Harp Interactive

5 Power Tips for Writing Killer Blog Headlines for SEO and People

Would you like to get more traffic to your blog?

Do you want to know the scientifically-proven tips and techniques to writing compelling blog headlines that both search engines and people will love?

Below you’ll discover powerful tips for blog headline writing that will elevate your blog to share-worthy status.

Understand that Your Blog Headline Impacts Everything

Headlines account for up to 50% of your blog post's effectiveness

The Importance of your Blog Headline

5 times as many people will read the headline as will ready the article. The headline’s main job is to get people to click on the article. And well-written headlines get more shares on social media which increases the posts social signal value. So what are social signals? A social signal, in this case, is a link from someone’s social media platform or profile to your blog. A Share, Like or Comment is also considered a social signal. Although this is currently debatable, Google seems to reward content that has high social signals.

Writing for Search and People – An Art Form

Some experienced bloggers will spend 50% of the total time it takes to write a blog just on the headline alone!

[Tweet “A great blog headline works equally well for both Google and humans. “] For SEO impact, headlines should contain your keyword(s). Keywords in the headline will also catch your reader’s attention and interest as well as provide value to your human target audience.

#1: Use Odd Numbers in your Blog Headline

Odd Numbers Outperform Even Numbers: 5 Tips for Writing Effective Headlines

Science shows that people are more likely to click on your blog when the headline begins with an odd digit.

Lists are Easy to Digest
[Tweet “People are attracted to blog headlines that promote a short list of information or tips. “]The reader knows they are getting structured information making the reading easier and therefore quicker…an important attribute in this digital age of information overload.

The Attraction of Odd Numbers

And the reason behind the recommendation of using odd numbers in blog titles? Odd numbers seem to be more believable and are shown to help people digest the information better. Studies show a 20% increase in click-through-rate when a headline contains an odd number vs. an even number. Tip: Use the digits when representing the number versus writing it out...e.g., 7 Tips vs. Seven Tips. As advanced as humans are, research suggests that we have a hard time processing more than 9 items at once.

#2: Write Blog Headlines with Twitter in Mind

Although Twitter allows for 140 total characters, you’ll want to aim for approximately 70 for two reasons. 70 characters allows enough room for your headline to be tweeted, include an 18-20 character short link and ideally author attribution. Shorter blog headlines also makes it easier to be retweeted. A big plus!

When people search online, search engines show the title tag of the content. If no title tag is specified, Google uses your headline. Google and Bing will display approximately 70 characters before the title tag or headline is truncated…something to keep in mind when crafting blog headlines.

[Tweet “70 characters is the maximum length for your headline to show up fully in search results. “] (This is dependent on the width of your characters.)

Not sure if your title is too long? You can preview what your headline will look like with the New Title Tag Preview tool by Moz.

#3: Include Keywords in the Beginning of a Blog Headline for Better SEO Juice

Use Keywords toward the beginning: 5 Tips for Writing Effective Headlines

Front Load your Blog Headline with Keywords for Better SEO.

Keywords are important to include in your headline as well as your body content. To optimize for search, try to use your keyword(s) in the beginning of your headline.

#4: Finished Writing your Blog? Go Back and Work on the Headline

Tweak your Headline After you're Finished Writing

Write your blog headline last or go back and tweak it after you’ve finished your blog.

You may find that by the time you’ve finished writing your blog, it really calls for a slightly different headline than the one you originally had in mind. It’s not an uncommon practice in blog writing to write your headline after your article or to go back and tweak your headline once you’ve finished writing your blog. This practice provides you with the hind-site you didn’t have upon embarking on your blog article.

#5: Strategic Words to Attract Readers and Increase Click-Through Rates

Increase Engagement. Use any of these words: Smart, Surprising, Science, History, Huge/Big, Critical

Get more interaction and sharing by using any of with these proven words in your blog’s headline.

Using power words in your blog headline not only catches your audiences attention but increases click-through rates. [Tweet “Use power words in your blog headline to increase click-through rates. “]Here’s a short list of power words.

  • Smart
  • Surprising
  • Science
  • History
  • Huge/Big
  • Hack
  • Critical
  • Awesome
  • Proven
  • Stinging
  • Boost
  • Powerful
  • Shatter
  • Searing

See more power words for your blog headlines.