So you’re just like me; wondering what topic to give that next great blog post you even before typing a word… or you’re half way through it without having a particular headline to give the content.

Have you considered adding a number to the headline?

It means; if you are half way through with your blog post, you should finish reading this article before you decide to reconsider what you’ve written, how it was written and what the headline should look like.

No doubt, most of the clicks you get on your previous contents are triggered by the type of headline you chose; its combination and so many other factors.

And probably you are one of those that get not too many of them.

You also have read about ways to make your headlines more seductive for readers to be tempted to click; you implemented them, yet no result!

But in this post, I’m going to show you 5 reasons why you should not publish your next post without adding number on the headline.

With all these out of the way, let’s get to the main points.

Why You Should Always Add Numbers to Your Headline ? [spacer height=”20px”]

#1 Guidance: Make readers Understand What they are about to learn [spacer height=”20px”]

“Want to learn how to drive? you’d better look for a driving instructor that guides you through driving process, not one that leaves the steering all to you.”[spacer height=”20px”]

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This aspect is key in any process of writing and reading a great content. Imagine if you are meant to write a blog post teaching your readers how to publish a post on wordpress, and then you go on writing the headline without using number(s) to indicate how many steps or how long it will take.

Say the headline turns out to be in this format:

“Steps to publish a blog post on WordPress”

Or worse off: “How to publish a blog post on WordPress”

Here are things that could happen:

• Probability of writing astray – or off the point, as you may like to put it – is always high.
• Too much of irrelevancies could be included trying too hard to link points/steps together.
• You ended up not hitting the nail on the head. It is bad guiding your readers or followers in this case.

On the other hand, let’s add numbers to the same headline above and see what it will look like:

“5 steps to publish a blog post on WordPress”

“5 simple steps to publish a blog post on WordPress”

As you can see, the two headlines above with numbers makes more sense and it will make your readers to know exactly how many steps involved before they can publish an article on a WordPress blog.

Such headlines also have lots of benefits including but not limited to:

• Less time spent writing the content.
• Educating and sure guidance of readers/followers.[spacer height=”20px”]

#2 Precision: Makes your point clear and direct to the reader[spacer height=”20px”]

“What is the point of showing me your numerous qualifications as a driving instructor if you can’t teach me how to move a car?”

Yeah, I talked about writing astray in the first point and also not hitting the nail on the head; that is what a non-numerical themed post causes most times.[spacer height=”20px”]

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When it comes to writing great headlines, precision is required. Like I mentioned in the first point above, a good headline need to guide a reader and show him what he will learn from the post upon arrival.

When readers spot number(s) on catchy headlines of articles, webinars, copy, whatever,… part of what comes to their mind is the fact that different issues at different threshold commences.

Let’s be precise and move on to the third point.[spacer height=”20px”]

#3 Orderliness & Neatness[spacer height=”20px”]

“Will you feel comfortable learning how to drive in a car with its seat covered with grease; dashboard filled with different spanners?”[spacer height=”20px”]

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Congratulations if you’ve made it this far!

But, I must let you understand that aside from the great information I’m sharing here, part of what made you decide to still stick with me is the way this blog post, like any other on this platform has been in order and thus been a very neat one.

Well, this also has been achieve by the use of number in the headline, that has made it possible for your me to stick on to numbered points; put the full stops were necessary; start a new paragraph when needed and so on.

It also makes reading and learning for you faster.

It’s needful to still state that orderliness and neatness forms part of what make blogs/blog posts stand out.

I always encourage new bloggers to stick with writing using numbers to state their points because most times readers do a scan through on blog posts, and then judge visually before even reading the ideas in text.

If your contents are not in order you might find yourself sulking at the rate which readers bounces the hell out of your site.[spacer height=”20px”]

#4 More Readers (High Traffic): Number+Words Headlines are readers’ first choice[spacer height=”20px”]

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Now, I think it’s safe to ask this question: “What prompted you to click the link through to this article?”

I don’t care where you saw the link; whether it was tweeted, shared, stumbled-upon or ‘blogail-ed’.

I’d take a little dive into your mind right now…

Haha! Here it is. You were triggered by the Headline combination that had the number stand out.

Well, enough of the mind-reading!

The human eye being drawn, naturally, to the juxtaposition of digits resting beside text isn’t a sufficient claim, yes, as there is a whole lot for readers to anticipate when faced with articles bearing headers such like this. For example, this article “44 Impressive Ways You Can Use Social Media to Grow Your Business Overnight” means clicking through you are faced the prospect of being taught ‘44 different ways to grow your business using the social media’. STAGGERING!

Readers always love to know at least a bit of what they are expecting from a post before devoting their precious clicks, which of cause, means a lot to bloggers like you and I.

A research done by Moz shows an insight into what prompts readers to click on headlines, the result shows that readers click more on numbers headline than other forms of headline. The image below explains better. [spacer height=”20px”]

Source: Moz[spacer height=”20px”]

Here’s a little tip on words that goes well with numbers which means high traffic

• Ways
• Reasons
• Tips
• Tricks
• Secrets
• Strategies
• Techniques
• Facts
• Methods
• Ideas[spacer height=”20px”]

#5 Comments: Great Interaction follow[spacer height=”20px”]

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“Hi Tolu, Nice post you wrote there. I couldn’t but agree more with the fifth point…”

Comments are more than likely to pop up after posts with a headline with ‘numerical advantage’. This is also to show that what you’re dashing out is of a great value and it leads readers to appreciate your effort which is great for your blog.

But below is another comment:

“Hello there, nice write-up, keep up the great job! But, I don’t understand the number 3, could you please explain further?”

This shows, clearly, that your readers are intimated with the information you just passed – step-by-step.

Commenters like this are not only showing that they do not fully understand the stated point(s) but they are also trusting you to make things clearer via the comment section.

This also make commenting to be specific and less vague, as there’s a higher probability that readers comments are based on points that were numbered.

This great post has been crafted with much more precision to guide you through and not forgetting how orderly and neat it was for you to understand while reading and/or practicing the points that you could easily pick out a spot(s) to base your comment(s) on.

Why not give numbers a shot in your next blog post headline?!