What do you like, long or short headlines?

58 replies
Hello there,

What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

Why?

Cheers!
#blog posts #headlines #long #short
  • Profile picture of the author vishwa
    Its actually depends on the goal of the article. If the short title suits it then go for it otherwise go for long titles.
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  • Profile picture of the author Malteaser
    As long as it is attention grabbing, gives the reader a reason to keep reading and is relevant to the story it shouldn't matter
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  • Profile picture of the author OnTheRun
    I'd say medium is best.
    A too short headline won't allow you to use too many keywords. A too long one may be boring to your readers. I hope you get my point
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    • Profile picture of the author jasondinner
      Originally Posted by OnTheRun View Post

      I'd say medium is best.
      A too short headline won't allow you to use too many keywords. A too long one may be boring to your readers. I hope you get my point
      Have you tested this yourself?

      What data are you referencing to come to this conclusion?

      The right answer is all 3 and whichever one gets the highest response - which can be all 3.
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  • Profile picture of the author suip81
    A title should be long enough to attract the attention of your readers. If your title is clear, then your readers will mostly likely read your content. Therefore, I suggest you use long titles, which are clear. Then make sure the body of your article describes thoroughly your title. If you deviate from your title, your readers will get lost and most likely will not read up to the end of your article.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by OnTheRun View Post

    A too short headline won't allow you to use too many keywords.
    If you're producing your site's content for search engines, it won't usually matter much whether your titles are short or long, anyway, because the people reading them will mostly be visitors from search-engines, and that's typically about the least responsive, least profitable, least-opting-in and least-buying traffic you can generate.

    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?
    Mostly short.

    (Very occasionally a really long one, because if you do it occasionally enough, you can sometimes make words interesting partly "because there are so many of them in a context in which few were expected".)

    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Why?
    Because people are drawn to, and made curious by, and pay attention to alliterative headlines/titles - and short ones are very much more easily produced than long ones!

    .
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  • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
    Short and sweet.

    Look at Newspaper headlines. You'll learn everything you need to know about writing them by reading the morning paper.

    GRM
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  • Profile picture of the author cianci1129
    Medium length I guess A full sentence to get a point across. No run-on.
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  • Profile picture of the author IvoryPearl
    I am always attracted to longer headlines that give me a little glimpse of what I can anticipate to read.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Nothing is written in stone when it comes to headlines. But generally speaking, if you insist on an either or scenario ...

      • If it's a prospect who you have to educate or sell the idea of your type of product or service to:
      Long 'benefit dripping' headline.

      • If it's a prospect whose sold on the idea of your 'type' of product or service already, but just needs to decide "who" to buy from.
      Short punchy headline (That differentiates you from the competition).
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  • Profile picture of the author Nathan Fortune
    Short headlines but with heavy meaning ...

    Like : Eartquake in LA today ! The best offer ever, brings upside down everything !

    Allthough it depends on the product.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris_Custer
    Pretty simple rule: however long it takes to get 'em reading and no longer.

    If that sounds a little vague, it's because it's fluid. Depends on the message and the market. The truth is, long, short, medium, in-between they all work...and they all don't. In other words, it's not about the length. It's about the benefit promised that'll come from reading further. So however long (or short) it takes you to make that promise compelling enough to read is what you write...and no more.
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  • Profile picture of the author ivanadee
    Short and to the point will be great.
    It can be short but at least people have idea about your main offer.
    hope it helps
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    A few years ago when there was no competition, you could have written articles that had short headlines.

    Nowadays with so much competition, you have got to be creative and have long tail headlines to even have a chance at getting your articles viewed by the search engines and ranked high.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    I do Email Marketing (some blogging, but mostly Writing Follow Ups and Broadcasts) and all the Titles I do are relatively Short and to the point. Sometimes I try to have some creative titles. But mostly straight to the point of what the Content will be about.

    You NEED to tell the Audience EXACTLY what they are about to get into


    - Robert Andrew
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery Moss
      Originally Posted by discrat View Post

      I do Email Marketing (some blogging, but mostly Writing Follow Ups and Broadcasts) and all the Titles I do are relatively Short and to the point. Sometimes I try to have some creative titles. But mostly straight to the point of what the Content will be about.

      You NEED to tell the Audience EXACTLY what they are about to get into


      - Robert Andrew
      A good idea for email marketing as the reader can see the headline at a glance. Another thing is how some email software might truncate a long headline, thus cutting off the benefits you might want them to know about.
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  • Short and punchy, like news headlines. Remember that the main point of a headline is to engage them right away to continue reading down to the first paragraph.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I like compelling headlines. I like the headline to pique my interest. As mentioned, the length will often depend on the context. Article headlines can be longer than say, banner headlines.

    Here's something you aspiring copywriters might consider. Look at the headlines in the banners that are displaying here on WF. Most of them are terrible. You'd think some of the people posting banners were entered in some kind of contest to see how many words they can fit into a thimble. It's amazing. The headlines are atrocious.

    But it doesn't stop there. Once you click through to many of them you come to a landing page with one or two very short lines of text. No compelling reason to give up your email. It's frightening. And these banners aren't cheap.

    So if you're a copywriter and really know your stuff you should know you can improve clicks and conversions just by fixing some of this stuff. And you have the advertisers contact info. Just an idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    Look at the headlines in the banners that are displaying here on WF. Most of them are terrible.
    Blind headlined banners that lead to blind squeeze pages.

    I think like a poet...

    A novelist can use as many words as they like to get their point across. A poet must convey the desired message in as few words as possible...
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  • Profile picture of the author faisalmaximus
    Short or long, it should represent the topic and contents perfectly. Headline should not be so long that people don't get interest to read whole, also it should not be so short that it can't represent the content.
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  • Profile picture of the author nooman ahmed
    Both. As long as makes me want to read on it does not matter how long it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Doesn't matter as long it gets my attention and makes me want to read more. That's what it's all about - not making it long for the sake of making it long (and vice versa). Just write something that people will appeal to and want to read.
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  • Profile picture of the author skyro
    I like short headlines that gets straight to the point
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  • Profile picture of the author JNano
    It depends on the market and the goal of said piece of content. Some markets like short and to the point others love "creative" writing, as always, test test test.
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  • Profile picture of the author Zaheera
    Whatever the length is, it is important to must have 7Cs.
    It must be clear, complete, concise , correct ... attention grabbing and to the point.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrSonic
    According to my brother the journalist, 7 words or less for headlines. If you need more space, do a sub-headline.
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  • Profile picture of the author Salma08
    How can we say or suggest anything now here? The title of the blog totally depend upon the subject of the content you are posting.
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    Salma Ali

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  • Profile picture of the author Yair Dolev
    Your goal is to get the reader attention and to get them to keep reading. As long as you're doing that it doesn't really matter.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Long to really stack the benefits
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by jamescanz View Post

      Long to really stack the benefits
      I sometimes long to stack the benefits, too, but this thread's about the length of blog-post headings, not sales pages.

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author ThinhH
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    "Less is More ..."

    However, it is extremely hard to create an effective yet short headline that will catch your
    audience's attention. I still recommend you to keep it short because personally I seem to
    ignore articles or sales page with a too long headline.

    Sincerely,

    Thinh Huynh
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  • Profile picture of the author Jouvan Johnson
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    I don't think it matters what we like. It matters what you want to accomplish and does it work for your target audience
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  • Profile picture of the author prbarton
    However long it needs to be to accomplish the goal . . . answer the primary question:

    "What's In It For Me?"
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    • Profile picture of the author discrat
      The other day I was listening to Jo Han Mok who has been coined the #1 Copywriter in ALL of Asia.

      He said he has moved to Shorter Headlines , and it has proved to be more effective for him.

      He was talking about 3 and 4 word Headlines in Copy. Sometimes even just two.



      - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author MatthewWeaver
    Short and punchy headlines where possible, but I think wording is more important than length, it's got to grab the attention of the reader and be relevant to the content, whether long or short.
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  • Profile picture of the author Naets
    Short, as long as it gives you enough info on what the blog post is about.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    If you ask the wrong question you will often get the right answer to
    that wrong question... which will not shed any light on the subject, at all.

    You've asked the wrong question.

    It doesn't matter whether headlines are short, long or intermediate in length.

    What matters is how effective they are at engaging the customer and
    inspiring them to want to learn more by reading the copy below the headline.

    Really... it's the same old argument regarding long copy vs short copy.

    The right length for copy is the minimum number of words it takes to
    convey the entire message EFFECTIVELY. The same is true for headlines
    with the exception that they be somewhat more enticing than regular copy.
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  • It depends what the goal of the article or salesletter is for.......and also on what will work best for specifically the offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    I prefer headlines that work.


    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author Terrance01
    I agree with Lexy above.

    I would say that it "depends" you have 3 seconds to grab their attention before they click away. If you use a long headline...it had better be impactful and solve a problem.


    Cheers,
    -Terrance
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  • Profile picture of the author svetod
    Short or long, most importantly they should be straight to the point but also catch the attention and make the person stay on your page.

    Svetlin
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    • Profile picture of the author ElGuapo
      Short and descriptive and accurate. There's just so much competing for our attention these days that you can't afford to get cute. I imagine most of us, if faced with an abstract headline and see paragraphs of content beneath it, will skip to whatever's next on our digital agenda - whether we realise it or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    And Then Goldilocks said "This porridge is too hot, and this porridge is too cold, but, this porridge is jjjuuuussst rrriiiggghhht

    al
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  • Profile picture of the author lilysilvia1
    You have got to be creative and have long tail headlines to even have a chance at getting your articles viewed by the search engines and ranked high
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  • Profile picture of the author smoor2012
    I agree with Ken Thompson and Yair Dolev. If your headline gets the reader's attention and compels them to keep reading, then it worked.

    You want to make the reader curious about what's next so they will read all the way through. It takes some trial and error to do that.

    The length is not so important except for the fact that you can lose the reader if the headline is too long and wordy and says too much.

    Maybe that helps a little
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  • Profile picture of the author masonisabella794
    It is not important short & long, you need to use the common word, by which one can understand & search easily. You may use short or, long, but if the audience do not understand what it is, it will be a great problem. So you need to make understand by the headline of the blog. Finally I prefer Short than long headlines.
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    • Profile picture of the author BenZhao
      I believe that the purpose of wiring the headline is that you want to get the attention. Now,
      people want all faster pace than ever. Given that they have lesser time so what can serve then faster is surely better. The content is also in Iine with this behavior.

      So, the short one suits better nowadays.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmeliaB90
    Short is always good but sometimes long headlines have more effect.

    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
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    • Profile picture of the author Brett Hitchcock
      Test, test and then test some more
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    • Profile picture of the author nitro37
      I'd say short, concise and to the point.
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  • Profile picture of the author Carlos Stratton
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    I always prefer short headlines for my blog posts. Only a few times I used long headline.

    Carlos
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  • Profile picture of the author khansaccounts
    I usually prefer long heading its helps my readers to understand about the content i show in my articles. and using these strategies i get help to index my articles soon.
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  • Profile picture of the author unidentified
    Its actually depends on the goal of the article. If the short title suits it then go for it otherwise go for long titles.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Originally Posted by karlstech View Post

    Hello there,

    What do you prefer, long or short headlines for blog posts?

    Why?

    Cheers!
    Short, but it's more of an OCD thing.

    Same goes with sub-headlines
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave37
    I would say it depends on the product or service you are writing about.

    However a too short headline can potentially repel visitors because it should be long enough to give them a brief detail about what they are going to read in the next lines.
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  • Profile picture of the author anynewsbd
    I think it's depend on the subject/article/website content so better to take decision from the subject.
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