Create Catchy Headlines to Drive Traffic [in 2022]

Published on: 04/29/2022
Published By: Ame Proietti
create catchy headlines 2022

Catchy headlines are the gatekeepers to success for your nutrition blog. Being able to write great headlines is one of the best and easiest writing skills you can gift yourself.

The great thing about headlines is that they come with a recipe. Once you have all the ingredients, all you need to do is plug and play from there.

This post gives you an overview of:

  • what is a catchy headline
  • what can a catchy headline do for your nutrition blog
  • 9 “swipable” plug and play headline formulas you can use immediately to start driving serious traffic to your website

Let’s get started!

The #1 Goal of Your Headline

You wrote your blog post so people would read it. But hundreds of headlines are fighting for people’s attention every single day. If your headline fails to capture someone’s attention, it’s game over.

Your post will go on to hide somewhere on page 10+ of Google where few care to venture (aka no one will read it).

So, the #1 goal of your headline is to catch your reader’s attention. You only have seconds to do this, which means you need a catchy headline.

example of catchy title that grabs the reader's attention
Source: The Geriatric Dietitian

And once you have their attention, you need to motivate your reader to click on your post and keep reading.

It’s important to give your reader confidence that your post is worth the time they give you.

example of telling your reader exactly what the post is about

3 Benefits Your Nutrition Blog Reaps from Catchy Headlines

benefits of catchy headlines

Benefit #1 – Get More Clicks

The first benefit is getting more clicks. Your click through rate is a percentage that measures how many people click on your content against the number of times it shows up in a search.

There is no “right number,” but a higher click through rate means people see and click on your content more often.

A lot goes into making your content appear more often in a search, but once they see it, your headline is in the spotlight.

Great headlines = more clicks.

Benefit #2 – More Traffic from Catchy Headlines

Over time, more clicks leads to the second benefit your nutrition blog reaps: more traffic. A lot of that traffic comes for free, high-quality information. You delivered the value you promised, and you have a satisfied reader. Before they leave though, they might share your content with their friends, family, or network so even more people read your post.

Also, some of that traffic will turn into your future ideal clients or customers.

Basically, your blog will deliver new leads to you on a silver platter. With all the work you put into writing high-quality content, your blog needs to pull its weight eventually, right?

Benefit #3 –More Authority for Your Website and You

Even other content writers will come to your site for research and resources. They need information for their own blogs and your content might be what they’re looking for. If they cite what you wrote, you get a backlink. With enough quality backlinks, your website will rank higher, and more people will see your content in Google.

Over time, you gain authority and become the “go to” person in your niche. This is a positive feedback cycle, and you win in every way.

But! This only works if your content is good.

Even the Best Catchy Headline Can’t Fix What’s Broken

Never underestimate the power of a catchy headline. Done right, you will see more clicks on your nutrition blog.

With more clicks comes more responsibility though.

[Pull Quote] Your post needs to deliver high-quality content.

High-quality content.

Anything less won’t do. People won’t stay to read your post. Worse, they won’t come back even when they see the next catchy headline you use. That is not good for driving traffic to your nutrition blog.

Another thing you don’t want to do is create clickbait headlines.A headline is like a promise, and you should make good on your promise.

Now, it’s time for the good stuff! Writing your headlines!

Crafting a Catchy Headline for Your Blog Post

How to write catchy headlines

The recipe for a catchy headline is simple.

You also need to make the value crystal clear. This value is what makes your post worthy of someone’s time compared to the thousands of other posts out there. Using our omega-3 example, that value could be information about quick and easy sources, or how vegetarians can get enough omega-3 in their diet.

The final ingredient is to make it concise. A catchy headline catches our attention in seconds, so it should be concise. Although 55-70 characters is ideal, don’t compromise on clarity for the sake of a catchy headline. It’s more important to identify your topic and the value you offer clearly so your readers know what they get out of reading your post.

Once you have clarity, it’s time to dial up the emotions.

Emotions are Attractive

People’s eyes glaze over after reading a report, textbook, or paper for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes is probably generous. However, these same people willingly sit through a 2hour movie or knock out a novel in a week.

The key to that is having a good story filled with the right emotions. You aren’t writing the next New York Times best seller, but emotions belong in your headline.

“New, easy, safe and big” are powerful words that attract people. Direct response copywriters call these words “the big 4”. These words target basic emotions that motivate people to buy.

In the case of your nutrition blog, these words motivate people to click on your post.

These words are great to use, but you want to avoid overusing them, otherwise they lose their effect. But you can use other words with the same effect as “the big 4.”

25 Power Words to Help Improve Conversion Rates

  • Greed – fast, special, bonus, exclusive, instantly
  • Curiosity –confidential, shocking, unique, be the first myths
  • Trust – approved, moneyback, risk-free, expert, official
  • Vanity – amazing, epic, perfect, ultimate, genius

Alright, now it’s time for the real reason you came here.


9 Plug and Play Formulas for Catchy Headlines That Get People’s Attention (With Examples)

plug and play formulas for headlines

The best thing about writing a catchy headline is that you don’t have to agonize over what to write because you have access to these 9 tried-and-true headline formulas. Content writers, copywriters, and marketers all use these formulas, and they get successful results.

#1 How to [Get a specific result]

Example: How to Meal Plan a High-Protein Diet for an Entire Week

#2 How to [get a specific result] in [Specific Timeline]

Example: How to Meal Plan for an Entire Week in Just 20 Minutes

#3 How Every [Target Group] Can [Get a specific result]

Example: How Every Busy Parent Can Make Quick Healthy Meals in Under 30 minutes

#4 The Quick and Easy Way to [Get a Result/benefit/solve a problem]

Example: The Quick and Easy Way to Include More Vegetables in Your Diet

#5 [Odd Number] Quick and Easy Ways to [Get a result/benefit/solve a problem]

Example: 3 Quick and Easy Ways to Feed Your Child More Vegetables (even if they despite vegetables)

#6 Why [Topic] Is/Isn’t [Result People Don’t Want] and What to Do Instead

Example: Why Cutting Carbs Isn’t Helping You Lose Weight and What to Do Instead

#7 What Everyone Needs to Know/Should Know About [Topic]

Example: What Everyone Needs to Know About Their Blood Sugar Levels

#8 How I [Accomplished Desirable Result] In Just [Specific Timeline]

Example: How I Turned Vegan in Just One Month

#9 [Topic] Mistakes All/Every [Target Group] Need to Avoid

Example: FODMAP Diet Mistakes Everyone with IBS Need to Avoid


Takeaway for Writing Catchy Headlines

Writing headlines is a valuable skill for any writer, and this skill benefits your nutrition blog greatly. Put these 9 plug and play formulas in your swipe file and you can start writing catchy headlines today.

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