Creating interesting and informative blog posts is important in any business’s content marketing strategy. But in order to grab your audience’s attention and get the clicks that you aim for, a great blog post should have an irresistible title. According to statistics, 8 out of 10 people will read the headline of an article or blog post, but only 2 out of 10 will read the entire piece. This is why your title should be powerful enough to sustain the readers’ interest in your content.
If you think that your good quality blog posts aren’t getting the attention they deserve, then perhaps you need to look at how you come up with titles. Here are some effective tips on how to create compelling blog titles.
Keep It Short and Unique
It’s always a good idea to keep your title short if you want to grab people’s attention. Try to make your title less than 70 characters so it doesn’t get cut off in Google’s search results. Keep it at eight to 10 words as well to make it more engaging. This length is perfect for posting on social media networks, especially Twitter and Facebook.
Plays on words will also make your title stand out. “How to” titles are always a safe but good bet. But if you include interesting words like “fun,” “essential”, and “brilliant,” as well as actionable words like “drive” and “boost,” then you’ll have an attractive and search engine-friendly blog title.
Stay Focused and Accurate
Accuracy is important when crafting a blog title. Because it’s what sells your content, you have to make sure that it clearly reflects what the blog post is about. This way, you set clear expectations for your readers. And doing this shows that you respect and value your audience’s reading experience.
Adding bracketed information to your title is one good way of making it accurate. You can use [Interview], [New Report], or [Infographic] similar to this blog post – How to Write Better Headlines [Infographic].
Use Keywords
Using relevant keywords is essential not only for attracting your target market or audience, but also for search engine optimization. You can start by researching for the best keyword for your title using keyword research tools like Keyword Tool and Moz Analytics’ Keyword Analysis Tool. Identify and use the keywords that your audience is already searching for.
Don’t get too carried away when doing this, though. Stuffing a lot of keywords in your title will make it awkward, not attractive. A title with 10 words and 2 keywords in it will do well in grabbing readers’ attention, as well as in SEO ranking.
Let Emotions In
You write blog posts not just for the search engines, but more importantly for an audience with emotions. Use this to your advantage by creating a title that affects your readers’ emotional side. For example, the title, “How to Deliver an Awesome Presentation…Even if You Hate Public Speaking” is more relatable and likely to strike your readers’ emotions than the title, “How to Make a Good Presentation.”
According to a research by Jacopo Staiano of Sorbonne University and Marco Guerini of Trento Rise, certain emotions make content go viral. This could be true for your title. Whether it’s feel-good or something that might sound hurtful, readers will likely click on it.
Get Ideas from Others
Learning from your competitors may be an age old tip, but you can apply this when creating a title for your blog post. Try to research and find out what titles others are using and improve on it. Which angles did your competitors use and which ones did well on search engines? You’ll be able to identify the effective titles and come up with your own list of new titles in no time.
Creating a compelling blog title requires work and practice. Implement the tips we shared and you’ll be able to make bold and effective titles that your audience can’t resist. They will certainly help amp your blogging efforts and consequently boost your business.
Our virtual assistants can help you create effective blog posts. Find out how by taking our free five-hour trial now!
Check out these other blogs on our content writing tips series:
- Science-based Ways to Beat Writer’s Block
- How to Create Consistent Content
- Infographic: How to Beat Writer’s Block and Create Consistent Content
- How To Create An Evergreen Content
- 5 Ways You Can Reuse Your Content
- Infographic: Creating and Using Evergreen Content
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This is greatly helpful especially if you’re just starting your own blog like me. It allows you to capture readers attention through the title. The content is very informative and the steps are very easy to follow. This contributed a lot in gaining more engagement.