Looking at my Medium home page today I see the following list of titles:
- “8 Toxic Habits You Should Get Rid of to Improve Your Quality of Life”
- “10 Books to read before you’re 30”
- “SARS Cov-2 is (Probably) Becoming Endemic. What Does That Mean?”
- “5 Things I Learned from Having Lunch with My Millionaire CEO”
- “How to Make Over $5,000 Online Every Month…”
- “20 Realistic Micro-Habits to Live Better…
Two thirds of these headlines are a numbered list. If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, is a numbered list the lowest form of blog title? I’m aware my clearly questionable choice of reading topics doesn’t help. If I were interested in the history of Byzantium, for example, or the electrostatic properties of cobalt based inorganic compounds I dare say I’d see a different array of titles.
Clickbait headlines work, which is why they are so pervasive. They play on our curiosity, they lure us with solutions to problems – sometimes to problems we didn’t even know we had. When you combine them with topics of mass interest, especially morbid topics, pepper in some hyperbole, and you have a formula for clicks.
- You’ll never believe the last thing Hitler said before he died
- A 3 step guide to the secrets of stupendous wealth
- How to get a baby to stop crying
- Everything you need to know about relationships
- The 7 mistakes Bruce Lee made
By the way, I have no content for any of these headlines. I do know that some numbers are more ‘magical’ than others. We absolutely love the number three, from learning our ABCs and 123s, through Huey, Dewy and Louie, to the Three Musketeers. Seven is also popular: apparently highly successful people have seven habits (until they need an eighth), we think of the rainbow as having seven colors, the village was saved by “Seven Samurai” (remade as “The Magnificent Seven”), and there are seven days in our week. But wouldn’t it be great if more of us evolved beyond such a formulaic approach to headline writing? Wouldn’t the world be richer for that creativity?
I see headlines as requiring three elements. (Did you see what I did there?):
- Pique curiosity
- Amuse / entertain
- Quality
How we define quality will vary from one person to another. I want to at least feel creative effort was expended. If you’re pressed for time then coming up with a numbered list will get the job done, and it will do it well. But if I haven’t expended unnecessary effort I don’t feel worthy. It’s not about efficiency for me. It’s a crazy notion – and I wouldn’t last long in business with this attitude – but I do get a nice warm glow when I feel I have made an effort, and an equally warm glow when I feel others have made one as well. I’m more inclined to like / clap such content.
I find myself inspired by writers such as Philip K. Dick, who bestowed on us such titles as:
- The Man in the High Castle
- The Minority Report
- Counter-clock World
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
My own titles fall woefully short of such a lofty goal. Annoyingly I will put in a lot of effort and still come up with a numbered list. On such days I ask myself why I bothered to waste all that energy in the first place.
I’ll leave you with the possible options I came up with for this post. You can be the judge on whether I picked the right one.
- Evolving beyond clickbait headlines
- Put as much effort into your headline as you do into your content
- If Philip K. Dick were alive today he’d be turning in his grave
- Yet another rant about some stuff
- Babies have formula, grown-ups have real food
- Get creative with your headlines. Please!
- The 3 components of a good blog title
Hmmm. Seven. It seems I just can’t help myself. Forget everything I said. List away!
