2011 Best Guest Blogger Contest Article
A pizza without toppings but the base, is ugly and unattractive, a pile of classical books written in formal English isn’t that tempting either, tantamount to written content without a properly crafted and styled headline, it is as embarrassing.
Before you expect anyone to read your posts, you need to seriously spend some time polishing your headline, a headline is like a one sentence excerpt of your post, how are you going to craft it?
That’s the real question, isn’t it?
1. Numbered Lists
This is by far the most popularly used method, if you would stop for a moment and take a glance at the “Popular Posts” section in the right sidebar of Daily Blog Tips, notice how the majority of them are list posts? Live demo there, the point is everyone loves lists, because it is so resourceful and full of valuable information all jammed together in one piece, who could resist ignoring them?
- The Best Five Natural Headache Remedies
- 13 Types of Personalities – Which Type Are You?
- 35 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging Now
2. Be Mysterious
Curiosity kills a cat! I mean, if you purposely write a headline that promises for something but you don’t reveal what it is until the reader reads your content, it surely will bring in a lot of clicks!
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- Two Rare Tricks You Could Teach Your Children About Responsibilities
3. Challenge Your Readers
Challenges are a natural attention grabber, it has a psychological effect that causes the reader to find out more about why you have challenged him/her and what it is all about, you will need to use the word “you” most of the times creating these headlines.
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- How You Are Destined To Fail At Blogging
4. Write Realistically Unusual
If you say something that doesn’t make a lot of sense, you are automatically creating an engaging title without doing much work. The key is to make it sound unusual and weird but at the same time covering your point.
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5. Numbers Are Promising
Internet users are constantly looking for usable and effective solutions to their personal problems, and if you can guarantee or promise what you can help them achieve with the support of number statistics, it can attract many people.
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6. Question The Reader
If you ask someone a question, chances are that they will be interested to find out what’s going on and if they might be able to answer you and join the discussion. It also works if you add bits of mysterious-y to it.
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7. Using Names
Names are everything, you could simply add a star’s name into your headline and miraculously attract double the readers you normally do, it’s free support and it works. Of course, use the names of famous people not unknown strangers, as a matter of fact, look up some names from your History textbook!
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- How To Generate Online Fans Like Justin Bieber Did
8. Be Weird And Messed Up
I believe this type of headline generates the most clicks, the point is, if you say something that doesn’t really make sense but at the same time covering your information across, it is sometimes hard not to take a little peek at it.
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9. Be An Adjective Extremist
At times it would be powerful to over-describe your content, just simply add a few attractive adjectives into your headline and you could get more readers to come near you. If you don’t know a lot of words, use a thesaurus for a full dictionary of vocabulary.
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10. The Best Of The Best
Not everyone likes to read long posts like 100 ways to make money online but instead they choose the fastest route to find out the information they want to know searching for titles that suggests the best stuff.
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Action Plan
- Use numbered lists.
- Be mysterious with your titles.
- Challenge your readers.
- Write realistically unusual.
- Use promising numbers.
- Question the readers.
- Use well-known names.
- Be messed up and weird.
- Use attractive adjectives.
- Write the best of the best.
Try to not overdo your titles, you still need to describe what your post is about in your headline.
Most importantly, remember this, action speaks louder than words, if you read but don’t take any actions, you’ll fail, go ahead and give these headline templates a shot, discover which ones work best for your industry and adapt to it. You might want to do some data tracking with Analytics too! All comments welcomed! What sorts of headlines work best for you? Think about it
Andreas Pazer (152)
abhibalani (136)
Jafar Dhada (128)
Holly Jahangiri (101)
bbrian017 (62)
Justin Germino (51)
Kris Edison (47)
James Pruitt (46)
Rahul Kuntala (31)
Hajra (26)
These are some great tips, I see so many boring blogs that just encourage people to just click off your blog. This article is great due to the good tips to make people’s blogs more readable, interesting and therefore clickable. There is a lot of competition however so it is always good to be slightly different but in a beneficial way
dershaneler recently posted..The catering companies that have cooking equipment for hog roasts make a lot of business
Twitter: harrison8bal
Dear Dershaneler, (that rhymes heh)
yes that is absolutely spot on, information is everywhere we need them and right now, in order to get attention we need to be unique and stand out from the crowd, great headlines are a must!
Harrison Li recently posted..Three Untapped Sources For Dynamite Content Ideas
Twitter: CouponsEasy
Hi Harrison,
I think this is first time I’m reading your any post and am highly impressed with your way of presentation especially giving examples with each point makes your post more understandable and unique. Really enjoyed reading it.
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey Riya, thanks for reading the headline examples, hope you have learned something new
Harrison Li recently posted..Three Untapped Sources For Dynamite Content Ideas
Twitter: kirapermunian
Hi there Harrison, Thanks for bringing this up! You really have composed a useful full of tips post. I absorbed the action plan you shared as it’s really realistic and highly applicable.
I believe one of the most critical part of blogging is when we compose a title. More than SEO in it, its appeal and attractiveness are also important!
kirapermunian recently posted..How To Write Great Blog Posts When You Lack Ideas
Twitter: harrison8bal
Lol thanks Kira, for reading these headline template as well as “absorbing” the action plan aha, yup, even though SEO might be important, I’d still rather work on the attractiveness!
Harrison Li recently posted..Three Untapped Sources For Dynamite Content Ideas
Twitter: kirapermunian
As I see it with blog post! All are attractive but the main keywords are still present to boost SEO in it. Great Harrison!
kirapermunian recently posted..Blogging Wrap Up | The Short Overture to Blogging
I’ve read plenty of articles on the importance of good headlines, but none which provided examples such as you have. Very helpful as I can picture using each style of headline with my blog. Thanks.
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey Sabs,
Thanks for your honest opinion about how I have included examples on this post, you have really motivated to write more now, thanks!!
Harrison Li recently posted..Three Untapped Sources For Dynamite Content Ideas
Twitter: ivinviljoen
Not sure being weird and messed up id going to work much… not for me though. Know a blogger using profanity and pr rated posts as a hook. Not entirely sure if that’s the way to go. Very difficult to build a following that way IMHO.
Ivin recently posted..$150 Blog Contest
Twitter: harrison8bal
oh profanity and pr rated posts? that’s just disgusting
Harrison Li recently posted..The Universal Reason Why You Fail At Accomplishing Anything
Twitter: FamousBloggers
I think that being weird could be a winning horse, this works just fine these days!
Be wired, funny, and crazy if possible
But, I won’t recommend doing this on every post or post title, or then people will think that you are really weird! So this should be moderated, just for the fun of it!
Hesham recently posted..Drive More Traffic To your Blog by Submitting News and Articles
Hey Mr. Hesham,
Well being weird is out of the ordinary meaning it stands out from the crowd, which is pretty good for getting some real attention there
Yeah, the less is more principle applies too, just don’t overdo it, I’m sure you already know all this fundamental stuff haha xD Thanks for coming by and giving me a hand by the way~
Twitter: brainsmart
Hi Harrison , Im olny just getting round to changing the way my blog looks and feels and the pointers you have given have really helped me focus my effort.You have a natural online marketers talent .I especially like the idea of being mysterious when creating headlines .
Tina the smart brain Yao in HK
Thanks Yao, that’s great to know about your online business, and also I come from HK where you are from as well haha
Twitter: easysixfigure
Great top 10 list for headlines. I like the Be Weird and Messed Up you showed all great examples. Thanks for the tips!!
Lisa
six figure income recently posted..Landing Page Optimization
Hey Lisa, thanks for leaving a comment and liking that concept haah I bet you’ll use it successfully with your blog titles
Twitter: blogstashdotcom
Great tips Harrison. I love the “list” headlines, just like the headline of this post. Its a sure way to draw in the visitors to click on it and read it.
Satrap recently posted..Get Paid to Complete Free Offers
Hey thanks for coming by haha I know ayy that’s how you began reading this post after all
This blog post itself is a good testimonial for what you’ve in Title. Thanks for sharing.
Online Strategies recently posted..Shoot Your Bad Cubicle For Winning ‘Pimp My Cube Contest’
Yea haha, I understand what you’re talking about, that’s how you ventured upon this post after all right? I believe list posts that not too long and not too short are the best mind magnets that are most attractive to the readers
Twitter: JymTarrant
Love number 4 Harrison.
I don’t know what it means, but it worked at grabbing my attention
Nice work mate!
Jym | Blog Name recently posted..Magnetic Headline Writing Made Easy – 5 Simple Steps to Dynamite Headlines
Thanks for coming by Jym haha well I thought about making the subtitles a bit more easy to understand, honestly I don’t even know it but as long as you get my drift it’s alright haha right? Something that doesn’t make sense gets peoples attention just exactly like what you commented of
Just bookmarked this post. I’m always looking for a good headline and sometimes I’ll sit there for a while, even after I’ve written the post. This is a good guide to have as you’re thinking away. Perhaps I’ll just rotate through each of your tips
Oscar Pedroso recently posted..How to Research MBA Schools for Better Essays & Credibility – Part 2
Hey Oscar, thanks for dropping in a comment and checking the post
Well I’m glad that you now have a list of ready to absorb example concepts of attractive headlines!
Wish you a prosperous 2012!!
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
These are great! I prefer the unusual and eye-catching to the name-dropping or slightly misleading types of headlines. After all, you need to deliver on the promise of your headline, or you’ll turn people off. And using celebrity names gratuitously – just to get readers? Think how you’d feel, in their shoes. They’re people, too. Be a bit careful and respectful with that one, or you can hurt people and offend their friends and fans. Not usually worth it in the long run. I love the “weird and messed up” idea, though.
Holly Jahangiri recently posted..Making True Connections Online Could Make a Difference in your Life
Wow Holly, you sure a great typer and writer, knowing that you are an expert author. I absolutely agree with what you mean that by using attention-grabbing tricks on the headlines, at the same time it’s also important to deliver the actual info. And for the using names bit, I agree it might be a little dangerous and sensitive to the targets themselves, don’t worry I’ll look out for that
Thanks!!
Twitter: abhibalani
Haha… Holly, “Misleading”, are you serious? That was funny but thanks for the useful tip. Yeah, that’s true, using celebrity names may hurt our readers. So one should be careful about what they are writing using celebrity name.
Abhi Balani (OddBlogger) recently posted..Blogging Resolutions 2012 List : Every Blogger Should Make
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
Now why is that so funny, Abhi?
I’ve seen people use celebrity names or keywords in headlines in a way that is completely misleading and designed only to trick search engines and people searching for news of a favorite celebrity. I’ve seen people USING celebrity names simply to generate traffic – not because they had anything whatsoever to say about the celeb in question. Just because someone’s famous and news of them is generating lots of hits is no reason to forget they’re HUMAN, with feelings. No one likes to be USED. And readers seeking certain types of info feel USED, too, when bloggers waste their time by “tricking” them into visiting a blog. So if you go there, be sure to deliver the info you KNOW they expect to find.
Holly Jahangiri recently posted..Making True Connections Online Could Make a Difference in your Life
Twitter: abhibalani
Hmm. Agree. Correct.
Abhi Balani (OddBlogger) recently posted..New Year Giveaway : 5 Blog Engage accounts and 1 year Gold membership
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
Hmm. Thanks. Glad you agree.
Haha can’t agree anymore on your massive explanation!! Well I suppose perhaps using names that are from the past may work? Since they are already dead so it wouldn’t mind right? For example using Hitler or MJ?
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
I didn’t say “don’t use them at all,” just be sensitive to feelings and deliver truthfully on the promise of your headline. Hitler? Go for it. I don’t think he has family around to care, these days. MJ? He has family who very much cares – including two young children. He has millions of fans. It’s going to be like Elvis – people will be spotting him on streetcorners, fifty years from now, claiming he never really died. So again – consider THOSE people’s feelings. There’s usually a way to make your point and attract notice without USING people you don’t even know – but if there’s a legitimate point to be made, a truthful tie-in to a post that simply cannot be written without including mention of these celebs, then go for it. Just don’t do it for mere sensationalism.
Holly Jahangiri recently posted..Making True Connections Online Could Make a Difference in your Life
Haha yupp absolutely understand your point~
It wouldnt feel good to be them to be used either I know that~
Twitter: abhibalani
I knew some of them, but didn’t know about them all. I have got good response in numbered lists. And I think I have worked on weird titles as well one of them was “8 tips to easily get banned by google adsense”.
Great tips in this post. Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the article.
Abhi Balani (OddBlogger) recently posted..New Year Giveaway : 5 Blog Engage accounts and 1 year Gold membership
Hey Abhi thanks for coming by, oh well that title you got is pretty attractive haha, I remember falling for a similar headline exactly like that about Adsense in the past. Oh and forgot to mention in the post that it is also more effective to combine one or few additional strategies into the same title~~
Twitter: ibucketbot
Headings is one of the most important thing to attract the visitors. I myself take a long time thinking about giving the right title for the post. The most effective one is, as you mentioned, the numbered lists! Really helps!
Thanks for listing out all the points! Great article no doubt!
Mushfique recently posted..OLPC’s XO 3 Tablet To Finally Debut in CES 2012
hey Mushfique thanks for coming by, yeah I absolutely agree upon what you mean about the importance of headlines, it’s like what we humans wear as clothing just like headlines are to the posts itself
Twitter: HotBlogTips
Hi Harrison, you went a completely different direction that I thought you were and I’m glad you did. Fantastic headline suggestions and I love every one of them. Well, other than using Hitler in any context but to each their own.
Nice job!
Brian D. Hawkins recently posted..Ten Creative QR Codes For Inspiration (PICS)
Haha thanks for your nice comment Brian, well I suppose not everyone likes Hitler as a person himself, would you like me to switch it to Michael Jackson? xDD
Great post you have got here. The point I most liked is the “Numbered list” and “Question the reader”. I am already using the numbered list option. I usually write about downloads and what I do is I give title “Top 10 win 7 software with Download links” . Most of the people visit ‘cos they see the “Download links” text. Question the reader really makes doubt in ourself about the answer and force us to see the answer what you have for the reader. In total amazing post. Really enjoyed reading it.
Sreerag Nampoothiri recently posted..Facebook Giving Free Timeline Business Cards with MOO ;Get Yours Free [Tutorial with Screenshots]
Hey thanks Sreeray for coming by and leaving a comment really appreciate it
I absolutely agree with your points they are very valid, it’s really true of what you mean by number lists since you have actually used it and it works, and the question the reader concept, it also works nice because they wanna know what the writer has to say too 
Twitter: slbphoenix
Hi Li,
The tips and information you share is so great. I am impressed on how wise you are at such a young age. You will definitely be a success as you grow and learn even more. sally
Hey Sally, thanks for dropping by leaving a comment, well haha I get that a lot but I don’t claim for it~ Oh well have a nice 2012 and good luck with your online business
Twitter: claudenougat
Thanks for sharing those very useful tips, Harrison! I’m really impressed! And you’re 14 years old? Amazing and congrats! You remind me of my protagonist in the Trilogy I just published (Fear of the Past): he’s a little older than you (17) but started working as a brilliant video game variations engineer when he was 13…(I won’t tell you what happens to him – the trilogy takes him up to his 22nd year: you might want to read it and I don’t want to spoil the fun!)
But I do want to say that I find you advice spot on! Personally, I find that a title which reflects something unusual (which then needs to be explained in the body of the post) works best. For example, more than a year ago I posted about Amazon as being The Next Big Publisher and I did that before it actually started having its own imprints and hiring a big editor: that was a very successful post! And the one I just posted now (about Italy turning to beer when everyone thinks of Italy as a wine country) is also wildly successful! Strange…there are other posts I warled at much harder and they never got that sort of reception, probably due to a weak title…
Hey Miss Claude,
Thanks so much for giving me a hand in this contest x)
Haha your brief introduction of the trilogy makes me wanna know what’s gonna happen next!! But yeah I’m 15 by the way (just had my bday on November) well just like others we don’t like reading that much you understand right? haha
Ahh we all fall short, I suppose we all get more and new experience day by day, good luck in the future
And the title strengthening bit 
Twitter: Holly_Hanna
I love the number suggestion – that’s one I need to use more frequently in my posts.
Holly Hanna recently posted..How to Launch a New Home-Based Business
Hey Miss Holly, thanks for giving me a hand and coming by
Yeah I suppose numbers are really important in our lives right?
Being weird is something I have not tried till now, but a nice post with a catchy title..
Sanjeev recently posted..Google Officially Announced Social Search Results
Hey Sanjeev, thanks for giving me a hand, really means a lot, well have fun and be amazed at the results after trying the weird concept
Twitter: shaanhaider
I liked the #2 and #4 as the best way to get clicks is to make reader curious about it…
Shaan recently posted..So You Want To Dress Like A Geek?
Hey thanks for coming by and giving me a hand in the contest, really means a lot to me
Well you’re that mysterious type of person aren’t you?? Haha
Awesome post showing the whole nine yards of the successful blog post written in great English on top of it -)!
BR,
Emil
Emil A. Georgiev recently posted..Data Retention: EU Commission Should Facilitate Its Revocation
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey Mr. Georgiev, thanks for your support bro
haha you have some natural born description skills, loved it xD
Twitter: sweetsfoods
Hi Harrison,
I don’t know why several bloggers spend hours to make a post and just a few minutes to write a headline.
It’s fundamental to craft it and you’ll see the results. I try to use several of them.
Other useful tip is the problem-solution type like: Why your blog is losing readers and 5 tips to avoid it.
Cheers,
Gera
Gera recently posted..Promoting Your Blog & Promote Your Business
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey Gera, thanks for your help!!
Haha you have the most key point in writing content, the headline is equally as important as the content itself, without it is just like a plain pizza base without toppings right?
Dam, can’t edit the article anymore, but next time I’ll definitely add the problem-solution principle xD
Cheers,
Twitter: Blognetworking
Hey Harrison,
Great article you have here!
Yes, it is important to have an attractive headline. But, I think the blogosphere is spending too much time on discussing on this issue (and spending less time on taking action).
I have seen many bloggers who have written about writing great headlines. But, they, themselves can’t produce great headlines.
Thinking of a great headline takes some time. Yes, sure spend some time on it. But, don’t get obsessed with it
Note: If you are a great writer, the fact is that your readers will still read the article even if you have a bad headline.
I don’t completely agree with your point on list posts. Yes, they are really popular (and I really hate them!)
Because many list posts contain the same information and the bloggers who write them don’t even try to add something new to it (having the same thing is okay, but you need to have atleast one new thing to teach your readers. If not, what was the point of writing that article?).
Another reason why I hate list posts is because they are really easy to write (Compared to normal articles). And I didn’t really enjoy writing something that is too easy.
Anyways, thanks for the awesome read, Harrison!
Also, thanks for asking me
Jeevan Jacob John
Jeevanjacobjohn recently posted..Your Best Blog Ideas for Guest Blogging?
Twitter: harrison8bal
Wow that’s a great long comment packed with resourceful information Jeevan!!
Yeah I absolutely agree, most people are just talking about issues rather than taking practical actions into solving them.
Another point you have is very valid, the content itself although if it’s good enough, it can override the badness of the headline, hence, the title doesn’t really bother a good author.
Well I see you’re really vigorous in taking challenges haha that’s a good talent!!
No no no, I should be the one thanking you for literally coming by and giving me a hand
Thanks loads 
Cheers,
I wrote an article about the same topic some time ago and found that a lot people really enjoyed this topic. You have provided some great idea here that I use for my everyday blogging or article marketing. Thanks for the information.
Clint Butler recently posted..100 Day Champion Challenge
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey thanks Mr. Clint for coming by and giving me a hand, haha i suppose this is a common problem to all writers online that’s why we often write about how to solve it.
Well, glad you liked it and find it useful, have a good 2012
Twitter: growwithstacy
There are some great ideas here, I wanted to click on on many of them! Great job!
Stacy recently posted..Habit Building Day #25: What a Story!
Twitter: harrison8bal
Thanks ahah I’m glad you liked it
The key lies in attractiveness 
Twitter: marketsecrets
Straight and to the point with excellent examples especially number 4 and 8 were entertaining. Great post…much success to you on the contest!
Caleb recently posted..Why You Need to Backup Your WordPress Blog and Database
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey thanks yeah haha I agree number 4 being unusual and no.8 being weird is great for attracting people who easily get curious at things, likewise the saying “curiosity kills a cat”, I suppose these two types of headlines are similar and are effective against internet readers
Twitter: AskKim
Number 4 made me laugh… those are great!
Kim
Kimberly Castleberry recently posted..An SEO BluePrint To Roast Your SEO Competition!
Twitter: harrison8bal
Hey thanks haha, well that wasn’t my intention
Just like Caleb from above, you two both agree that being unusual is an effective strategy, right? It surely works from your reaction I’m getting 