If your title is not compelling, nobody will read your post. Likely, your title will be the only thing that determines whether your potential readers see what you wrote. The following tips will help you to write titles worth clicking on.

Start with the title in mind

Many online writers spend as much time on the title as they do on writing the post itself. For example, writers at The Onion don't even begin writing their articles until they have brainstormed hundreds of titles and picked the one worth writing an article about.

Be clear and specific

Your title should clearly communicate:

• What you are writing about.
• Who you are writing for.
• Why should they read it.

Don't try to be clever or vague with your title. Be hyper-specific when you answer these questions, and convey the answers as clearly as possible.

Promise value

To promise value, write things that help your ideal reader to achieve their goals or solve their problems.

Benefits, not features

Talk about the results your reader is going to get in exchange for their attention (as opposed to just learning something new).

Evoke Curiosity

To evoke curiosity, open a question in the reader's mind that can only be answered by reading your article, but do not reveal the answer.

People recognize their goals and problems, but not the solutions to them (otherwise their problems would've already been solved). So your headlines should appeal to a desire or pain the reader is experiencing, not describe the solution to it.

Give people what they need in a package they want

Appeal to things they want emotionally, even if in the post you're talking about things they actually logically need to solve their problem.

Write multiple titles

For every post, write at least 10 titles and then pick your favorite one (or even A/B test them if you can). I found that spending 10 minutes to brainstorm several titles really helps me improve.