The title of your blog post can completely change its destiny.
People often decide whether to read 1000 mobile phone numbers your post – and ultimately take action – based on the title alone.
It may also determine whether or not they share your post.
So it’s crucial that you spend time crafting your title and getting it right.
Why Your Blog Post Title Matters So Much
You might be wondering why your title is so very important, especially if you think it’s nothing more than a few larger-than-normal words at the top of your post.
Here’s why it matters so much:
- Your title appears in search engine results. Apart from that small description (your meta description), people don’t have much to go on when deciding whether to click your link instead of the one above/below it.
- Your title appears in RSS feeds. Depending on how you set up your RSS feed, readers may only see the title and the opening lines of your post when deciding whether to click through and read the whole thing.
- Your title appears in links. When updated 2024 mobile phone number data bloggers link to your post on their own blogs or social media, they often just copy and paste your title and then add the link. And their readers will decide whether to read your post based on that title.
In each of these situations, the title is probably the most important factor in getting people to read your post. Write one that’s boring, complicated, confusing or without a compelling reason to click, and people may never click on it to read your post.
Is There a Formula for Writing the Perfect Title?
A lot has been written about blog post titles. There are a lot of theories and formulas out there, as well as “swipe files” you can use to find template titles.
But while swipe files can be a useful place to start, a lot of the formulas get overused. So you need to be careful about using them too much on your blog. By all means read them to see how they work, but always try to adapt them for your reader.
Rather than give you yet another formula, I’m going to share ten things I try to do when I’m writing blog post titles. For each title I try to do at least a couple of things on this list (but never all ten).
Let’s go through them.
#1: Communicate a Benefit
With each title, I try to communicate a benefit or make some kind of promise about what the post will deliver. I want readers to know just from the title how they’ll benefit from clicking the link and reading the post.
When I’m trying to decide whether to read a post, I always subconsciously ask, “What’s in it for me?”
I think most readers ask questions like this. What’s the benefit? Will I be entertained? Will I be informed? Will I learn something new? Will I hear something newsworthy? Will I feel inspired?
A couple of titles that worked really well on Digital Photography School are:
#2: Think About Keywords and Search Engine Traffic
Search engines are the number one source of traffic to both my blogs. So I’m always thinking about how to get my posts ranking higher.
Every time I write a title I ask, “What would someone type into Google to look for this information?”
If I don’t ask that question I’m potentially ignoring half the traffic that could come to the site, particularly over the long-term. We tend to see social media traffic coming in when a post is first published, but after that 99% of the post’s traffic comes from search engines.
A title that does really well for us on search and they find that post.
#3: Evoke Readers’ Curiosity
A lot has been said about curiosity over the past few years. Sometimes it’s overused, to the point where we how have a term for content that evokes curiosity without satisfying it – “clickbait”.
This type of content will frustrate your readers.
You shouldn’t give away all the answers in the title. But you shouldn’t tease or manipulate people either.
A title thuriosity. Most readers don’t like ambiguity. They want to know what they’re getting. So if it’s a choice between curiosity and communicating benefits, go with the latter.
#4: Use Questions
This technique works well with those we’ve covered already. People type questions into search engines all the time. So by thinking about those questions, you can often come up with great blog post titles.
You could use the question itself as the blog post title. For instance, “What do the numbers on my lens mean?” is a question people often type into Google. If you prefer you can flip the question around to create a title lihich we used on Digital Photography School.
Another good opportunity to use a question in your title is when you want your post to start a discussion or debate. But again, be careful. If you put a question in the title, make sure you answer it in the post. If you don’t, readers will be disappointed.
#5: Break Your Title into Two Parts
Sometimes you want to do two things in one title or headline. Splitting it into a title and subtitle using a colon is a great way to do this. We do this a lot with our ebook titles, where we want to both communicate what the ebook is about and convey something aspirational.
For instance, one of our ebook titles The first part, “Natural Light”, tells you what the ebook is about. The subheading “Mastering a Photographer’s Most Powerful Tool” is more aspirational and enticing.
Another example itime the first part of the title conveys something evocative – making landscapes come alive. The second part makes it clear what the book is about.
#6: Use a “How To” Element in the Title
This is one of my favourites. Many articles I’ve published both here on ProBlogger and on Digital Photography School over podcasting in spanish the years have a “how to” element in the title. These types of titles tie in well with communicating a benefit.
You don’t necessarily need “how to” in the title to signal it’s this type of post. You can also use words such as “tips”, “techniques”, “steps”, or “guide”. Even words such as “rules”, “secrets” or “hints” can communicate that your post will teach the reader something.
People often type “how to”, “tips” or “techniques” into Google when learning how to do something.
