Make Your Blog Post Title Great By Using the Right Keywords
One of the first thing your target audience will see prior to even clicking through to read the content is your blog post title and page titles. Your blog post title is probably the first indication to a visitor that they will like you. Or not. I am sure that you, like me, don’t click on posts when you really don’t like the blog post title.
You may be getting traffic through social media channels like Pinterest and Twitter, but you should never neglect the search engines.
Writing catchy headlines that help your audience click through to read what you published is an art that you can learn. Or is it a science. Well, it’s probably a bit of both.
Interestingly, there are two schools of thought concerning using your keywords in your blog post title. Some people say it is essential. Some people say it doesn’t matter. Annoying isn’t it. However, if you do want to gain some traction from google and the like (and why wouldn’t you) I suggest you make use of your keywords.
This means using your keywords where appropriate. Use the right keywords within a great blog post title, the URL, use appropriate header (H) tags, and then continue with keywords in the content that you want them to read.
Research Your Keywords
Even if you know the topic of your blog post, research the keywords. You can save yourself time by researching your keywords and creating a list for your next blog posts. You don’t want to have to do research each time you have to sit down and write a blog post.
Using Keywords in Your Blog Post Title
Don’t Be Clever With Your Blog Post Title
Titles are a bad place to use puns and be too clever. Unless you know for sure your audience will get it. You’ve probably clicked through a title that promised one thing and delivered another and weren’t happy about it. Don’t do that to your audience. The title should describe what the content will cover.
Use Your Title to Hook Them In
The blog post title needs to be interesting enough to hook them in to make them want to click through and read. But, it also must be honest. Honesty in titles is very much needed because it trains your audience to trust you. If they click through and read what they thought they’d read they’re going to be more likely to click through again.
Remember the Keywords
Add keywords into the title toward the beginning of the title if possible. Plus, it’ll make it clear to your audience what the article or blog post is about. And not just the search engines.
The Right Topic
Naturally, you must pick a topic that is relevant to your audience. It doesn’t matter how optimized the title is if your audience is not interested in the information that you want to provide. That’s why you need to know who your audience is so intimately.
Let Them Know Why They Should Read It
Within the blog post title, you can let your readers know why they need to read the content. Tell them what they’ll learn. Tell them something compelling so that they realise there is an important reason to read the information.
Show Them the Value
Is there a value related to the information within the content of the blog post? Can you express it some way within the title to help ensure that more people click through the title to gain that value. For example, if you have a process that can save time, qualify that and mention it.
Back Up Claims Made Within the Content
If you can use a source of some kind within the titles that can help a lot. For example, “SEO research reveals this secret increases open rates by 70%.” This type of information makes your audience more likely to read.
Use Numbers Within the Blog Post Title
Quantifying anything always helps. It can be a list. It can be a percentage or another number that clarifies what’s going to be inside the content. Studies show that numbers increase open rates by more than 30 percent.
Deliver the Goods
The biggest key to ensure that your titles are good, is to create awesome content. The content is just as important as the blog post title. If people click on the title and don’t read what they thought they would they’ll lose trust for you.
Summary
Writing your blog post title is a mix between making it interesting for people and using keywords for search engines.
One way to help yourself with keyword rich titles is to write your title first. The title can help you define the focus of the article, blog post, or page on your site. That will help you focus the content so that you don’t get too unfocused during content creation. I used to write my blog post title last. Now I write it first. This helps to keep me on track.
Any comments or questions, please enter them in the comment box below. Speak soon.
If you missed the welcome post from day 1, go back and read it here.
I want to learn about this, too. It’s not so much that I want attention is it is about my wishing to help others who have experienced trauma. I want them to know they’re not alone.