How do you choose headlines?

[Scribnia]

I think it's safe to say that headlines are one of, if not the most important part of a blog post. They can make or break it.

One of the biggest problems I run into is coming up with headlines for my posts. Do I go with the straightforward title or do I do something a little bit more metaphoric?

Do you have a system or ideas for how to choose your headline?

What's worked best for you?

[Irish Jo]

I'm a relative newbie to blogging, but not to writing in general. I like to start with a title in my head, then build around it. A little backwards from what most folks do, but it works for me. My most recent blog is about struggling with weight loss, and I wasn't sure how to approach it until the title "Fighting With My Reflection" came to mind. That framed the whole post. Right or wrong, I'm not focused on keywords in the title at this point - I'd rather capture the tone of the post and provide a hook to catch someone's curiosity.

[maccam87]

My post headers are normally the best way to describe the post.

[Raithie]

I try to ensure that they serve as an accurate (but brief) representation of the post, but try to make it enticing in order to lure the viewer to clicky.

How I do that, I have no idea. It works sometimes, sometimes it doesn't.

[junosama]

They say to study magazines for headlines. Also I use a thesaurus to try and think of new words to use in my headlines.

[theeventof]

Depending on the post you can do many things. Asking a question as a headline can be an interesting technique as if the reader wants the answer your post will be the first stop for information.

Try to be creative when coming up with a headline. Just don't go completely nuts to the point where your headline doesn't make sense.

It takes time and as junosama said above me magazines and newspapers are great places to look at how to create headlines.

[RabidReptile]

I do see the point in using a clever title to catch the reader's attention, but I usually choose a title that best describes the subject of my post, which makes it easier for readers to find what they're looking for in my articles page.

[robobobo]

It depends what your writing about, sometimes I go for serious to the point headlines, and other times they can be more sarcastic or over the top, it depends, controversial headlines will generally get more clicks

[marktellar]

Currently, I am writing a blog related to weight loss and the title is ‘key to fighting belly fight.’ My aim is to capture the attention of readers.

[krrush]

Originally Posted by Scribnia

I think it's safe to say that headlines are one of, if not the most important part of a blog post. They can make or break it.

One of the biggest problems I run into is coming up with headlines for my posts. Do I go with the straightforward title or do I do something a little bit more metaphoric?

Do you have a system or ideas for how to choose your headline?

What's worked best for you?

Me, I think like the editor of some big newspaper. Try to make a splash.