I never really focused on writing a good blog title for my posts – I think a short and simple title, but I was not considering it before to get more traffic from my readers.
But after 3 years of writing, here is what I learned: Your blog title matters – and you should take it seriously.
According to Copyblogger, 80% of readers will read headline copy, but only 20% will read the rest. This only says that you can get the attention of your readers by writing a good blog title and they should be included in that 20%.
Aside from that, your blog titles have a huge contribution to your SEO and can help to rank your blog post on top of Google searches. So, if you are taking blogging seriously, start writing a compelling blog title and get more clicks.
Why your blog title matters?
A well-crafted blog title helps you to increase your click-through-rate (CTR) which is a good indication that your readers find your content and helpful. It also helps to rank your blog post on the top page of Google and build credibility with your readers.
How your blog title defines your content?
Your title defines your whole content. So, you better to write an engaging and never fail your readers. When a reader clicks your post because of the title, make sure that you also wrote and publish a well-written blog post.
When I am reading blog posts, I am always reading the title first and when I find it helpful for me, I immediately click and try to read it. Some writers have a skill when it comes to writing a good-quality titles, but not writing quality content.
I remember when I read content on Medium, some titles are very catchy that I have to click and try to read it – but since I was not a paying member, I am just considering the 3 free non-medium member reads for stories that has a paywall.
I clicked the story, I read the first paragraph, then I found out that everything about the title is just a clickbait. This means that I only wasted my free-read on Medium. It is frustrating as a reader, so make sure that you will never take advantage of your readers and never try click baiting.
The psychology behind writing blog titles
We are all driven by our emotions.
Some readers are getting excited when they read a blog title that triggers their emotion and curiosity and you should take advantage of it. The main goal is to let their emotion trigger them to click and read your content.
When I write a blog title, I make sure that it has the following:
The subject
Words that will teach them
The result
For example, in this blog post “How to Write a Blog Title That Drives More Traffic” follows my standards in writing a blog title. 1. The Subject (Blog title), 2. Words that will teach them (How to), and 3. The result (Drive more traffic).
Notice how I wrote it?
I am trying to solve their problem by stating how to on the title and trigger them by telling them the result the increase on their traffic.
If I am a newbie writer, I will click the title and find out what should I do to increase my traffic – it works, at least for me – and I know it also help other writers to get more traffic.
Some writers have different strategy such as including numbers on their title – which I also try to do the same sometimes because it also hooks my attention when I am a reader and gets curious about the content.
Are you thinking how I did it?
Well, I also use a third-party platform to help me in analyzing my titles and it is Headline Analyzer.
I use this tool since I started my website and it is my go-to platform to analyze my title. The best thing in this tool is that its breakdowns your title and analyze them one-by-one so you know what should you improve.
This tool shows the score of your headline based on psychology that will hook your readers. I tried 3-5 times before getting the best title that might help me to hook the attention of my readers.
From the image, you will see that I started from having a 66 score only until I made it to 84 which is not bad; a green color indicates a good title – but it can still be improved.
As you can see in the next image, you will see a breakdown of your title and what are the parts that you can improve. I find this tool helpful to analyze my title and I always use this every time I write informative long-form posts.
Keep your title simple – but engaging
Make your title clear and simple
You can write a title that shows the three mentioned above: subject, teach, and result. It should be also meet the readers’ intent and aligns to your content. You should also consider that Google SERPs meta title should be only 50-60 characters to show on the page and not cutting it.
The image above shows the difference of 50-60 characters and more than 60 characters for your blog title. As you can see, the second title is just too long so it won’t fit on the page of Google.
Add your keywords on your title
I am a big fan of SEO.
And incorporating your primary and secondary keywords on your title will help to rank your post on Google. It is always important to learn the basics of SEO and take it into consideration even in just writing your blog titles.
However, you should always avoid keyword stuffing – a method of putting your keywords all over the place just to rank on Google desperately. Your post could be penalized when you did this, so better to avoid it and incorporate your keywords naturally.
Conclusion
Writing a content takes a lot of time, but if you look deeper, you will realize that writing your title will also take much of your time if you will take it seriously and wants to level up your game of blogging.
Few writers don’t realize it, but your title has a huge factor to drive traffic on your post. The title usually represents your post so make a good impression for your readers and take advantage of learning the psychology behind writing good titles for your posts.
If you haven’t done this, you can always write a blog post of your case study sharing the comparison of using a regular title vs a well-crafted title using a Headline analyzer. Then mention me on your posts, let us learn from your experience!
Disclaimer: This blog is also posted on my website.