30 Days to a Better Blog: Write an Effective Post Title

Writing an effective blog post title is extremely important to getting people to click through a search engine result, an RSS feed, Twitter tweet, Facebook like, and more. It’s also key to good Search Engine Optimization results. That’s probably why everyone weighs in on this topic.

• Be Specific.
  Analyze what the post is about and make your title fits the content. Being vague pretty much guarantees a reader is going to bounce out of the article as soon as they land. Plus a vague title means you’re going to be adding your post to a pool of popular keywords, and you’re bound to get lost in the shuffle.

• Keep it Short.
  Don’t try to cram all of your keywords into your title. It becomes cumbersome and it’s also going to be truncated in Twitter and search engines. If Twitter has taught us anything – it’s how to be concise.

• Get to the Point.
  This goes with the first two points. You shouldn’t ramble! Not “Top 10 Ways to Find Out How to Get The Best Image Editing Software Tools” but just “Top 10 Image Editing Software Tools”.

• Use Free Sparingly.
  Some bloggers use “Free” in a ton of their blog post titles. You should only use it if it applies to something being free in the article – not the content itself. It’s a given that your content and tips are free! This works: “Top 10 Free Image Editing Software”. This doesn’t work: “Top 10 Free Tips For Staining Your Furniture”. And if you do use the word “Free” – be careful if you pull it into e-newsletters. Spam-bots don’t like the word “Free”.

• Make Your Title List.
  Lists are powerful, easy to read, and everyone loves them. By noting how many items are in your list, your title is easily understood and your reader know what they’re getting when they click through. 8 Ways … , 7 Things … , 9 Uses … You get the picture!

• Give a Call to Action.
  By providing a title with a call to action – Learn How to … , Get Rid of … , Have a … – you entice the reader to follow through and act on your information.

• Be a Little Bit Creative, Humorous, Snarky.
  A little bit. And only if it fits the above criteria. Play on words a little, entice your readers to click through, but make sure your headline is still relevant and contains the keywords applicable to your post!

For more tips and tricks, Alli put together a list of 27 bloggers talking about writing a better blog headline.

I’m curious … What’s your highest traffic blog post title?

Image Source: SXC