A good headline is like a magnet that quickly grabs people's attention. In the age of new media, headline writing skills are particularly important. Today, we're going to explore how to write headlines that can detonate traffic, and share the secrets that have recurred in thousands of viral articles.
It is said that half of the title is good, and some people even say: "A person who can write a title is worth thousands of troops!" ”
This is, of course, an exaggeration, but also realistic. Because the user only gives you 1 second, if you want people to read it, the title has to catch the eye and make people want to click on it for the first time.
All reading exposures, likes, comments, and retweets, the title is the first ring. The opportunity is fleeting, you only have less than 1 second, and if you can't attract users to click on it within 1 second, then it will have no chance to play.
I have a habit of often reading the headlines in the tens of millions of popular articles officially recommended by Toutiao, because the role of the headlines on Toutiao is more direct, and the influence of fan base and tonality is small. I will look at it and analyze it, and I will always feel a lot.
Today, I will share some of the key points and methods of the title that I have observed. Durable and reliable!
01 There is no separation between the title and the topic
If you want to talk about the title, it must be inseparable from the topic selection, as mentioned above, "half of the topic is good", half is the title, and half is the topic.
Why do you want to choose the topic first? Because relatively speaking, I think the topic is more important. If the topic is not right, the title will not save it.
The topic selection not only directly determines whether the user opens the content, but also affects the upper limit of the content diffusion, and the most important thing is that there is a topic first, and then there is a title.
Of course, there are many practical ways to choose a topic. Here are some of the key points I observed:
01. Popular topics and hot spots are a pair of good friends, and it is easier to become a hit when you cut into hot spots in time
02. The topic has a high degree of attention, covers a wide range of target groups, and can penetrate into multiple circles to form a multi-circle communication
03. Look for those strong emotional convergence points that stimulate high arousal emotions
04. Don't choose a mediocre topic, but have a sharp and tricky point of view, and a strong point of view is the breaking point
05. Subvert the inherent common sense, say what others don't say, and say that it is different from the public perception
06. Find the angle of topic selection from the controversial point of the event or the opposite side
07. Satisfy a strong sense of curiosity and arouse a sense of wonder and a desire to share beyond expectations
08. Help readers express their thoughts and say what they want to say but keep it in their hearts
09. Valuable, insightful, and able to provide social conversation for others
10. Able to help the target group to build a solid image, and even show a sense of superiority
These are very reliable popular topic selection directions, and countless people have made good content based on these angles, which is certain.
A more "convenient" way is to build a rich topic library.
Including the core pain points of the target group, including the problems that all ordinary people are concerned about, those eternal topics, including sorting out the popular topics of your account, hot hot topics, competitors' hot topics, and good topics on various platforms, etc., should be collected.
As long as you have enough material in the topic bank, believe me, there really will be no shortage of topics. You just have to think about how to write it.
02 Headline 10 key points
Back to the title, what kind of title can quickly circle the eyeballs?
There are many methods and techniques, such as dramatic conflicts, the use of specific numbers, chasing hot sugar daddy money, the use of contrast, stimulating pain points, creating controversy, arousing resonance, highlighting short-term interests, highlighting practicality, creating an atmosphere of urgency, using labels such as regional age and identity, stimulating emotions, and creating suspense and curiosity...... Wait, too many!
However, the following key points, in the process of my observation, are definitely the principle of high frequency, and they are worth writing down.
01. Closely related to readers, insight into the details of life, identity labels are very important
02. Use more direct words, stronger tones, and more explosive emotions
03. Curiosity is a "quirk" that humans can't get rid of
04. Be clear and specific, describe in detail, and have direct benefits
05. Suspense, contradictions, conflicts, revelations, conflicts, reversals, subversions, are eyeball killers
06. Hot spots, hot spots, hot spots, if you get into a hot spot, it may be a hot spot
07. Use "I", "you", and "TA" more often, and the story is touching
08. The angle should be novel, and the viewpoint and attitude should be clear, even extreme
09. A long headline can accommodate more attention-grabbing words
10. Substance and depth are no match for simplicity and crudeness
I suggest that you can pay more attention to these principles.
In particular, "suspense", "curiosity", "hot spots", and "identity labels" are simply eyeball killers.
Let me give you an example.
03 The Practical Approach Behind 10 Hit Titles
After reading the popular headlines with relatively high click-through rates and exposures, I summarized a few highly concentrated headline forms.
There is no need to explain superfluously, you can understand the good and bad at a glance.
The focus is still to feel and analyze through cases, and then use it as a reference when writing it yourself.
You have to admit that the title itself is very imitable, and some can even be applied perfectly. More than you want to meditate.
1. Direct speech + sharp point of view
- Chinese dramas with three wrong views: No matter how high the score is, I must have a bad review
- "After 12 years in the company, the moment of dismissal": the stupidest effort is the blind rush without results
- "The house is more reliable than the man": the happiness of a rich woman, you can't imagine it at all
- "Why don't you get married": Because a low-quality marriage is not as good as a high-quality single
- "Dear, please help me with a knife": your so-called friend is stealing your time
2. Highlight pre-+ set suspense
- Jobs's iPhone design team has almost all left, how did Apple force out the designers?
- The small wound cost 2 lives. Doctor reminds: 3 characteristics of wounds, no matter how small you have to tetanus
- Super-accurate psychological testing: what does a picture see at first glance? Find out the secrets of your heart
- Before Du Yuesheng went to Hong Kong, he warned that one person would die if he stayed, and he didn't listen! After Du left, he sneaked back to Shanghai and did not live for 3 days
- I switched to a company with a monthly salary of 30,000 yuan, but I regretted it in less than half a year.
3. Throw out curious questions + set up suspense
- Would you send your parents to a nursing home? Take a look at the old man through the lens of a United Kingdom photographer
- People who fart a lot are prone to bowel cancer? Doctor's tip: These are the reliable ways to check for colorectal cancer!
- How hard is it to get married in the countryside? The old farmer's 3 sentences slipped smoothly, expressing the bitterness and helplessness of many people
- How to steam egg custard without honeycomb? It turns out that the time of cooking is particular, and it is more tender than tofu when done right
- Who exactly made the harassing phone call starting with 95? Finally found the source, you can block it like this
4. Subvert stereotypes + skillfully use contrast to create suspense
- It was not Liu Bei and Cao Cao who created the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms, but a pig killer, but later generations ignored him
- The child sleeps and kicks the quilt, don't think it's hot! In these two cases, parents do not pay attention to it, which will affect development
- The love story of these two middle-aged men is even sweeter than idol dramas
- HR of a large factory: The last thing I want to see is the "excellent employees" in small companies
- In summer, the air conditioner is turned on at 26 degrees, and the baby is the most comfortable? Wrong! How to turn on the air conditioner in summer, you come and listen to me
5. Identity tag number sitting + direct hit the pain point
- Do not eat these 5 types of food before the baby is 3 years old, which has a great impact on the child's health, and parents should keep it in mind
- My position in the family depends on the balance of the deposit|The young man who was humiliated by the deposit
- Do you know how many breeds of cats have died in the hands of the backyard?
- "I raised you" before marriage, and "I raised you" after marriage.
6. Challenging cognition + breaking the routine (straight talk and backtracking)
- As a mother, I never loved my children
- I finally accepted that my son was an ordinary child
- Taiwan snacks are really ...... The taste is very ordinary.
- Yes, I'm the selfish woman who divorced and didn't want children!
- Today, did you eat plastic?
7. High insight into views/phenomena + direct speech
- "On the 5th day after giving birth, I went to the ICU"
- "I'm sorry, what I want is marriage, not targeted poverty alleviation"
- "In my mother's eyes, my life is over"
- "You're good, but you're fired"
8. High-heat topics + sharp views
- A former colleague with an annual salary of 60W is seriously ill and bluntly said: extreme self-discipline is self-destruction, and you must spare your life if you work hard
- The 52-year-old Sichuan uncle took the college entrance examination 23 times, which sparked heated discussions: senseless death is a squandering of life
- Middle-aged mothers can no longer afford Dior: the contest between women begins with the baby's cram school
- The Nanjing guy was drunk and cried loudly in the subway station: The adult world is too bitter, you need the right to collapse
9. Highlight pre- + state amazing facts
- 2180 trillion tons! NASA has found a dense foreign object near Chang'e-4, which is six times larger than the city of Wuhan
- "Mom, get a divorce, stop pretending!" A letter from a 15-year-old high school girl
- This summer vacation is not wasted! 8 documentaries for children to "know astronomy and geography"
- The post-90s generation who "collapsed" may be the most mentally sound generation in China
Please remember 4 key words: curiosity, suspense, unique point of view, and subversion.
In addition, if you read a lot of popular titles, you will find that there will always be one or two keywords in these titles, which can attract you quickly, and your hands are faster than your brains, and you will click on them unconsciously.
For example, the following popular titles from Xiaohongshu, I want to click in and take a look after it, right?
This is also a very crucial method, and this point I always talk to people about the title, which is-
The title needs to have one or more keywords that can directly stimulate the user, can quickly stimulate the brain, and "electrocution" at first glance. I call this a title detonator.
In line with my point, here's a quick trick to test the title:
- You can break down all the keywords in your title, remove the useless auxiliary words, and then you can see if there are one or more detonating words that will immediately catch the eye.
- Let's feel if these distilled detonating words are strong enough. If the stimulation is not enough, then it is necessary to strengthen it.
You see, many people who do Xiaohongshu and Douyin content will deliberately collect popular title keywords, which is the reason.
In short, in this way, there are rules to follow when writing the title, and there will be no clue.
Finally, one more thing, everyone knows that the title is important, but the more important the thing, the more time it takes to polish, the methods and techniques are just tools, and any results need to be tested and summarized.
The method is the method, the result is the result, there is a miracle but not a shortcut.
The title is the title, and the explosive article is the explosive article, which is related but not equal.
Well, if this article is helpful to you, help me read it too, thanks!
This article is written by Everyone is a Product Manager Author【木木老thief】, WeChat public account: [木木老thief], original/authorized Published in Everyone is a product manager, without permission, it is forbidden to reprint.
Image from Unsplash, based on the CC0 license.