These 2 Fatal Mistakes Are Killing Your Headlines — Avoid Them To Get More Views
I’ve learned the hard way, but you don’t need to.
Scrolling on Medium these days, I stumbled on this article by Dawn Bevier, where she introduced “Ship 30 for 30”, a writing course by Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush.
“Ship 30 for 30” comes in two versions: paid and free. I took the free one and, man, I have to tell you: Nicolas and Dickie did a hell of a good job.
Among the great advice they provide, the tips on how to craft good headlines were especially revealing to me.
More specifically, I identified two mistakes I’ve been consistently doing that are killing my headlines:
- Being too mysterious
- Lack of a promise
1) Being too mysterious
OK, a bit of mystery here and there can spark the reader’s curiosity, but too much of it will backfire. If the reader has no clue what the article is about, he won’t click it.
One of my headlines read “Suffering From FOMO? Prepare to Suffer Even More”.
[silence, awkward silence]
WHAT. THE. F*CK.
In that article, I tried to convince the reader that he could be living a better life if he were wiser. So, a better headline could’ve been “Wise People Live Better Lives — 7 Reasons Why”.
Better, no?
2) Lack of a promise
Readers are no voluntary workers. They are not here to give you their precious time for free. No, they want something in return.
What will they gain in the end? This is your promise and it should be in your headline.
My very first article on Medium illustrates this second mistake. Together, its headline and subtitle read “Life Doesn’t Happen on a Chessboard. It Happens at a Poker Table”.
Where is the promise? Nowhere.
That article was about the huge role luck plays in our lives. In it, I took some lessons from poker and showed how they could be applied to life. Then, why not “Life Is Poker, Not Chess — 10 Lessons From The Cards That Can Change Your Life”?
See? It makes all the difference.
Take this article you’re reading now. Its headline is not mysterious. The promise is clear — more views. As a bonus, it also answers the question “who is this for?”. It is for writers like you.
Hone your headlines carefully. Be clear about the subject and the promise.
Your readers will thank you and your stats too.
