Subject: Winning Article Topics and Titles

This is our final lesson on writing blog content that sells, and today we?re going to be taking a look at the best ways to choose great topics for your articles and how to craft titles that get clicks.

You may be tempted to just write about anything and everything that pops into your head, but try to resist the temptation. Writing just for the sake of putting content on your blog could actually HURT you more than it helps. More content isn?t always better.

See, Google pays attention to how long people stay on your site. It?s called ?bounce rate?, and when people leave your site quickly or don?t click another article, Google sees it as meaning your content isn?t what they were looking for. This means a possible drop in rankings.

For this reason, and for the sake of making sure visitors actually like your site and want to come back, it?s important to write only about topics you truly believe your visitors will enjoy.

But how do you know what your visitors will enjoy? Start by grabbing something to take notes with and go to some of the top blogs and sites in your niche. See which of their articles are getting the most shares and comments and make a list of those topics. You can write our own version of the same topics, or twist them a bit and write something similar, but different. You definitely want to put your own unique take on the topic rather than rehashing what the other sites have said.

Next, it?s important to create catchy headlines that will actually make people want to click and read the article. Let?s look at some examples:

BAD: Electric Heaters Can Be Dangerous

GOOD: 15 Alarming Ways Electric Heaters Could Kill Your Family!

BAD: Dust Mites Are A Common Allergen

GOOD: The Shocking Hidden Source of Allergies Lurking In Your Home!

BAD: The Best Fried Chicken Recipes

GOOD: 6 Fried Chicken Recipes So Good Your Grandma Will Beg For The Recipes!

BAD: Getting More Blog Traffic

GOOD: 12 Little-Known Sources Of Traffic To Make Your Blog Stats Implode!

Those headlines may seem hype-y, but they work. If you really pay attention to the articles that are getting a lot of attention online, almost all of them have headlines that are full of hype. Hype works.

Don?t be afraid to inject hype into headlines. Even the big news websites like CNN and Fox News do this. They?ll sometimes deliberately state things in a way that makes the article sound more exciting or scary than it actually is just to grab clicks. I?m not saying you have to misstate anything. Just inject enough hype to make people curious enough to read your article.

That concludes this series on blog posts that sell. I hope you?ve learned a lot and you?ll find it useful. Good luck with all your blog posts!



