Usually I carefully track my traffic every day without fail to see where it is coming from and to carefully monitor link popularity. One thing has become quite clear to me over time. There are numerous articles that do not use a good non-competitive keyword phrases but still end up attracting tons of traffic for me.

What makes all the difference is the headline of the article. Using the high traffic articles directory I usually use, many visitors will tend to search for content using categories rather than specific keywords. They will then scroll down the list of article headlines, clicking through on headlines that look interesting. Even visitors to a blog or site will scroll down the homepage looking for an interesting headline.

In my headlines the priority is always a good headline to attract the highest possible number of readers rather than the keyword phrase. This is not to say I don't use keywords. I use them all the time, the only difference is that when faced with a weak headline using a good keyword or an excellent headline without keyword phrases, I will always choose a good headline.

One useful technique of coming up with popular headlines that will land you high traffic is to address nagging problems in your headlines.