By Michelle Drewek, mdrewek@lessitermedia.com
Content Engagement Manager, Lessiter Media
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Oftentimes that quote is relayed to us as a piece of life advice. Whether going into a job interview or meeting a new acquaintance, our first impression is something we are told to remain ever mindful of. This sage advice holds true for your web content headlines.
"Headlines...help search engines decide whether our offerings match what users are looking for." (Poynter)
Most search queries consist of a few keywords, which search engines filter through the headline and body text of content it indexes to provide the user with relevant content related to their query. If your headline and the content's body text are in sync with one another and with the query in question, your content will appear higher in search results. But being seen is only half the battle. You must then engage the user enough within those finite number of characters to garner a click-through to your website.
Your headline needs to be succinct yet descriptive, captivating yet informative.
To help you fine-tune your web headline writing skills, I've created a guide below to help you evaluate how your current headlines stack up and identify areas of improvement to attract more content engagement with your target audience.
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