Any writer’s goal is to create headlines that attract readers.
Why?
The answer is quite simple.
Writers want people to read what they have written.
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Create Headlines That Attract Art Buyers
Why are you writing content for your art blog?
You have developed a content marketing strategy to attract your target audience so you can sell more art.
Selling art is the main reason artists are spending hours throughout the week sitting in front of the computer writing blog posts instead of creating art in the studio.
The more productive you are with your art marketing plan, the more art you will sell.
The more art you sell, the more time you will be able to spend in the studio.
Artists spend endless hours creating artwork.
Every little detail has a purpose.
Artists do not mind spending the extra time on their creations because they have a specific message they want to get across to the viewers.
And yes, they want to sell the piece.
The same is valid with art blog posts.
Artists spend extra time trying to write content their audience will enjoy and connect them with their artwork.
Publishing content that potential art buyers are interested in increases the chances of artists being discovered in Google’s search results.
The problem artists face is that there is an abundance of blog posts posted every day.
People will just scroll past your link in search results if the blog post does not have an enticing title.
All of the time and effort put into writing blog posts will be wasted.
You do not want to spend hours writing a post that nobody will read.
First Impression
I want to share with you this quote I recently saw on Pinterest.
“First Impressions are important. While a book should not be judged by its cover, many people are unlikely to read it if the cover is not inviting.”
The same holds true with your post titles.
You have to create headlines that will stop people from scrolling down and inspire them to read the post.
Copyblogger wrote some interesting statistics in a post about the importance of a good title.
“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.”
Out of a hundred people coming across your post, you might be lucky if twenty people read your art blog post.
If you want any chance of selling more art, you need to increase the percentage of people clicking on your posts.
There is only one chance to grab someone’s attention while they are scrolling through Google’s search results or social media feeds.
That one chance you have can be measured in seconds.
Writing a great headline does not mean you will have success with your post.
The content of the post has to be equally valuable to the reader.
On the other hand, it does not matter how useful your content is if the title does not intrigue the reader.
The content of the post will never be read.
The 50/50 Headline Rule
Some of the best writers claim to spend fifty percent of the time it takes to create a post from start to finish just on the headline alone.
All of the time dedicated to research, writing, and proofreading is matched with the time devoted to writing a seven or ten-word headline.
If your post is that pertinent to your business, you better spend the time required to write a great headline.
I have also heard writers spending up to eighty percent of the time on a title. Think about this for a second, eighty out of a hundred minutes is devoted to a headline.
I want to clear something up. It does not mean that you have to spend half of your time writing a post on the title. What matters is you have a headline that will grab someone’s attention.
It doesn’t matter if it takes you two minutes or two hours. What is important is that you intrigue people with your headline, so they will want to continue to read your content.
Sandy Franks wrote a great article “The Scientific Approach to Writing Great Headlines” for American Writers & Artists Inc.
In the first few sentences, Sandy really has you thinking. She went on to say:
“How long does it take you to write a headline for your sales letter? A few minutes… a few hours… a few days?
If you answered a few minutes, you aren’t writing the best headlines. In fact, you are probably writing the worst headlines ever.”
Sandy is addressing headlines for sales letters, but this holds weight for all headlines.
It doesn’t matter if you are creating a headline for a book, video, article, piece of art, etc.
If the headline doesn’t grab someone’s attention, the content will not be seen.
Sandy went on to say:
“That’s because the art of crafting a great headline comes from effort. And the minimum effort you should put into drafting headlines is 15 Alternative choices before you finally come up with one that is usable.”
I love this statement. “A great headline comes from effort.”
Isn’t this true with everything?
If you want to be good at something you have to put effort into it.
Was your first painting or drawing the best one you have ever created?
I am sure that if you look back through the years, you can see a steady progression.
Why? Because of repetition. You are continuously working on the same skills required to create the art you create.
Therefore you are getting better with every stroke on the canvas.
The same holds true with your writing skills. The more effort you put into your writing, the better your writing will become.
Tips On How to Create Headlines That Increase Clicks
One way to attract a reader’s attention is by using numbers in your titles.
According to Debra Jason:
“Our brains are attracted to numbers because they automatically organize information into a logical order. In marketing and advertising, your headline is an advertisement for your content. A single, small odd-numbered digit, like 7 for example, is like candy for your organizational mind.”
“Digits enhance the scalability of web content.”
Studies have shown that odd numbers receive more clicks than even numbers.
When you are writing a headline with a number, use the numeral instead of using the word.
For example:
“7 Best Places to Display Your New Art” instead of “Seven Best Places to Display Your New Art.”
According to CoSchedule:
There are three steps you should take for writing powerful headlines.
Step 1 – Capitalize on the type of headlines that convert.
Lists
How-tos
Questions
Step 2 – Captivate your Audience with the right word balance.
20 – 30% Common
10 – 20% Uncommon
10 – 15% Emotional
At least one Power word.
Visit CoSchedule for a free tool that will grade your titles.
According to Neil Patel:
There are four rules to follow for writing attention-driven headlines.
Make the Headline Unique
Be ultra-specific
It should convey a sense of urgency
Your headline has to be useful.
Start implementing these three strategies to help improve your click-through rate.
You do not want to spend hours writing content that no one will read.
Action Plan
Today I would like you to take a look at one of your posts and come up with fifteen different headlines for it. Be creative and come with different angles, you can always revise certain words later.
Read How to Write Great Titles that Generate Blog Traffic for more information on how to construct the perfect title. In the article, you will learn more in-depth strategies to help you create headlines your audience will be attracted to.
The article provides more detail about:
- Rough Draft
- Keep Your Titles Accurate
- Title Length
- Keywords
- Keep it Real
- Revise
- Finalize
After you have decided on what title you would like to use, revise your post with the new title.
You might want to consider writing down the statistics of the post you are editing from Google Search Console.
You will be able to test the title to see if there were any changes.
It will take about four weeks for you to start seeing the results.
Taking a few moments to track your information will help you to optimize your art blog faster.
You will know exactly what is working and what is not working.
Final Thoughts On How To Create Headlines That Attract Art Buyers
Collecting data, growing your email list, promoting your art blog posts on social media, and creating beautiful art are just some of the jobs an artist must do to build a thriving art business.
Many artists do not enjoy writing blog posts. However, they understand it is an essential part of running an online business.
With so much competition, an artist must do much more than posting an image on social media and receiving social shares to land a sale.
Writing blog posts that a business’s target audience wants to read has become a top priority for digital marketing.
The next step is to increase the conversion rate of each post.
One strategy is to write catchy headlines that people will want to click.
There are many tools marketers are using to analyze the conversion rate like Google Search Console.
They will also tale advantage of a headline analyzer to improve the headlines.
Developing a successful art marketing plan takes a lot of research, time, dedication, and patience.
If you are willing to put in the work, you, too, can build a thriving art business.
For more articles about blogging visit Blogging Tips.
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