It’s a no-brainer that in order to get people to your site, they need to click on your link at the bottom of your article first. But before that, they need to read your article. So let’s back up here and look at the 3 most important things your article needs to have in order to get lots of click thrus.
A great headline
An interesting opening paragraph
A compelling call to action
To put it another way, you want a great headline that will interest a person enough to want to read your article. Then you need a good first paragraph that entices the reader to really read the article. Lastly, you need to flow into a compelling bio call to action that makes the reader want to click your link.
A great headline
Certainly you should include your keywords in the title to help search engine traffic find your article, but your headline, or your title, should be more than that. The title’s other important job is to get people interested in reading the article.
Think about making the title eye-catching, humorous, emotionally appealing, curiosity-arousing, attention-getting, a bit outrageous, and certainly NOT boring. And use trigger words in your headline: how to, question, tips, numbers, story, the benefit, secret, the truth, the cure for, or mistakes.
An interesting opening paragraph
You’ve only got a couple of sentences, at most, to really get the reader’s attention before he’s lost interest and has moved on. So when writing the article you’ll probably want to spend most of your time on this.
If you want good examples of opening paragraphs, just read the newspaper. You’ll notice each newspaper story uses a technique to entice the reader. They might make an outrageous claim, stir up some controversy, hit our hot buttons, use a scare tactic, predict the future, or use some similar technique that draws us in. That’s what you want to do with your article.
A compelling call to action
When you write your bio, you should always include a call to action. Don’t just give them details about you and include your website. Ask them to come to your site by offering something they value for free. What do they value? What would motivate them to click thru to your site? Perhaps you can give information away for free that other marketers are selling. Make it clear, easy, and irresistible.
Take a look at other successful article marketers’ bios to get some examples of what works. If you visit EzineArticles, check out some of the articles that interest you and examine which bios make you want to click thru.
Last but not least, test your bio. Sometimes you need more creative wording, or sometimes a better offer, but you won’t know until you test.
The more articles you write with purpose, the better you’ll get at it. Concentrating on these three areas – the title, opening paragraph and bio – whenever you write an article should help your article click thru rates increase.
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