Don’t pull your hair out trying to drive more traffic to your blog. The solution to get eyeballs on your content is super simple. It’s no secret that as a blogger you want people to come visit your blog. You want others to come enjoy or learn from what you’ve written and share it. The easiest part of blogging is writing up articles. The hard part is getting someone to read those articles. But, what if I told you that it really isn’t that hard. It’s actually very simple. The secret? Write blog post titles that are attractive.
You want to write blog post titles that are attention grabbing and peak the interest of people who see it. Curiosity gets clicks.
No lie.
Blog post titles are essential in piquing readers attention, don’t bypass the importance of a stellar blog post title. Let’s go through how to do that and get you on your way to having blog posts that get crazy clicks and shares.
Why Blog Post Titles are Important
Blog Post Titles have one job – get readers attention. So, you definitely want them to be the best they can be. Especially if you want to make money from your blog.
Your blog post title is like the headlines you see on magazines, newspapers, ads, emails and more. Brands and businesses spend a lot of time crafting the perfect headline so it grabs your attention. There’s absolutely no guesswork, it’s all intentional. That’s why ou should make sure your headline is intentional too.
The reason why headlines are so vital is because of the plain and simple fact that…
Most people don’t read past the headline
- Most people share articles based only on headlines
- 6 in 10 people share articles without reading the content
If your blog post title is intriguing enough readers will click on it and if they read the first few lines, they are more likely to read the entire thing. However, if your blog post title falls flat you’ll likely not get clicks, readers or shares.
Think of the last time you used Pinterest. Did you pin an image because the content provided value or did you pin the image because the title screamed “PIN ME!” before you ever laid eyes on the content? The title is what grabbed your attention.
Tips for Creating the Perfect Blog Post Title
When crafting your title, ask these questions
- Will readers easily understand the topic by reading the title?
- Does it tell readers how they’ll benefit from your post?
- Can search engines easily identify what your post is about by the title?
- Are there power words in your title?
- Are there numbers in your title? (Is there a way you can seamlessly put numbers in your title?)
Once you’ve answered yes to as many of those questions as possible, play around with a few different choices for the best title. Another question to ask yourself is “Will this type of post grab attention?”
2 Types of Blog Post that Always Grab Attention
The “How-to” Post Type
Lots of people including you, search the web by asking questions. Most of those questions start like this “How to …”. How-to posts are among the most popular in the blogging world because of how limitless they are.
What’s a “How-to” post?
A basic How-to post is a long post that addresses a readers problem and takes them through the process of solving it with clear and in-depth solutions.
There’s a how-to post for every topic in every niche and competition is high for clicks. So, how do you stand out? Your blog post title. Here is an example of how to write your title to grab attention and get more views.
Let’s say you’ve written a post telling readers how to create a morning routine. Here are some possible titles you might come up with:
Example 1: How to create a morning routine
This title lays it out plain and simple. Readers who are seeking this information might click because they know you might have the information they want.
Example 2: How to create an easy morning routine
This title is straight forward as well but, there’s a power word here –easy. Readers will be more interested than example 1 because not only will they learn what they want but, it’s going to be easy. Everybody likes easy.
Example 3: How to create a morning routine that makes you want to leave your bed
This title is likely to steal clicks left and right. It’s attention grabbing and spikes curiosity. Who wants to get out of bed? What would make me want to get out of bed? The only way to know? Click.
Which example do you think is the winner? They’re all good post titles but examples 3 is so good I bet you were wishing it was real.
Bonus Example: How to create a morning routine you’ll love in 5 simple steps
This example is the final boss. It addresses the problem, has power words, includes numbers, piques interest and is a hybrid “how-to / list” post. Somebody get its chicken dinner.
The List Post Type
What’s a list post?
A list post is similar to how-to posts in that they deliver a solution to readers problems. The difference is that while how-to posts are in depth, list posts give readers quick tips that are easier to digest.
List posts can also be informational, which means instead of providing a solution to a problem you provide knowledge the reader might not have otherwise known about certain topics.
There are generally 3 common ways to form a List Post Title.
- “X Ways to ___”
- “X Tips to ___”
- “X Steps to ___”
To really beef up the title add some additional information using “when”
1 – “10 Ways to lose 10lbs when you’ve tried every diet”
2 – “5 Tips to get traffic when you’re a new blogger”
3 – “6 Steps to follow when you want to get sponsored posts”
When your list posts are geared toward providing information rather than solutions they may look like
Example 1 -“8 Exotic foods you’ve never heard of”
Example 2 – “3 Things you didn’t know about making a blog”
How to avoid bad blog post titles
Now that you know what makes a great title, I want to tell you a little bit about bad titles.
Bad titles are usually click-bait or misleading and will in the long-run do nothing to gain trust from or build your audience.
Your titles should always match the content of your post. If your title is “10 Ways to Lose Weight Fast” it’s best practice to list 10 ways a person can lose weight not list 10 plastic surgeons that celebrities swear by.
What are Power Words?
You probably noticed I mentioned power words a few times in this post. After all, who would take me seriously if I didn’t practice what I preach? If you aren’t already savvy power words are specific words used with the intention of creating an emotional or psychological response.
This is a great article to read if you’re interested in implementing and better understanding power words and how they work.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope this article helped. If it did, share it with someone who you think it could help as well.
Don’t be shy, leave a comment
Pin This
You might also enjoy this article Top Money Making Niches
