In 2014, the WordPress network (blogs hosted either on WordPress.com or externally-hosted WordPress sites) published an average of 17 blog posts per second. Yes, per second!

That comes down to 1,023 blog post per minute, 61,391 in an hour and just below 1.5 million per day. And that’s just WordPress alone. This does not account for other content management systems and blogging platforms.

The massive amount of written content means two things: a wide variety of reading material to choose from for readers, and a harder task for you as a writer to come up with the right content that would capture your targeted audience’s attention.

In order for your post or article to stand out, it has to have a catchy title.

Here are 6 ways you can capture your audience’s attention with an effective title.

Deliver On Your Promise

Set clear expectations and be as accurate as possible. The content that follows must deliver on the title’s promise or you will lose credibility. First impressions are everything.

Be “newsy”

Be in-the-now by providing coverage on a trending topic. Readers gravitate towards titles that cover current news and events. Make your title stand out by adding your own personal take on the situation.

As Ann Smarty puts it, your unique perspective and catchy representation would be your chance to win. Check out her tips here on how to blog on trending topics.

Arouse Curiosity

A title should arouse your readers’ sense of curiosity. As Ananya Srivastava points out, it is human nature to get drawn toward anything that provokes our curiosity. She suggests that titles including phrases or start with ‘Did you know’ and ‘Here’s the Secret to…’ as well as ‘What You Ought To Know About…….’ are sure-shot hits.

Keep It Short and Sweet

The title should not be complicated and long.

Over at 1stwebdesigner, they summed it up to keeping the headline short, using no more than eight words. Nowadays, most readers will scan the first few words before deciding to move on. The AtomicWriter, a tool that helps you perfect content for your audience, suggests that the sweet spot is between 5 – 11 words.

Focus On Your Audience’s Needs

Taking search engine optimization into consideration, placing keywords in your title will rank higher. While keywords are important, focusing on your audience’s needs is more crucial.

Use Subtitles

While this is not technically a title tip, it is worth mentioning. Subtitles are great to use because it caters to the new digital readers’ behavior: scanning articles. Subtitles make it easy-to-read and help identify sections for people who have a limited amount of time or attention, so don’t forget to use these throughout your article.

We hope these title tips will help you capture your audience’s attention.