So you’ve written a killer blog post, you’ve done the research, it’s insightful and even funny but…no one is reading it. Why?
You probably haven’t paid a lot of attention to the title of your blog, but it's arguably the most important component of your blog post. A catchy and attention-grabbing title draws your readers in and tells them what to expect.
According to Copyblogger, “Eight of ten people will read a title, but just two of ten readers will continue reading the article.”
So how to reach those other eight? You’ve got to write irresistible titles to grab more potential readers.
We’ll show you how to do just that with 10 incredibly easy tactics that can help you improve your blogging skills, so you can write juicy and captivating titles that draw an audience. Before we get to the good stuff, you need to learn why it’s crucial to craft a title.
Why are blog titles so important?
A blog post title is the only part that readers will see in search engines, social networking channels, links from other bloggers and RSS feeds. A persuasive title will help readers decide whether to view your post or not. Strong titles produce:
- Increased click-through rates (CTR)
- Increased social shares
- Higher user engagement
In most cases, the strength (or weakness) of your title is the only metric viewers use to determine whether they're going to read your blog post or keep on scrolling. You should spend almost as much time choosing your title as you do writing the post itself.
So, now that you understand why good blog post titles are so important, let's get on to the nitty-gritty of how to make that happen...
10 tips to master the art of writing blog post titles
1 - Include a benefit
You have to give readers VALUE in what they are reading, so invoking a clear benefit or advantage is the best way to offer that value. If your post solves a problem or addresses the needs of a potential reader, highlight that benefit explicitly in the title.
Let's say that your post is aimed at providing readers the top free keyword research tools. You could utilize “Top 5 Free Keyword Research Tools Recommended by Experts” as an effective title to interest readers in your post.
2 - Use number-based titles
Incorporate numbers into your title as an effective and easy way to grab attention. People love numbers, since they paint a clear picture and can outline a variety of options and solutions for a particular problem. Numbers in a headline makes the post more concise, appealing and practical to prompt readers to click through.
Here's an outstanding example from an article posted on Forbes.com:
3 - Incorporate power words
Add "power words" to a title to pique your reader’s curiosity and motivate them to check out the post. A examples include:
- Easy – Everyone is looking for something that is quick and easy to apply. Using "easy" in a title will compel a reader to read that post instead of others.
- Free – People love free stuff. Telling them about anything that is helpful as well as free will grab their attention.
- Secrets – If your post is going to reveal something that readers have been unaware of, it will be a big draw for them. Incorporating the word "secrets" into a title entices them to find out more.
- Incredible – Using the word "incredible" means that you have something very unique and highly useful or exciting for people to read about.
4- Enhance curiosity with big claims
Enhancing curiosity will get you more readers. Do this by making a big claim in the title, since it will give you an edge over others. A big claim is the kind of benefit that cannot be ignored because it’s so good.
Here’s how Brian Dean captivates readers with an enticing title that includes a big claim:
5- Persuade with trigger words
Why, how, what, when......these are the trigger words that persuade readers to click. The power of persuasion is critical in making readers click through the title to read the content within.
Here's a great example of a title with a trigger word from Unbounce:
And here's another example of an awesome title from Neil Patel’s blog post:
Bonus Tip: Don’t use numbers and trigger words together. It simply makes a title look overdone.
6- Reference popular names
An awesome way to bring more value to your titles is to include popular names. Be it a celebrity, an industry expert or a place, use that name in your title like these examples:
- How to Start a Blog Like The Huffington Post
- How to Get a Body Like Kim Kardashian
7- Add primary keywords
Using your primary keyword in your headline makes your post successful from two perspectives:
- Users – Since they find content by entering keywords or phrases into search engines, primary keywords (or influential keywords related to your niche) will grab users’ attention.
- Search Engines – The URLS of blog posts are formed from their titles. So, having pertinent keywords within them means the post gets noticed by search engines too.
For example, notice how this "7 Ways to Lose Weight In 7 Days" blog post has its title in the URL as well:
8- Avoid titles that are too wordy
It’s smart and great practice to keep titles short and effective--that is, in the range of 8-9 words (or 65 characters as recommended by Google).
Making a title too long will make it difficult to share the content on social networking sites, like Twitter that limits the length of a tweet up to 140 characters. Overly long titles also do not fully appear in SERPs either.
9- Back up claims with quality content
Putting all of your hard work and effort into the title does not mean the reader will flip through the content until the end. Only good and quality content can encourage them to do that.
Titles are designed to compel readers to read the opening lines of a blog post.
Therefore, users will leave after the first few paragraphs if you don't provide quality content that back ups the claims or promises made in the title. Keep them engaged and keep them reading to the end, where you can provide a call to action to get them to opt into your mailing list or view one of your offers.
10- Keep titles clear and focused
A blog post title quickly tells readers (and search engines) what the post is about. Make the titles clear and focused to convey the topic directly and efficiently.
Confused, complicated or ambiguous headlines will not get any attention--and even worse, they might be ignored.
An extra tip! - Utilize Coschedule’s Headline Analyzer Tool
This tool helps you analyze a given title in a detailed manner. It assigns a score to the headline you enter and will provide insight about the balance of words, use of emotional and power words, and word count.
So now you have the right, easy tactics to write catchier and more enticing blog post titles. So why not try it out? Write down different titles for selected topics following the provided tips and select the ones that work best for you. Soon you’ll see the results with more click-throughs and returning traffic.
Good luck with your blog posts! We can't wait to hear about how these tips are working for you. Tell us all about it in the comments below.
P.S. Don't have time to offer consistent, engaging content that drives traffic and conversions? Contact us about our done-for-you blog and social media management packages.
