Throughout my blogging career, I have realized that while the post content is key, the post title is just as important. Not only does the title carry heavy value among search engines, it also is the primary attraction on search engine results pages (SERP’s) and most social bookmarking/networking sites. So, how do you venture away from the list titles (i.e. “Top 10 Ways…”), or the “How To…” titles?
- Concise and Descriptive — With a title, make sure that you stay as descriptive as possible with regard to your content, but make sure that you use less than 60 characters. It doesn’t seem like a lot to work with, but (from experience) it is absolutely achievable.
- Keyword Rich — As I mentioned above, the search engines significantly weigh the post title which means that you need to make the most of the 60 characters. Utilize the primary keyword (or longtail keyword) within the post title to better direct search engines to your post/site.
- Sell Emotion — You have to understand that people want what other people have; it’s human nature to be curious about other people’s business (that’s why social networking sites work so well). So, sell your titles to that emotional behavior: tell them you have a “secret” to get them to buy-in.
- Provide Numbers — While you are selling to your audience’s emotion, make sure that you also stay specific to numbers. If you are writing about ways to increase site traffic, don’t title your post “Ways To Get More Traffic”. Instead, utilize something like: “Increase Site Traffic By 75% In 2 Weeks”. With this title, you are using keywords, it’s short and concise, you are selling the post on the emotional response of success, and you are being specific with numbers.
There are so many variations of titles in which you have the opportunity to choose. Make sure that you think like a search engine visitor while you use keywords, maintain concise and descriptive verbiage, sell emotion, and provide specific numbers. If you are able to utilize these simply secret steps, your blog titles will drive significantly more traffic to your site which will result in more successful marketing campaigns.
*IMPACT does provide blog maintenance services which can help you achieve better results within the search engines and social networking websites. For more information don’t hesitate to contact IMPACT today!
Making visual changes just for the sake of change itself will result in a prettier blog, but that does not necessarily mean a better blog. You can actually make it worst if your redesign is not built with your goals in mind. You can’t hit a target you cannot see.