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Ideas for Great Lens Headlines

Tom Maybrier by on Wed, Jan 25th, 2012

An example of what NOT to do.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, but thankfully for you, Squidoo lets you change your lens headline or “title” as often as you like. Today I’d like to share some insider tips on writing great headlines that help you make the best first impression possible. A well written headline can drive traffic to your lens, help potential readers know what’s in your lens and help you stand out.

Let’s look at some types of headlines that you might want to use on your lenses:

 

  • Direct Headlines tell your readers exactly what you’ve got to offer. No humor, no fuss. Here’s an example: Oakland Raiders Coffee Mugs. The direct headline takes a “just the facts, Ma’am” approach and can be an effective strategy.
  • The Indirect Headline is more subtle and not always appropriate for every type of lens. You’re attempting to make your reader wonder, “Just what’s in that lens?”  If you use an indirect headline to raise a question, be sure to give the answer right away. An example of an indirect headline: The Best Kept Secret in Ceramics. 
  • The How To headline is a no-brainer and very popular. It’s simple and effective and also helps you to target search engines. You really can’t mess this one up. If your lens teaches people how to do something, the How To headline is a time honored choice. An example is hardly necessary, but for fun: How To Keep your Coffee Contained
  • The Question Headline is pretty straightforward. Try something like What’s The Best Way To Drink Your Morning Beverage? Remember that if you ask a question in the headline you need to be sure to answer it in the text of the lens.
  • A very popular headline style is the List Of Tips/Items. These lenses contain a certain number of ideas or products, for example 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Coffee Cups. These headlines are popular because you can tell your readers what to expect before they open your lens.
A great headline tells readers what to expect and gives you the opportunity to flex your creativity. Do you have any lenses with lackluster headlines? There’s always room for improvement and I hope these tips help you out.
Got any great tips for writing effective headlines? What’s your favorite style? Let us know in the comments.
Photo by William Beutler on Flickr

Comments:

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/paperfacets paperfacets

    I change my headlines often. Mostly for Holidays. Once I have my ranking in a good position I leave it alone. Those lens that are not Holiday related I have found that a new headline is Just what is needed.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/theinquirer theinquirer

    I tweak my headlines every now and again. Sometimes I manage to think of a twist which will make it more intriguing

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Swisstoons Swisstoons

    Just to be sure, when you say, “headline,” are you referring to the lens title?  Thanks.

    • Anonymous

      Yes, I am. Edited for clarity.

      • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Swisstoons Swisstoons

        Thanks for clarifying, Tom.   Your piece made an impact.  I went and changed two titles (yesterday) and it may already be paying dividends. 

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/kiwinana71 kiwinana71

    Yes Swisstoons, I would like that verified also.
    Other wise great tips.
    Thanks Tom.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/HappySnappy HappySnappy

    The Top 10 Title is my favorite :) People see my lens ranked 3 in google, but still click it because of the catchy Top 10 releated to the keyword! :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Anime-e Anime-e

    This is awesome news! :D 

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/grannyann grannyann

    I change my every once in awhile.  A lot of the time when I do that I see something else to add or change while I am on that Lens.  I have put a title on one that has nothing to do with it but it is catchy and has worked.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/mogulmedia mogulmedia

    Nice tips. I always feel my headlines are quite poor but try my hardest to get something that grabs peoples attention!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/jeffryv jeffryv

    I like this one

    What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank]
    example
    What Everybody Ought to Know About Writing Great Headlines

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/WebSpinstress WebSpinstress

    My usual approach is to be very direct with headlines, mainly because the general idea of unusual topics tend to be very long and descriptive. I’m interested in utilizing the indirect method of provoking additional thought before entering into a lens…hmmm, do you think we could allow enough characters in the title someday to fit a complete paragraph up there? ;-) (joking)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/manlalakbay manlalakbay

    Thanks for these tips! A great info especially for us. Keep it up! :)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/billybraveheart billybraveheart

    Advise much appreciated, thanks for all these great tips :-)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/vh_creativephoto vh_creativephoto

    Learning about this myself, and have been tweaking my headlines to see what works best. Thanks for the tips!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/borisvel borisvel

    Writing headlines for readers is one point of view, but writing headlines for search engines might be other. I use following technic.

    - title tag is for search engine, so i put there keyword-s
    - description tag is for readers, i combine it with keywords 2-3 times

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/learn-to-dance learn-to-dance

    Thanks for the tips!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/bjslapidary bjslapidary

    Didn’t know this.   Will have to try it and see what happens.  Thanks for the tip!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Susan52 Susan52

    Awesome explanation of titles/headlines, Tom!  For product review or comparison lenses, try this: “Buying ______? Read This Before You Buy.”  I’ve only used this on one lens, but it’s my best performer so it seems to be working!

    • http://www.squidoo.com Kimberly Dawn Wells

       Excellent tip! Maybe you should use it on a few more. ;)

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/scrapperkare scrapperkare

    Perfect timing for this article — I’ve been wanting to change my new SquidPaws lens to something more intriguing (right now it simply reads, Holly–our Corgi mix). I love the “10 things . . . ” idea, so I’m going to come up with “10 endearing traits of a Corgi” or something! Thanks!!

  • http://buildingordinary.blogspot.com Kathryn Grace

    Good article! Thank you. An old journalism 101 headline must-have: Always include an action verb. Action verbs paint pictures to which the reader responds viscerally.

    • Anonymous

      Great tip, Kathryn!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Tipi Tipi

    Thank you so much for the tips on headlines (titles). 
    I have changed several headlines, totally change the lenses sometimes. 
    You know what? It breaths new life into dying lenses. :) 

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/gypsyman27 gypsyman27

    I have to admit, I never gave changing my titles any thought.  I will in the future.  Thanks for the advice.  See you around the galaxy…

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/BPCFE BPCFE

    Great tips. Thank you!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/arunadavis arunadavis

    Fully agree! A good headline makes for a good read-line!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/citycat citycat

    Thank you. I have some lenses started and will be using some of these Headline suggestions.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TheAdornedArticle TheAdornedArticle

    This is helpful thanks~I tend to have a littlte trouble committing to a title

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/hopevarnes hopevarnes

    Thanks for this. It didn’t occur to me to change my headlines. I’ll give it a try now.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/TheGourmetCoffeeGuy TheGourmetCoffeeGuy

    Great tips to remember and apply when editing and creating new lenses.  Thank you for sharing your insights!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/athena2011 athena2011

    Thanks for the great ideas both Tom and those who gave tips in their comments. Very useful stuff.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Mickie_G Mickie_G

    After I publish an article, I like to look at what the Table of Contents looks like and adjust the module titles. Sometimes it is all about the keywords, sometimes it is about what a reader might be looking for in a webpage.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/teriann teriann

    Question – When creating a lens and asked ‘what is your lens about’ becomes the initial title of the lens;  SO…should one fill in with keywords for lens content and becomes URL and re-write title in edit or should one fill in what they initially want the title of the new lens to be?  Did this make sense?  Thx for input.  BTW great info here, I always learn something new from article and always from comments from fellow Squidooers.  Much appreciated.  I see I have a few lenses I need to work on titles to maybe help ranking. 

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/grandmapearl grandmapearl

    I once was given very good advice about headlines and that is:  look at the  ’Readers Digest’.  They have wonderful, reader-grabbing types of headlines!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/giesickd giesickd

    please check out my lens and like it please. Then, give me some feed back on what you think out my lens here is the address to my squidoo lens.

    http://www.squidoo.com/brotherlylovebydg

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