If you’ve spent time and effort pouring your knowledge into a blog post, you want others to read it. However, 80% of readers only see the headline and never read your blog. How can you choose a title that entices people to click through and read your post? We’ve got five ways you can choose the right title for your blog post.
1. Your Title Determines Your Readership
Whether someone clicks and reads your blog is dependent on your headline. Many more people will see the title of your post than will read it. Choose the right title for your blog post to draw in readers. If you receive a gift in a brown paper bag with stains on it, you may not open it right away. Most people won’t go out on a date with someone who smells terrible the first time you meet them. First impressions matter when it comes to your blog title too.
Your headline either pulls them in or pushes them away. If your title is less than catchy, potential readers may click elsewhere. You have one chance to catch their attention so that they want to engage with your article.
According to Wired, Upworthy makes editors write at least 25 different headlines for each post, then plugs top contenders into alternate versions of its Facebook page and website to test which one elicits the maximum reaction. Peter Koechley at Upworthy states, “The headline is our one chance to reach people who have a million other things that they’re thinking about, and who didn’t wake up in the morning wanting to care about feminism or climate change, or the policy details of the election.”
Knowing how important your title is helps you spend the time needed to maximize your readership through best title practices.
2. Search Volume: Show Up in Results
If you choose a title that no one cares about, you will have fewer people who want to read. You can avoid this by checking the search volume for any particular title.
Keyword search volume is the number of searches for a particular keyword in a time frame. “Search volume is typically averaged over a set timeframe to provide marketers with a general idea of a search term’s competitiveness and overall volume.” (1)
Keywords Everywhere works as an extension on your browser to analyze your page’s content looking for different types of keywords. You can also pay for the volume data for each keyword search you make.
Google Trends gives you an idea of the search volume of any keyword. With graphs showing click volume over time, you can get a natural feel of whether your keywords are popular enough to write about.
Google Keyword Planner works for you if you use Google Adwords. The right keywords can get your ad in front of the right customers. Just click on the wrench icon in the toolbar at the top of the page. In the Keyword Planner, you can “Discover New Keywords” and “Get search volume and forecasts.”
Google Search Console helps you measure your site’s Search traffic and performance, fix issues, and make your site shine in Google Search results.
Keyword Sheeter gives you reports for each keyword, including all the data you need to know about a possible title.
AnswerThePublic helps you discover what others are asking about. This site is free for a limited number of searches per month.
Semrush Keyword Magic Tool is an all-purpose approach to keyword research with a versatile online suite to reach ambitious SEO goals with the help of keyword research.
AhRefs allows you to “get thousands of keyword ideas, calculate their traffic potential, and find out how difficult it is to rank for them.”
Whichever tool you choose, use it consistently when you choose a title for your blog posts for the best results. You’ll need to search volume statistics for every title you use, but also important is using keywords that rank. These same tools listed above help with keyword research, but let’s look at why keywords are so important.
3. Use A Catchy Title with Keywords That Rank
If your keywords don’t match the title, that’s okay. However, it is essential to choose which keywords that search engines should focus on. Let’s say you want to write about “Mud that Even Earthworms Reject.”
You could find that there is a good search volume for “earthworms and mud.” However, if the full title is not your keyword, you’ll need to feed your keyword to the Google search engine. Make it clear that your keywords are only “earthworms and mud.”
The full title may be as eye-catching as you like, but don’t accidentally make the Google search engines focus on the wrong words. For example, “reject” is not a word generally associated with “earthworms” and could throw off how Google ranks your blog. You want the Google bots to see that your article is about “earthworms and mud,” NOT “earthworms reject.”
Even though the title needs to be catchy, ensure that the keywords you choose are the correct ones to get you seen in search engine results.
4. Make It Clear
We all want to know what a blog is about before we take the time to click and start reading. While you want a reader to click, you also want to clarify your subject in the title.
No one gets a good feeling when they click on a title and get an article about something completely different than the headline. People feel tricked when they arrive at a blog that is not what they expected.
Offer factual and helpful information in a well-written format. With the proper titles and relevant subject matter, you gain your readers’ trust and draw in more traffic.
5. Use Numbers and Specifics
According to research by Conductor, readers prefer headlines with numbers even more than they like “reader addressed” headlines. So if you want to write about chocolate milkshake recipes, you could say “5 Chocolate Milkshakes to Drink at the Pool” or “Meet Your New Fav Chocolate Milkshake.”
Either title may make your article topic clear. However, according to the newest research, using a number in your title helps people feel like you’ve given them a definite amount of specific information. Most people want to know what to expect when they click an article. Adding a number in the title makes them feel confident about what is next. (2)
Why Blog?
Businesses use blogging to engage readers, generate leads, and pull in more people who become paying clients. If you are starting your blogging journey, use titles to draw your readers in. Write well and provide engaging and relevant content that delivers answers to common dilemmas or questions.
Distinguish yourself from blogs that only market to the masses by giving accurate information that your future clients need in their daily lives. Ensure you are relevant by doing your keyword research before publishing your blog.
Following best practices for blogging will help your client base grow with time. And you will begin to see more people coming to you because of your consistent and reliable blog content.
We Can Help
If you need help getting started with blogging or are creating a marketing strategy but are unsure what is next, get in touch with us at Whoosh Agency. We make marketing strategy simple by working with you to set up a clear plan with measurable results. We step in as much or as little as you need to make your marketing work for you. Our team is ready to help you take your business to the next level. Are you ready? Contact us at Whoosh and see how we can help.