With so much competition out there in virtually every niche, making your blog post or web page stand out from the rest can be difficult – but is also vital for long-term success. Without a headline that captivates the attention of the reader, it is very likely that they will go elsewhere to find the information they need. Your blog post title may very well be the first and only descriptor that a reader sees if he or she stumbles across it via search, so you should view this as your one and only chance to get it right. Below, we’ll discuss ways you can create powerful titles for your blog posts so that you can draw in the traffic your blog deserves.

Descriptive and Action-Packed

If your blog titles seem a bit too dull, then your readers probably feel the same. One of the best ways you can bring attention to your blog titles is through the use of action words. Action words are words that illicit a certain imagery or (surprise) action when reading. For example, a blog post titled “Three Ways To Clean Your Home” would gain much more attention as “Blast Away the Dirt – Three Methods for Making Your Abode Spotless”. The word ‘blast’ conveys an action that is obviously much more powerful than ‘clean’, while ‘abode’ replaces a boring, generic moniker like ‘home’.

Don’t Drag It Out

Sometimes, we may feel that being as descriptive as possible when it comes to blog titles is a good thing. It is, but the goal is to do so with as few words as possible. Not only will this help you when pinging search engines, but it will also help attract and keep the attention of potential readers who are gazing across multiple results that all more or less are vying for their eyes. Blogs that summarize the content in a brief and concise way are also far more likely to be shared via social media and email than blog posts that have drawn out titles consisting of dozens (if not hundreds) of characters.

Use Keywords

Let’s take a step back from appealing to the reader and focus for a second on attracting attention from search engines. If you use a creative, clever title for your blog post but fail to accurately convey the keywords associated with the content, then you will have a smaller chance of being exposed to the most optimal audiences. Search engines are very intuitive, but failing to provide them with relevant keywords through your titles can be a recipe for disaster (or at least, a great way to be shunned by Google et al).

Be Assertive

When pinging search engines, your blog title should exude confidence and issue a definitive statement on whatever matter you are discussing – you want to be an expert on what it is you are talking about, and seeming anything but that will lead to readers not selecting your blog as their source for information. Assertive statements will include the use of words such as ‘should’ rather than ‘can’ or ‘might’: you want to demonstrate that there is no other option and no room for deviation.