Anyone who has ever tried to sell a house (or been in the market to buy a house) knows how important curve appealing is. Did you know that a person's strongest impression of your house is when they are at the curb, just looking at the outside of the house?
Depending on how the house and landscaping look, the potential house buyer can either get a feeling of anticipation that draws them to want to see the inside of the house, or they can feel the sudden urge to run away screaming.
Just as the appearance of a house can either draw a viewer in or scour them away, so the title of your article submission can lure a reader to read your full article or cause them to pass it over.
That is why it's absolutely essential to spend some time on your article's "curve appeal" - the title.
Here are 3 article marketing tips about types of titles that are great at luring a reader in from the curve.
1 - The newspaper style headline.
Most headlines from newspapers are characterized by a "just the facts", informational feel. An example would be:
"Children Who Do not Watch Television Are More Physically Fit"
The reason why this type of title is effective is that the information displayed in the title is captivating enough to draw a reader in. The information may also be controversial or surprising. The reader may look at the title and be shocked, skeptical or intrigued.
If you have any statistics to back up your claim, try putting them in the title, for example:
"People Who Eat Oranges Score 15% Higher On IQ Tests"
2 - A title that asks a question.
Put yourself in the shoes of your reader - what question would a person be asking that would lead them to your article? Use that question as your title.
This can also be a great technique for coming up with article ideas - think about the questions that people interested in your niche might be wondering, and then write articles to satisfy those questions.
If you're not sure what types of questions your target readers are thinking, do some basic keyword research. Very commonly, people will type questions into Google, and you can use those questions as topics for your articles.
Also, if you know about a topic in your niche that most of your readers are not clear about or have not heard of before, then that can be a very educational article topic. For example:
"Is Your Newborn Sleep Deprived?"
Imagine if a parent saw that article title - would he or she be interested? You bet!
By asking the question, it naturally ericits an answer. If the reader's answer is "I do not know", then they will naturally want to read the article to find out.
3. The numbered list article title.
People reading content on the internet are drawn to numbered lists. For one thing, a numbered list (as opposed to an article that is written in essay form) is easier to read - the numbers make the points in an article easier to follow.
The numbered list also gives a clear indication of the amount of content that will be covered in the article. If the title is "101 Ways To Make Your Wife Laugh", then you know that the article will contain a lot of short tips on that topic.
If the title is "3 Simple Ways To Improve Your Articles", you may be relieved that you only have three simple things to do to improve your articles. You can also probably count on the author covering the three tips more in depth, as there are fewer of them.
The only way that a reader will know that your article contains a numbered list is if the title reveals that. You can create a numbered list title in many different ways:
There's the "Top Tips" title (5 Top Tips For Housebreaking A New Puppy).
There's the "Reason's Why" title (3 Reasons Why You Should Start A Vegetable Garden).
There's the "How To" title (How To Change A Tire In 5 Easy Steps).
That's just to name a few, but the one thing all of these numbered list titles have in common is that they explicitly state the number of items that are in the list and what the list is about.
Your title has amazing power, either to lure a reader in or push a reader away. Every great article starts with a great title. For your next article, why not experiment by using one of these "curve appeal" types of titles?