When you see a box of chocolates, does your mouth start to water?
Do you crave opening the box?
Do you imagine biting the chocolate, tasting the sweet cherry mixed with the bitterness of dark chocolate? Or are you anticipating a rich nuttiness? Divine vanilla?
Your blog post titles should be like that box of chocolates.
When your headlines are lip-smackingly good, readers crave reading your post. You get more readers, more tweets, more likes, and more plusses.
Sound good?
Want to learn how?
Check out the slide deck below with 5 tasty title templates you can swipe for your next blog post.
The Truth About Delicious Blog Post Titles
You could write one headline, and consider your job done.
But is your first headline the best?
Will it draw serious crowds to your blog post?
The first headline you write is your warming-up exercise.
Keep going. Write ten, twelve, thirty headlines. Play with different templates. Have fun with different words.
Make readers crave reading your blog posts. Make their mouths water. Make them lick their lips.
Recommended reading on writing headlines:
47 headline examples: steal these nifty formulas from popular blogs
A no-nonsense guide to online headlines and subheads
39 ways to write delicious headlines
I can only see one example. The “ play” button doesn’t make anything happen. Am I doing something wrong or is your play button broken?
Hi Sheila, if you can’t click through the slides, try the original version on SlideShare: https://www.slideshare.net/HennekeDuistermaat/the-godiva-guide-to-mouthwatering-blog-post-titles
When I have time, I will change this to a different format as you’re the second person commenting that it’s not working. SlideShare seems to have gone backwards since taken over by LinkedIn. Sorry for the hassle.
Hello Henneke,
I love the intro and closing of this post, but the slides seem to not be working. No matter where I click, nothing happens to scroll through. Would love to know when it’s working again.
On another, I love all your post and so appreciate your great tips. They’ve been, and continue to be, so helpful!
Thanks!
I’m so sorry the slides aren’t working for you. Thank you for letting me know.
Are you able to click through the slides on SlideShare? https://www.slideshare.net/HennekeDuistermaat/the-godiva-guide-to-mouthwatering-blog-post-titles
Please let me know so I can try to figure out what’s going wrong.
Quick question here: do you worry about copywrite laws or infringement when using words like ‘Godiva’ in your blog post titles? When does that become an issue? Hopefully not ever…@!
Thanks.
Sorry, I somehow missed your question last month.
I don’t think it’s an issue. I see plenty of posts with similar headlines. I’m imagining that as long as you don’t use it as a smear campaign, there’s little reason for Godiva (or another brand) to sue.
But I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t give legal advice.
Thank you Henneke!! I used your advice on the very day you posted it. Love it!
Glad you found it useful, Kelly!
Hi Henneke,
You totally nailed the SlideShare in your post. I’m uber visual. So mixing up written content with the SlideShare was like an invitation to tea. It gave me a sense of relief and succinct comfort. Thanks for daring to experiment. And your post was as delightful — and oh so valuable (Evernote here it comes)!
Cheers, Lee 😉
I’m quite visual, too, and I’m starting to fall in love with creating SlideShares. Can I stop writing blog posts? 😉
Delighted you stopped by for tea, Lee. Hope you enjoyed a chocolate, too? 😀
Henneke,
You are simply awesome. Really you are.
This post had my mouth watering as well as the examples you provided in the presentation. That was awesome and it made me realize that as much time as I spend working on my headlines, I may either need to spend more time on them to make them benefits driven and solving a problem.
I usually choose one after 10 headlines, but I think I could probably do more and get more creative with it. Thanks for this post. I’m going to be referring to it, I’m sure, anytime I write a headline now. One of the best resources I’ve found … ever.
Hope you have an awesome rest of the week.
– Andrew
P.S. I also really like your slideshare presentation and how you incorporate it into your post. Would you mind if I did something like that for one of my future posts … probably next year?
Sometimes I stop at 10 headlines, but quite often I write 20 or more. Websites like Upworthy consistently write 25 headlines for each post (and then they test 3 or 4 to find the best one).
And yep, you’re welcome to do something similar and include a slideshare in your post. If you like you could even embed my SlideShare in one of your posts. You can grab the embed code on SlideShare (here: http://www.slideshare.net/HennekeDuistermaat/the-godiva-guide-to-mouthwatering-blog-post-titles).
Good to see you – as always. 🙂
Love this, Henneke! Like David Ogilvy used to say, after you’ve written your headline, you’ve spent 80 cents of your advertising dollar.
There’s a rule of thumb when it comes to creativity: 90% of your work will be bad, but creative geniuses are those who REALLY shine with the other 10%. That’s why I think it’s mandatory to brainstorm multiple headlines. 🙂
Yep, that’s absolutely true. And the weird thing is that often the best headline pops into my mind, when I’m doing something completely different. Does that happen to you, too?
Creativity is weird, isn’t it?
Good to see you again, Vince 🙂
Absolutely! My best ideas happen in the shower. I wish I could just move my office in there. 🙂
I’m happy to be a new regular here. Thanks for all the great content!
Fabulous post and a totally brilliant slide share. Not only are the tips great ones but the presentation is wonderful .Thanks so much. I love getting your posts!
Thank you so much, A.K.
I’m having a lot of fun making these presentations 😀
Henneke, I love these headline templates. Very original!
Henrietta is a smart cookie…
Did you use PowerPoint or Keynote for the slideshare? Or something else? I’m trying to decide if I want to do a deeper dive into Adobe Creative down the road a bit.
Thanks for the templates, and the instruction!
Melissa
Yep, Henrietta is a smart cookie. I sometimes find myself asking her what to do when I get stuck! 😉
I use PowerPoint, and then save the slides as a PDF before uploading the slides to SlideShare – this ensures the fonts all look fine (I don’t use the standard Microsoft fonts, but imported the Google web font I use on my site into Microsoft Office).
I scan my drawings and then import them into PowerPoint. I don’t do any fancy PhotoShop stuff (I don’t know how!). I can do some minor re-touches, and for the first few slides I used Pixlr.com to merge different drawings (so I could add the Godiva box and later Henrietta to the same pile of boxes). That’s as advanced as I get 🙂
One day I’d love to learn more… perhaps even animation.
Thank you for stopping by again, Melissa. Always good to see you.
I really struggle with headlines, so thank you for this. One question—what’s your take on length? I’ve started using the Yoast SEO plugin and it often tells me my post titles are too long to fit into Googles fix width box. I tend to just ignore it and write the best title I can. What’s your take on this?
PS: Inspired by your gorgeous slide shows am going to try Slideshare this week.
PPS: Love the pink. And also how you layer in pages. And your drawings!
I try to ensure that the key message is in the first 55 words as the headline is often cut off after that (but my full headline might be longer).
You may find this article useful: http://authoritylabs.com/blog/title-tags
It was the first time I tried “layering” the pages – I was quite proud of it 😀
Let me know how you get on with SlideShare?
Thanks Henneke. Thought that must be the case as people frequently use long headlines. I’ll check out that article and keep you posted re Slideshare. Because my content isn’t business related, my expectations are low. But who knows!
I don’t keep a close eye on it, but I do see some self-development and spiritual presentations passing by now and then, so you never know! It’s worth a try – especially if you enjoy making something like this (I secretly make these SlideShares not for my readers, but because I enjoy making them myself :D).
I love making little books and things too. Who knew drawing could be so much fun! I really do love your work. Warm and humorous. Plus the best content! 🙂
Thanks for the great headline templates Henneke!
Creating headlines seems to be the hardest part of creating posts for me. Also like your use of SlideShare and the visuals to get the point across.
Yes, headline writing is hard, and takes up a lot of time. I often write a working title before I start my blog post, but then I keep playing until I find a headline I’m happy with. And when I’m stuck, I take a sheet of paper and start scribbling, as that often works better for me. Writing more headlines really helps.
Thank you for stopping by again!
Thanks Henneke,
The “why” these headlines work is very helpful. It’s 6:00 am and I’m craving chocolate 🙂
Oops. That’s perhaps a little early for chocolate. Don’t get angry with me 😉 😀
Henneke, great templates and I really like the slideshare format with illustrations. Great job
Thank you, Joe. Have a chocolate 🙂
The SlideShare format really suits me.
Hi Henneke,
I’m with Veronique on the “79 warning signs your husband is cheating.” If the husband is leaving 79 hints he’s a loser anyway. Dump the dullard.
Really enjoyed the slide show. And the addition of your drawings is charming.
Mary
Haha, yes. Let’s be clear – this headline is NOT about my husband 😉
Sometimes I wish I could be drawing all day long… but then I’d probably miss my writing…
Hope you grabbed a chocolate?
Always love your visual storytelling! Great headline templates. I think I will sneak a few of these tasties into my toolkit. 🙂
And feel free to steal a few chocolates, too 😉
Thank you, Amy. Good to “see” you again! 🙂
Henneke – Since I signed up to your list, I’m always looking out for your Tuesday morning post, I mean delectable bites.
Honestly, your slides are the only ones that I read through, hoping that they never end.
Each one brings more and more copy writing goodness. Thank you.
Ahhh, so I need to make the SlideShares even longer? 😉
Thank you for stopping by again, John. 🙂
Beautiful illustrations Henneke. Oops, the “79 warning signs your husband is cheating.” Has to be crafted then? Thanks for the goodness 🙂
Thank you so much, Véronique. I soooo love doing these illustrations. I was a little worried about introducing pink, but I think it works 🙂