What is a “perfect” post title?
How do you decide whether or not a title is perfect?
This is entirely a matter of opinion, but for us, a “perfect” post title is one that performs well. It accurately summarizes the main ideas of the post in a single line of text while still being interesting and eye-catching to potential readers. This title will also have top keywords included without being awkward or confusing.
Why is a post’s title so important?
The title of a post is important because it is the first thing someone sees when they discover a blog post. The title is often the first (and only) piece of information a person uses when deciding whether or not they want to open a blog post or just pass it by. The title of every blog post you write will be the ever-important first impression that post will make on visitors to your blog. Knowing this, it is easy to see why the title of a post is so important, and why every effort should be made to make it as close to perfect as possible!
16 Tips For Post Title Perfection
What are some things you can do to help your post titles be all that they can be?
- Use numbers. Posts with titles like “3 Reasons Your _____ Will ______” are going to be more attractive to viewers. It insinuates that there is a quick and easy list inside, and people love lists, as well as information that is quick and easy to consume.
- Use keywords, and use them early. Not only do keywords help search engines identify the content of your post through its title, they also help catch the eye of someone who is looking for information on that topic.
- Explain a benefit. Why should someone open your post? What can they learn from reading what you have written?
- Share a “secret”. It doesn’t have to be an honest-to-goodness secret, it can be something that not many people know. Don’t share anything you’re not legally allowed to (in the case of privileged business information) but it is okay to help bring relatively unknown or unrecognized information to light to help someone better understand something.
- Identify with your audience. You can do this by singling out a group of people (i.e. writing a post about how much dog owners rock) or by connecting with them via a personal story.
- Use powerful, exciting words. Use words that you would see in newspaper headlines, or in the titles of action/adventure movies. Make people motivated to find out what’s so great about your post!
- Ask a question. Who doesn’t like a little mystery? Questions also imply answers, which your post can provide.
- Stir up a little controversy. This can be a tricky situation, so don’t weigh in on any controversial issues unless you are prepared to back up your opinion and handle the backlash; someone is undoubtedly going to disagree with you!
- Name drop. Do you know anyone who is a key player in your industry? If so, ask them if you can use their name in your post title, and perhaps quote them in your post as well.
- Draw inspiration from outside of your niche. To set your posts apart, draw inspiration for post titles from sources outside of your niche.
- Explore common concerns. Is there a common concern or problem that you can address for your readers? If someone thinks your post could solve their problem they are much more likely to open it.
- Provide variety. Don’t write your post titles the same way every time; be creative and try new things!
- Be funny. Make your readers chuckle a little, laughter is good for the soul and gives readers a better impression of your business. Keep your humor tasteful!
- Make a promise. And be sure that it is one you can keep! If you tell your readers that your post contains a secret to blogging success, it better have some information on how someone can have a more successful blog.
- Keep it short and sweet. Long titles not only tend to get cut off by search engines and some feed readers (60 characters is a good rule-of-thumb limit) but they also tend to have mixed success with readers.
- Be specific. What exactly can someone learn from reading your post?
Image courtesy of Online Potential
Visit these great posts for even more tips, tricks, and information on how to create tip-top post titles:
- 10 Tips for Writing Blog Post Titles That Sell! – by Kim
- 8 Tips for Writing Effective Blog Post Titles – by Matthew Fields
- How to Craft Post Titles that Draw Readers Into Your Blog – by Darren Rowse
- Blogging Tips: How Epic Blog Titles Increase Open Rates! – by Bill Faeth
- 20 Ideas To Write Catchy Blog Titles – by Nicky
Video: How to Create Remarkable Headlines
Where does SEO come in?
The goal of a great post title is to bring people in, but how can readers find you? An overwhelming majority of the traffic to your blog is going to come from outside sources, and a great deal of those are going to be search engines. SEO should be considered every time you create a title for a blog post! Some of the tips we already mentioned are just what you need to begin optimizing your post for search engines; using keywords and using them early on in the title, and keeping your title short are both important because they make that title more search engine friendly.
Comments:
You can have the most amazing post in the entire history of the internet, but without a “perfect” title, your post will be lost before it even gets a chance to compete for the attention of your readers.
In your opinion, what makes a post’s title perfect? Is there anything we missed in our post that you think should be included on the list?
