your readers at the same time to sign up in order to get regular info about free stories and new book releases.
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Very important: Don’t just give the story away. Write a short bio or add an about.me link, including your website, info about all your books and their sales link at the end of your short story. This way, readers meet the author (you) and get to know your books and might one order right away with the help of the link they find in the short story.
Upload short stories to Wattpad, Red Room, Goodreads or Booksie.

Why short stories?  With all the distractions from other, flashier forms of entertainment it can be a struggle to set aside an hour or two and a find a quiet spot to read a book. Short stories can be read in 20 minutes- while enjoying lunch break, riding the bus or standing in a queue.
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Markets for Short Stories:  Authors who are aiming to supplement their income have to find markets at magazines, on Duetrope.com or offer their books to Amazon for inclusion into “Kindle Shorts”. Stories between 2,000 and 5,000 words are most market-able, however there is demand for all lengths. Duetrope is an award-winning, free writers’ resource listing over 4150 current Fiction and Poetry publications, updated almost daily.
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Write articles for newspapers and magazines
Be smart, and sell your magazine articles over and over again. As long as the markets don’t overlap, you can sell exactly the same article as many times as you like and, in this globally connected marketplace, it is easier than you think. However, you can only sell first rights, either print or electronic, once for the same piece. After that, unless you change the article significantly, you must offer it as a reprint for a lower fee.

If you change the article, you can sell it again for first rights. For example, you can turn a 600 word piece about traveling with a dog (a chapter of your memoir book) for a dog lovers magazine, into a similar length article for a regional newspaper and then a dog food website (e-rights). Then tweak it into an 900 word article for a national newspaper. Make make some minor changes and shorten the piece a bit for a travel or and airline magazine. Each time, you are able to sell it for first rights. Continue to sell it, however look also out for new markets in other English language media overseas.
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Steven Raichlen’s brilliant coup: He wrote an article for Huffington Post Foodie Paradise: 10 Great Places to Eat in Martha’s Vineyard. In a salute to some of Steven Raichlen’s favorite local bars, restaurants, coffee shops, lobster shacks, and ice cream parlors on Martha’s Vineyard, he had his characters visit the same places which he usually patronizes with his wife. He writes in this article: “I hope you’ll discover them by reading “Island Apart”. And then he gives even a link to his book on Amazon, explaining that it is now available in paperback.

Writing this article, Steven Raichlen was able to mention his book to a million readership FOR FREE, as the famous Huffington Post is a blog-empire, newspaper and online news aggregator, is also ranked the most powerful blog in the world by “The Observer” and is number 42 in “The Guardian‘s” Top 100 Media List.

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Why Blogging is #1 in Gaining Readers
“Blogging is not only fun and a way to interact with your readers, but it is an important part of your social media presence”, says Edmund S. Lee, a famous content marketing specialist: “Did you know that blogging is part of a complete social media strategy? The number one reason you need to include blogging as part of your marketing strategy is because it will gain you more readers and also more customers.”  He explains further: “There are a number of reasons why blogging brings an increase in website traffic and in customers. The first has to do with the art of search engine optimization, aka SEO, which means a higher ranking on Google”.

I might add: especially if you post your blog headlines regularly on Google+. And your blog gives your readers a reason to come back to your website on a regular basis. They will naturally see you as someone who provides value to their lives, which builds trust between you and your readers.

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Write guest blogs
To get the most of your guest blogging, look for a blog with an audience that’s similar to yours, but preferably with a huge readership. This way you can greatly increase the number of your visitors. A smart move is also to look for book reviewer blogs, as they are mainly read by book lovers. At the same time you make friends with the reviewer and chances are very high to get your own book reviewed. Check out a former post about guest blogging etiquette.
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It’s called content marketing …
Writing articles should become your standard operation procedure, no matter if blogs, articles for print or online – free or for a fee. Write and sell articles to newspapers, magazines and online. Reselling your work makes good business and time management sense, it cements your brand and gets your name and your books titles to a large audience. And even if you give away your articles (in exchange for email addresses of your readers) you gain something very important: Contact to your readers (and maybe reviewers) and future customers.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/ Once you are on this website, click on Seminar to register.

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 820 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and to StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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The Secret for Better Titles and Headlines

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Compelling headlines are extremely important: You have only a 1 or 2 second window of opportunity to show that your article is worth reading or that your website is worth visiting.  This is the average amount of time that a reader scans an individual search item before deciding whether to click on it or move on to the next one.

Get the attention of target readers who are searching the topic you are writing about and who will be interested in your article. The headline you write should show this specific topic, drawing the reader into your blog’s or website’s content.
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Tips for better headlines:

1. Use words that give the promise of a solution or beneficial information:

• “7 ways to draw more customers to your website”
• “When you should start to…”
• “How you can boost your sales”
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2. Use numbers in the headline to convey a list of ideas or suggestions.
When you begin the title with such words as “10 ways to…”, a large audience will feel drawn to read such articles due of the promise of a list of  suggestions or solutions.
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3. Words such as “how to”, “what” and “when”
Very effective words to begin your headlines with, e.g.

• “How to Write Better Titles and Headlines”
• “What are Visitors Reading First?”
• “When are You Going to Start Your Blog?”

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4. Include keywords in your headlines.
They are important because they are what your target audience is using to search / google for the answers to their questions.
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5. A question in your article title is sure way to get noticed.
Questions draw attention and will encourage readers to search for answers in your article or book. They work well due to the doubts they create in the mind of the reader. They feel the need for assurance to know enough on the subject and read it to get more information.

• Is dieting really helping you to lose weight?
• Are you a savvy investor?
• Can you eat healthy at fast-food joints?
• Who Else Wants …
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6. Some suggestions for eye-catching headlines:

• The Secret of …
• Here is a Method That is Helping …
• Little Known Ways of …
• Get Rid of Your …
• Here’s a Quick Way to …
• Now You Can …
• What Everybody Ought to Know About …
• Are You Ready to Learn …
• 11 Ways to Cope With …
• If you Love …
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Sub-titles are equally important:

Writing for the internet is NOT the same as writing a book.  Research studies confirm how user read on the web:  They don’t !!!  People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences. In research on how people read websites we found that 79 percent of our test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.
If you want your writing to stand out from thousands of competitors: good article, book or blog headlines and sub-titles are one of the most important things you can do to entice people to read further.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $2 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 1,190 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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3 Surefire Ways to Get More Traffic at No Cost

 

Like to sell more books?  Get more people to know you and your writing! Your first step is to get more traffic on your website and your blog.  How can you achieve this?  In “seeding” links to your sites that will grow in months and years to come and ultimately result in more book sales. 
All good things come in threes:

Blog Commenting and Comments in Forums

Your time investment each week on blog commenting? About 5 – 10 minutes per post, per day. Comment on writing-related web sites, that receive excellent traffic.  What’s also attractive about this is, that as long as the posts are online, readers who see your comments will always have the option to link back to your site. 

Make sure when commenting that you always have something specific to say about the post. NEVER just spam a blog’s comment area with “Great post!” Or “Right on!” That’ll lead others to think you’re a spammer. Also, make sure that after you write your comment, re-read it and ensure there are no typos. After all, you’re a highly-respected writer now. 

Article Marketing

When writers submit articles to a directory or eZines that are visited by webmasters in order to find free content for their sites, it will account for roughly 20% of new traffic on your blog or website.  When webmasters like your articles and publish one or more on their websites, your byline, a blurb about you, your company and a link to your website is always included. This is called a back link and it will then appear on these sites indefinitely.  Most times, for several years. So years from now, that article that took you two hours to write will still bring you new traffic!

Guest Blogging

Find highly trafficked sites in your niche that you respect and would like to write for.  If they take guest bloggers, read their guidelines and study the type of content that they publish.  Be aware that these sites only accept original content.  As these sites have such large followings, it’s going to be well worth your time.  Find out:

• What articles do they prefer?
• What writing style?
• What is the typical length of their posts?
• Which types of posts seem to get the most comments?
• Which ones are shared via social media

As with article marketing, your guest posts are including a back link to your site and will be available for years to come.  Some blogs receive 1,000,000 page views per month. Let’s pretend, only 5% of this audience reads your post and clicks through to your web page or blog. That’s 50,000 targeted visitors who find your book!

 

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7 Tips for Better Titles and Headlines

Good headlines are extremely important: You have only a 1 or 2 second window of opportunity to show that your article is worth reading or that your website is worth visiting.  This is the average amount of time that a reader scans an individual search item before deciding whether to click on it or move on to the next one.

Tips for better headlines:

1. Your aim as a writer or a blogger is to get the attention of specific people who are searching the topic you are writing about and who will be interested in the content. The headline you write should accurately reflect the specific topic.

2. Use words that give the promise of a solution or beneficial information, such as

• “7 ways to draw more customers to your website”
• “When you should start to…”
• “How you can boost your sales”

3. Effective techniques are to use numbers in the headline to convey a list of ideas or suggestions. When you begin the titel with such words as “10 ways to…”, a large audience will feel drawn to read such articles due of the promise of a list of  suggestions or solutions.

4. Words such as “how to”, “what” and “when” are also very effective words to begin your headlines with.

5. Include keywords in your headlines, they are important because they are what your target audience is using to search / google for the answers to their questions.

6. A question in your article title is sure way to get noticed. Questions draw attention and will encourage readers to search for answers in your article or book. They work well due to the doubts they create in the mind of the reader. They feel the need for assurance to know enough on the subject and read it to get more information.

• Is dieting really helping you to lose weight?
• Are you a savvy investor?
• Can you eat healthy at fast-food joints?
• Who Else Wants …

7. Some suggestions for eye-catching headlines:

• The Secret of …
• Here is a Method That is Helping …
• Little Known Ways of …
• Get Rid of Your …
• Here’s a Quick Way to …
• Now You Can …
• What Everybody Ought to Know About …
• Are You Ready to Learn …
• 11 Ways to Cope With …
• If you Love …

If you want your writing to stand out from the thousands of competitors, good article, book or blog headlines are one of the most important things you can do to entice people to read further.