1. Trust

Your goal is to inform, help and inspire your audience. If you overplay the headline, your audience will feel misled and skeptical of your next headline. Be useful, and never waste your reader’s time.

2. Context

Tell your readers what’s in it for them. For example, saying “Things to Consider Before a Business Launch” is vague and uninspiring, but replacing it with “9 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Launched My Last Business” captivates. Another tip: place the reader into a headline. “14 Kinds of Pumpkins to Grow” offers little, but “7 Kinds of Pumpkins You Can Grow on a City Balcony” speaks to a target audience.

Read: Getting Readers to Actually “Read” Your Blog Posts Rather Than “Like” It

3. Curiosity

There’s a sweet spot in headlines: It’s called the “curiosity gap,” when you’ve made the a reader curious enough to click and read. (Consider the pumpkins on a city balcony. Don’t you want to know what they are?) But don’t toy with readers. A headline that says “This One Simple Trick Saved My Business” might as well say “I’m Desperate For You To Click.”

Read: Can’t Get Reader’s to Come Back to Your Blog?

4. Clarity

Be direct, simple and tight. Your headline should have fewer than 70 characters — half a tweet. Longer headlines may get truncated in search results and social shares. A good way to see what works: watch how your headlines do on social media and study what the best-read ones have in common.

 (For Writing, Travel, Book Bloggers & More!)

Article Credits Go Respectably to Entrepreneur Media, Inc.