As the article marketing expert, I have to fix 8 out of 10 article headlines (titles) that my article submission clients give me to tweak, format and submit for them. While many contain one or more necessary elements, other factors are often left out of the headline. This diminishes their overall power and draw of this critical aspect of your copy.

That’s why I’m giving you the top 10 common mistakes that people make when writing article titles, which also serve as checklist items for you to take into account when crafting your own.

Top 10 Article Title Mistakes 8 out of 10 Article Marketers Make — and a Quick Fix For Each Mistake…

1. No communicated benefit for the readers. Remember, your article title’s job is to capture the reader’s interest.  The easiest way to capture immediate interest is to tell readers exactly how they will be rewarded if they read your article.  The expressed benefit does not have to be some over-the-top, unbelievably fantastic promise. It only needs to be relevant and worth the time investment required to keep reading.

How to fix: Ask yourself “what’s in it for them?” If the headline doesn’t tell you, it’s missing a benefit

2. It doesn’t peak curiosity.  Even if the headline contains a benefit, often it’s not presented in a compelling fashion. You need to create engages the reader’s imagination. Curiosity must be coupled with benefit, or you may simply manage to cause people to wonder what that was all about as they move on to something else.

How to fix: Does your headline make you have to know what the promised answer is? Use questions, numbers, challenges and statements that compel the prospective reader to explore the beneficial content you’re offering.

3. Lack of specificity – Article titles that lack specificity are short on clarity. By adding this psychological trigger, you automatically add extra oomph to your article title.  For example, tell me which article title is more powerful…

a. How to Write Articles Faster

b. How to Write Any Article on Any Topic in 30 Minutes or Less – Guaranteed!

How to fix: Use variations of the “list” headline, use words like “this,” “these,” “here is” and “here are” to refer specifically to your content, and also use hard numbers and exact percentages when appropriate.

4. The article title is not simplistic enough.  Simplicity if one of the most important aspects of effective communication that resonates with readers, and this is especially true with headlines.  So stop trying to add words that no one ever heard about. Stop trying to communicate multiple messages at once.  Instead of impressing the reader, you wind up losing them forever.

How to fix: Stick to one concept, eliminate unnecessary words, and use familiar language.

5. Failing to create a sense of urgency - If your prospects do not read your article right away — you can forget about them ever reading your article. Later never happens! Your article title needs to give prospects a reason to read your article right away.

How to fix: Rework the headline to make it more compelling without stepping too far into hyperbole. If all else fails, examine the premise of the content itself. Is it really “need to know” information?

6. Failure to identify your audience in the article title  — If you don’t literally define your article’s audience in the article title — you risk getting your article lost in the world wide clutter of articles that are now found online.  If we didn’t tweak Jill Lublin’s article to include her audience which was women entrepreneurs then she would not have been found and published by a new women’s entrepreneur business print magazine. But because we identified her audience, the publisher did not bypass her article.

How to fix: Figure out who your targeted audience is before you even begin to write your article. Check out this blog post on describing your audience: http://bit.ly/czheWI

7. Not enough focus on keywords – If you want your articles to be found on the search engines, then you need to include a keyword phrase that your audience is looking for. You want to try to place your keywords in the first 4 words of the article title.

How to fix: Remember, people looking for articles are looking for solutions to their problems. Query your prospects and clients and ask about their problems, obstacles and the solutions they’re looking for. Then complete keyword research based on the information you receive.

8. Too much focus on keywords – 100% search engine friendly titles like “10 article writing tips” are boring.  It does not give me the reader a reason to read your article.

How to fix: Communicate the benefit as we had alread described

9. No use of power words! A power word(s) is a word or phrase that carries its own emotional wallop. No one reads a good power word without having their heart beat a little faster, their mind explode with old memories or at least some tiny part of their system take notice.  While some words pack a huge emotional punch, others will tickle your memory or senses. But, power words are never boring and the number one rule of awesome article article is to never bore your reader.

How to fix: Read my list of power words that you get for free when you grab my 7 module online article writing course – and start adding the words to your title rght away.

10. There are no instant attention getters.  Online you have less than 3 seconds to grab your prospect’s attention.  Failure to add words that stick out and pulls readers in right away will result in an article that only takes up space.

How to fix: Use words such as “how-to”, “”new”. “free” and “guaranteed.” Also skim through a  magazine and newspaper. Now, skim through it fast. See which article headlines grabbed your interest. Figure out which words caught your eye and add it to your list.

For even more article writing secrets, check out my 7 module online article writing course at:

http://www.onlinearticlewritingcourse.com/special