5 top Compelling headlines that the media that used in March 2018, certainly seem to demonstrate that titles and headlines are vital for attracting readers.
In our internet age, many hundreds of thousands of people have turned to the internet as freelance Writers. To be successful, there are SEO skills and social networking that need to be understood, but a compelling headline can make or break readership levels.
The top five headlines that I came across this March that I rated from bottom to top, were compelling enough to make me click through. Can you resist these?
5) 'Flight secrets: Passengers admit to joining Mile High Club - with the cabin crew'
This headline was taken from the Express, UK. Just look at those power words that grab us. Straight up the word "secret" grabs the attention. Then there's the compelling suggestion that this Article contains something a bit scandalous and s*xy.
Note that there is also the naughty suggestion in this that whatever was secret and naughty involves many people, where they use the word 'crew.' Did this title attract you as a reader? Or could you resist clicking through to read the article?
4) '9 of the most catastrophic family meltdowns witnessed in Ikea'
This tantalizing headline came from the Express and Star. Ikea is a place best known for home-made meals and their fabulous meatballs in particular.
Their headline was compelling and the itch to click through made exactly that happen for this reader.
Note the catastrophic. it conjures up something so totally out there that it immediately arouses curiosity. Meltdown is a powerful word too, and we can all identify with family. This article was more compelling-sounding than it actually was to read.
It was interesting enough to keep the reader reading for a few more juicy bits, and that was the whole reason for the headline.
3) 'One Actor Chose to Get Bitten by Zombies Rather Than Stay on The Walking Dead'
Gizmodo used this compelling headline to describe how and why Jeffrey DeMunn, (Dale Horvath) left the "Walking Dead." It's a very clever play on words as 'Zombies' are hot and who doesn't watch "The Walking Dead?" If you are a "Walking Dead" fan, it is not very likely you could resist this headline.
It gave nothing away, except that everyone knows that being bitten by Zombies is way out there.
Many writers may have written something a bit more deathly-dull, like, "Jeffrey DeMunn tells show-makers he wants out of The Walking Dead."
The extreme inferences in Gizmodo's headline made this article a reader's mouse-click for sure.
2) 'Trump taps doctor, decorated diver to rescue Veterans Affairs'
There are plenty of boring headlines about Trump and his nomination, Ronny Jackson, to run Veterans Affairs. None of them were as compelling as the headline above that was run by Reuters. Alliteration is nothing new when it comes to interesting and compelling headlines that draw the reader in. This is probably why Reuters tried this approach on a dreary if controversial, subject.
Alliteration is the use of the same letters or sounds of closely connected words. Not only do we have this in "Trump" and "taps," and "decorated and diver," but there is an interesting 'mind picture' with the "decorated diver." Many people assume that a diver is doing something out of the norm. Decorated (brave) makes us feel "wow, someone brave is outside the norm (apart) from us ordinary mortals." And not only is he brave and unusual, "but he is on a mission to rescue something we all hold dear - our veterans."
Here you have nine simple words that string together a whole essay of information that compels us to click the article.The reader simply has to find out who this over-the-top person is.
What and why something has to be rescued by our brave hero can only be discovered by reading the article itself.
1). 'You know that Chinese satellite crashing to Earth within days? It’s not alone'
Top marks for the most compelling headline that readers cannot resist in March. It simply has to go the Washington Post for this article about the Chinese space debris that is heading for Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry.
Many readers and writers probably already heard the story so many times they are bored with it. Most people will remain bored until, or if, it splatters a herd of elk in outer Mongolia.
Without any doubt, I rank this headline the most compelling in the month of March in 2018.
Below you can take a look at the biggest breaking news headlines in 2017.
