Bob Beacham
This is the first article marketing tip of three. If you want to beat the competition and bank the big bucks from writing articles you need to look at three areas: headline, body and resource box (or call-to-action).
So let’s get going with your article headline - which if you look around at the competition, usually stinks!
What’s the purpose of your article headline? To get someone to read the article of course. So you need to throw out a hook there with some nice juicy bait on it that someone’s going to bite on. Your article will not usually appear on its own. It’ll be with lots of other articles or it’ll be in a list of search engine results. Folks will have lots of choice, why click yours?
You only get one chance to make a first impression. You have seconds to grab those eyeballs or click, they’re gone.
To get that vital click your headline must either offer something that the others don’t - like a secret this, or a promise of that - or startle people into taking action. Give them a bit of a shock. Good shock, bad shock, doesn’t matter. Just get that click!
That’s why this article marketing tip starts “Your Headline Stinks!”
It could have started “How To Write Good Headlines” - but how dull is that? How about “Good Headlines Are Important”. Doesn’t really get you going, does it.
What about “Your Headlines Cost You Money”. There’s an example of something else we can use - fear. Fear of loss, fear of looking stupid. Fear is a great motivator.
Of course we also want to make sure we rank well for the phrase or market we’re targeting, hence “Article Marketing Tip”. Let’s not be shy here - we need to tell people what they’re getting. Two part headlines work usually well.
Another article headline tip that you’ll see a lot is lists. People love lists. 7 secret success thingies. 5 ways to a better something-or-other. Top 10 winning web articles. Usually odd numbers work best (with the exception of 10). Don’t ask me why, I’m no psychologist I just use what works.
The final important part of this article writing tip is to monitor your results. Directories will give you statistics - so use them. Try different styles of headline and see how they appeal to your market. Some won’t take to shocks, some will take to you being surprisingly blunt. Test and monitor - it’s a golden rule of anything you do to make money online.
Next article marketing tip coming soon. Headline will be - now that’s a great body!
