6 Ways Get Your Reader's Attention

 

Did it work? Did you come to this post because of the 6 in the title?  A daughter just sent me the following clip:

Why everybody loves numbers in a headline
Every blogger knows that the easiest way to get readers' attention is by putting numbers in your headline, notes Brandon Cox. A post with a title such as "7 Ways to be a Better Sous Chef" will consistently get 10% to 20% more traffic than one that simply reads "How to be a Better Sous Chef," he notes. But while the implicit promise of structure, simplicity and specificity can lure readers in, Cox notes, you still need to provide quality content and smart ideas if you want to keep their attention. Social Media Today

After I read this I retitled an article I'm working on for The Writer Magazine to:  6 Steps To Discover If Your Essay Is Ready For Submission.  

These days we all have attention spans the size of an ant. We're used to Twitter and white space and quick email fixes.  We want to find out how to do something in 6 - or 3 or 5 - fast steps. So if you're writing a blog or articles consider popping a number into the title. 

And in September please buy a copy of The Writer to discover my 6 steps toward essay submission.

Comments

[Kirsten Lesko]

The 6 in the headline DID get me. Impressive!

[dearrosie]

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to try it out on my blog.
If all it takes to get readers is put a number in the heading is a great title for a book! Hah!

[Loren Stephens]

Loved the suggestion to use numbers. Wonder if it works with novels, i.e. The Two Mothers. Hmmm.
Best, Loren

[don]

This is not exactly on point, but it is about numbers in titles.

Back in 2005 I was advised that writing about my passion for counting could never become a “poem”. However, recently I read Raymond Carver’s poem, ”The Car”, and decided to ignore the advice. After all, a poem is just an essay that’s been written in your own personal shorthand.

101, 102, 103…….

I count, I love to count, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop counting.

In 1982 I counted 3,594 clams our family dug out of Barnegat Bay from July to September.
In 1998 I counted 7 Flounder, 60 Herring, 170 Striped Bass, 11 Weakfish, 20 Shad, 49 Croakers, and 19 Bluefish I caught off the Route 50 Bridge.
In 2002 I counted 2039 visitors I talked to at Assateague National Seashore,
On May 31st, 2007, I counted 16 male and 8 female Horseshoe Crabs mating at high tide
at Slaughter Beach in Delaware,
On December 6th, 2008, I counted 1 red breasted nuthatch, 2 Cardinals, 2 Juncos, and a White Throated Sparrow in my backyard,

My problem is that I think it is now an obsession. I’ve been counting toothpaste tubes as I finish them. I want to see how many I use up before…….

Help me……

[mernitman]

Hmmm. This could be why "Top 10..." Whatevers prove popular as post titles. Lists! Plus Numbers! What could be wrong?

[Beverly Higginson]

I think the second part of Cox's statement is extremely important, providing "quality content." So often once you're lured in by numbers or whatever, there's a lot of "blah blah blah" before you get to the reason you started reading in the first place. A form of the old 'bait and switch.'

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[Ratnesh]

Although I was never in China, I spent a very large part of my childhood in Saigon (as the deauhtgr of missionaries) and have since been extremely fascinated by any literature that connects southeast Asian and American cultures. So, no, I can't imagine I would have any trouble continuing turning the pages! Would you consider shipping a book to Europe?

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