Headings and subheadings are essential elements of any blog post. They help you organize your content, attract readers' attention, and improve your SEO ranking. But how do you write catchy and informative headings and subheadings for your blog posts? In this article, we will share some tips and examples to help you master this skill.
The inverted pyramid is a journalistic technique that involves placing the most important information at the beginning of your article, followed by less important details. This way, you can hook your readers with a clear and concise headline, and then provide them with more context and explanation in the subheadings. For example, if your article is about proofreading tips, your headline could be "How to Proofread Your Blog Posts Like a Pro", and your subheadings could be "Why Proofreading Matters", "Common Proofreading Mistakes", and "Proofreading Tools and Resources".
1. Make sure the heading and subheading are closely related. For example, the header should provide a broad overview of the topic, while the subheading should provide more specific details. 2. Use keywords in your heading and subheading. It will help with SEO and make sure your post is visible. 3. Keep the heading and subheadings short and to the point. Long titles can be overwhelming and off-putting. 4. Avoid jargon or technical terms, which can confuse readers. 5. Use numbers or lists for titles to give readers an idea of the structure of the post. 6. Use the active voice to make your title more engaging. 7. Review your heading and subheading to ensure they are accurate and relevant to the content.
The 4U formula is a simple and effective way to write catchy and informative headings and subheadings. It stands for useful, urgent, unique, and ultra-specific. Your headings and subheadings should be useful to your readers, meaning they should offer a clear benefit or solution to their problem. They should also create a sense of urgency, meaning they should make your readers want to read your article right away. Moreover, they should be unique, meaning they should stand out from other similar articles on the web. And finally, they should be ultra-specific, meaning they should provide enough detail to avoid ambiguity or confusion. For example, if your article is about proofreading tips, a useful, urgent, unique, and ultra-specific subheading could be "How to Avoid the Top 10 Proofreading Blunders that Cost You Credibility".
Your piece may be competing with many others for the attention of your audience. Hook your reader by keeping the WIIFM (what's in it for me?) as key in your heading or subheading.
Keywords and modifiers are words and phrases that help you optimize your headings and subheadings for SEO. Keywords are the main terms that your target audience uses to search for your topic on the web. Modifiers are additional words that help you narrow down your niche, differentiate your article from others, and increase your chances of ranking higher. For example, if your article is about proofreading tips, some keywords could be "proofreading", "blog posts", "writing", and "editing". Some modifiers could be "best", "easy", "quick", "professional", and "free". By combining keywords and modifiers, you can create headings and subheadings that are relevant, specific, and attractive to your readers and search engines.
Numbers and power words are another way to spice up your headings and subheadings and make them more appealing and persuasive. Numbers are proven to attract attention and generate curiosity, especially when they are odd, specific, or surprising. Power words are words that trigger an emotional response in your readers, such as curiosity, excitement, fear, or anger. They can help you create a strong impression and influence your readers' behavior. For example, if your article is about proofreading tips, a number and power word combination could be "7 Amazing Proofreading Hacks that Will Save You Time and Money".
Other ways to add power to your headings: - Promise a benefit (not a feature) - Ask an intriguing question - Give reasons to read the article - Use I or me in your headline - Use a quote or testimonial
The final step to writing catchy and informative headings and subheadings is to format and test them properly. Formatting involves choosing the right font size, style, color, and alignment for your headings and subheadings. You should also use consistent capitalization rules, punctuation marks, and spacing. Testing involves checking your headings and subheadings for grammar, spelling, readability, and SEO performance. You can use online tools such as Grammarly, Hemingway, CoSchedule Headline Analyzer, and Yoast SEO to help you with this task.