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A catchy blog post title makes readers click on the content. There’s no point spending hours writing the perfect blog post only to take a few seconds to jot down its headline.
The blog post headline is the most important content of anything you’ll write because it will determine whether your audience bothers to read your post or not.
Frighteningly, 80% of online readers don’t scroll beyond the headline.
So although we want to avoid click-bait headlines – as we want our audience to be satisfied with what they read – we do need to make sure the headline captures their attention in the first place. A carefully considered blog post title will also mean you don’t waste your time writing blogs no one reads.
What makes a good blog post title?
There are a few pointers to remember when crafting your perfect blog post headline.
- Related to the topic: The sounds obvious, but there’s nothing worse than crafting a blog post title that doesn’t relate to your content. All this will achieve is an increased bounce rate on your blog.
- Search engine optimised: Always pop your title into Ubersuggest before you post your blog to make sure the terms are specific to your industry and to check they’ll rank highly. Keep the length of your title in mind too (under 56 characters is optimal).
- Powerful: Make sure your headline is powerful enough to stop someone in their tracks and inspire them to click on your article.
- Shareable: Ask yourself whether the blog post title alone is enough to make a reader share the content. Many users share content without reading it, especially if the headline is catchy enough.
Once you have the above in mind, it’s time to think about the purpose behind your headline. What do you want your audience to feel? How do you want to motivate your reader to click on your link above others?
Below are some different styles of headlines and an explanation of how they work:
Headlines that evoke emotion
If you make your audience feel strongly about a topic – whether these feelings are negative or positive in nature – they are more likely to click on your post. For example, if you can acutely tap into the problem your reader has and voice their concern, they will be intrigued about the solution you’re providing.
For example, your blog post heading could be:
Are your money blocks holding you back?
With the subheading: Find out why you are undervaluing yourself when you quote for work.
Or perhaps:
Do you agonise over what to pack for your child’s school lunch?
Follow our easy recipes to create healthy and tasty snacks.
Having a strong understanding of the problems your audience is facing and then providing with them a solution lets your audience know that you understand them.
Create mystery with your headlines
If you make your audience feel as though they are accessing something exclusive or extra special, this excitement will spur them on to reading your content.
This desire to want to know more than others is something that drives the human psyche and users are often on the hunt for information to impress their friends with – even if they’re not consciously aware of it!
With this in mind, you could craft a headline such as:
Access marketing techniques only experienced gurus know
Or
This content was so controversial at a trade show they banned it
However, remember that although you might want to create mystery around your headline, avoid creating click bait. This means your headline must deliver what it’s promised within the body of your blog post, otherwise you’ll only infuriate readers.
Write a headline that builds trust
If you truly believe in your content, you shouldn’t be afraid to back it up. This honesty will shine through if you continuously deliver on what you promise. And with honesty, trust will develop.
You can implement these trust measures into your blog post titles by using affirming slogans as subheadings.
For example:
Our course comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee
Or
Dr Ellery, leading physician, recommends our product
These statements of trust work well if you are claiming big results within your blog, which could potentially be related to your product or service.
Offer value in all your headlines
When crafting your headline, never forget the value you are providing to your target market through that specific post.
If readers feel as though they won’t gain anything of value through your blog post, then you can be guaranteed they won’t click through and read your blog.
A good example of displaying value in your headline includes:
or
8 methods for getting your child to sleep through the night
It’s obvious in these above headlines the exact value a reader is set to gain from reading the blog post title. And if your audience knows they will learn something by reading your blog post, then they are much more likely to click.
Sense of urgency
If someone scrolling through social media posts feels your headline might disappear from their feed, they are more likely to read it immediately. To create this feeling, you need to craft a sense of urgency within your headline.
For example, think about giving away a limited offer:
Limited time offer: Our top secrets for doubling your online traffic
Or
Unlimited access to our blogging course – but for a short time only
Although once again, if you plan on creating a sense of urgency, you must make sure you keep to the time frame you promise, to make it fair in rewarding the readers who are active in reading your content straight away.
Want some more blog post title ideas? Access our free list.
I hope this blog post has got your creative juices flowing and that you’re beginning to think of some good headlines to use for your next blog post.
If you’re stumped on what to write about next on your business blog, remember that brainstorming some headlines is a great way to come up with content ideas.
In the meantime, we’ve put together for you a FREE blog post headline ideas list to start pushing you further down your brainstorming journey. Think of it as a tool to use as a blog post title generator – the next time you are stuck on a blog post title, look to this list for some inspiration.
