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Sharing content through social networks is not a new concept (infact nothing is really a ‘new’ concept anymore!). You will have seen blogs with lots of sharing options to bookmark the blog, to retweet the blog & to share links on Facebook – something that is used a lot on this blog too in order for our readers to easily share this content.

Until recently, sharing a blogpost on Facebook has been slightly clunky in that you had to use Facebook Connect to share the content as a status update.

Last week, Facebook users will have noticed a few changes recently to some features, most obviously the change that got rid of the ‘Become a Fan’ on Pages and replaced it with ‘Like’. The ‘Like’ feature is now pretty much uniform across Facebook – incorporated into status updates, wall posts, individual pictures, photo albums etc..and now Pages.

Those of you who have WordPress.org blogs setup can now install one plugin which puts a ‘Like’ button into your blog posts so that your readers can ‘Like’ your post and it will publish the fact that they like your post on THEIR newsfeed. This instantly gives the blog post viral & sharing possibility through facebook unlike before where sharing on facebook was always a little clunky (clunky being a technical term, of course). It is now on par with the TweetMeMe button and others on blogs to share on Twitter etc. You can see this in action on this blogpost. Why not click on the Like button so you can see how it works.

Here are two places you can get this plugin - here or here (two versions, essentially the same thing though). You can choose to put it at the top or bottom (or both) of your blog posts & pages.

It has been said that you have about 3 seconds to capture the attention of a visitor to your website or blog.  The most powerful part of your blog that will help you achieve this is your headline.  I’m no copywriter but I know how important a skill it is to be able to write effectively in order to compel your visitors into reading your content. It is a skill that I am learning & practicing all the time.

There are several elements in creating a compelling headline and here are a few tips to help you create better headlines for your blog posts.

1. Tap into Your Visitors’ Emotions

Psychologists say that people’s buying decisions are based first and foremost on their emotions.  Use headlines which trigger an emotional benefit or reaction with your visitors & readers.

Emotions & feelings that you can tap into with a headline are a desire to feel:

• Attractiveness
• Sexy
• Assertiveness
• Confidence
• Energetic
• Pampered
• A sense of belonging
• In control of their own destiny
• Wealthy
• Proud
• Respected
• Safe

2. Make it Active

Headlines need to be compelling so it is important to use active language – i.e. language that shows movement and commands attention.

For example, ‘Stop Smoking Cravings With This Simple Step’ is an acceptable headline for a blog post, however it does not command any action nor does it tap into any emotions.  However, ‘Conquer Your Smoking Cravings With This Simple Step’ can make a big difference.  The word ‘Conquer’ is an active and emotionally powerful word and readers receive the benefit of feeling powerful and in control and it commands action.

3. Let Your Reader Know They’re Important

The word YOU is a very powerful word.  You want to try and make your readers feel as if you are talking to them directly and are genuinely interested in solving their problems and helping them achieve their goals. Instead of using I, Me or We in your headlines, use You where possible.  Using the headline example above compare the two options to see which one looks more personal & compelling:

Conquer Your Smoking Cravings With This Simple Step

Stop Smoking Cravings With This Simple Step

Your readers want to know what’s in it for them and when they can assess that information in the headline, theres a much higher chance that they are going to be compelled to continue reading your article or blog post, and possibly making a purchase from you.

Here are three more ideas for powerful headlines:

1. Make a promise or offer a desired outcome – i.e. Stop Smoking
2. Make it newsworthy – i.e. New smoking cessation tool makes it easy for you to stop
3. Ask a question – i.e. Do you want to stop smoking?

Three Simple Steps to Write Headlines That Sell

So now you have some ideas about what types of headlines can compel your visitors to continue reading your blog, how do you begin to write those powerful headlines?

Step One

Get to know your audience intimately. What are their hopes, dreams, desires, and problems?  Understanding your visitors will help you create an emotional and powerful headline directed specifically at your audience.

Step Two

Determine how your products or services are going to help your prospects solve their problems.  For example, if you sell gym & fitness equipment and your audience struggles with feeling attractive then you can create a headline that highlights a specific benefit that your fitness equipment offers to solve that problem.

Step Three

Write ten to twenty, yes twenty, possible headlines.  Not only will this give you practice writing compelling headlines, it will help you hone your copywriting skills.  And if you think you have a few winners you can always test them for conversion rates to find out which headline is more effective.

Marketing and copywriting experts consider your headline to be the most import element of any effective marketing piece.  Take the time to craft a compelling, and selling, headline and you will reap the benefits for years to come.

A blog that I follow recently published this article about a blogger (Glen Allsopp) who hated writing at one point, but who went on to love the process of writing and blogging…ended up making a whole lot of money in doing so.

A great read if you are blogging and getting bored or frustrated writing your blogposts. Take some inspiration from Glen’s article below…

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So you’ve got a website or a blog…great. You are already one step ahead of millions of others who don’t even get to that stage (i’m not even kidding).

The biggest misconception out there is that by simply putting up a new blog or website that you will suddenly get bucket loads of traffic and visits quickly. I won’t beat around the bush on this point – that’s not how it works.

Having a blog is a great way to improve your online presence for both business and also personal reasons. You can build a blog for free using tools such as WordPress, Blogger and Typepad and begin posting content right away. However, if nobody is reading that content that you spent ages creating, then what’s the point of it all?

I hear people saying things like “blogging doesn’t work” all the time. It turns out that they tried blogging for a few weeks, published a few random blog posts and then expected the traffic to pile in. No wonder blogging didn’t work for them! My advice, which is hardly rocket science, is that you must treat your blog/website almost as a business in itself: you need to put the time and effort in and treat it seriously to make a success of it.

Here are ten things you need to be aware of when blogging for business or personal reaons:

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