Your blog post headlines can make or break your website’s traffic. They compel a casual internet user to click on your title to read or opt to select another blog.

You crafted a well-written blog post on, edited the grammar and spelling, and published it on your blog. You eagerly checked your visitor stats, anticipating a rush of readers. You’re hoping that this will aid your digital marketing plan to its success. When you viewed your results, you were disappointed to find that only a handful of users engaged with your content.

It’s the worst nightmare for every blogger. Where did you go wrong?

The chances are high that your blog post headlines failed to convince readers that they should choose your content over all the other similar content out there in the blogosphere.

Today, we are sharing tips on how to craft headlines that will create reader curiosity and interest and boost your site visitors.

Writing Supercharged Headlines

Research the topic

It sounds odd to some when they first hear this, but you don’t start writing a blog post with, well, writing.

Before you start to tap away at the keyboard and produce perfect prose, spend your time conducting thorough research. This ensures that you will create content for which your intended audience is actually searching.

After all, if you’re not creating content that’s being searched for, you won’t attract many readers.

Use keyword tools like Ahrefs or SEM Rush to look at the keyword volume and how challenging it is to rank amongst all the other articles on your topic.

If you are a newer blog, it’s often wiser to rise towards the top of the SERPs by using a medium competition keyword and dominate the results rather than trying a high competition keyword and landing on the bottom.

Also, search for a more specific niche within the keyword results. The further you can drill down a topic, the more likely you will attract the more engaged (and more valuable) audience.

Lure them with your headline

Internet users make a speedy decision on whether to read your content or not in nanoseconds.

Picture your headline as a lure and the readers as a big lake filled with fish. You must lure that fish before you can hook them.

How do you do that? By creating a convincing headline that piques their interest. Just like the fish that circles around the lure deciding whether he’s interested, you must compel the readers. Your goal is to make them check out your bait, not flee back to deeper waters.

But don’t use clickbait

There’s nothing more annoying to some readers than finding out they were duped by clickbait. It happens all the time.

An irresistible and juicy headline appears in the search results. You open the content but feel disappointed in mere seconds.

The headline read: “10 Easy Hacks to Become a Millionaire by Next Year.” Sounded pretty great, right?

When you opened it, however, the content told you to brown bag your lunch and brew your own coffee at home. While those are great tips for saving money, they definitely won’t allow you to sack your job and retire by next year.

Yes, this tactic could reel in many readers. However, those fish will slip off the hook and never return to investigate your offerings again.

Use action language

As you write your blog post titles, use actionable language. The more that readers can visualize themselves benefiting, the more likely they will engage with your blog.

You accomplish this by selecting verbs that convey action and writing in active voice instead of passive.

For example, let’s rework the headline below.

“Learn How One Woman Became Successful in Business.”

Tweaking the wording just a little bit, we create a more powerful headline.

“Learn How One Woman Dominates Her Business.”

These two headlines state essentially the same message. The reader knows they are going to read a story about a successful businesswoman. The first four words of the title are exactly alike. But, the power of the verb “dominates” outshines “became.”

Also, note that the second title is one word shorter than the first, which brings me to the next tip.

Include your keyword

Make it clear to readers what exactly they will read about. Remember that keyword that you researched? Include in the title naturally it so that your post’s subject matter is crystal clear but still flows.

This will please your readers and also the search engines. Your post will rank higher when you include that vital keyword in the title.

Title length

Readers will bypass titles that are too wordy. In most cases, you should only need 6-8 words to make your point.

Those fish you’re trying to catch are more tempted by smaller bits of bait that are easier to digest than to bigger bait that will take more energy to consume.

Instead of a longer title, use a title and subtitle structure if you need to make a further clarification.

One exception to the 6- to 8-word title rule is when you are writing about a particular expert topic. If you’re a blogger writing within a specific industry or when your audience is made up of expert users, longer titles could be appropriate.

Title structure

There are four types of titles that are more attractive. Think of them, again, like a shimmering lure for your potential users.

  1. The Question: Pose a question to the readers. It creates curiosity in those who are interested in the answer. This attracts a very engaged reader to your content.
  2. The Emotional Response: Use words that connect emotionally to your readers. This tugs at their heartstrings, so they make a quick decision to visit your website.
  3. The How-To: This promises to solve a problem for a visitor. They are intrigued by the potential solution that you hold to their problem.
  4. The Checklist: Users perceive this as an easy to read blog post. Customarily, you’ll include a number at the beginning of the title.

There are many other types of blog post titles, but these are four of the most useful title types and are well worth the effort.

Go reel them in!

Still need inspiration? Try out a title generator app for inspiration. Remember, that these are not human-generated, so make sure the results make sense for human readers!

Writing blog post titles is not easy, yet it’s the most critical part of the process. Closing with the fishing metaphor, you might need to try a few different lures to hook more fish.

It takes tons of practice to craft perfect blog post titles. Perfect these tips, and you’ll be reeling in buckets full of new readers very soon.

You’ve done all that hard work. Now ensure that your website is ready to engage those new visitors. Prepare for visitors by setting up secure user registration forms from EmailMeForm for under $20 per month.

blog registration forms online

Author Deborah Tayloe

Deborah Tayloe

Deborah is a blogger and freelancer who often writes for EmailMeForm. When she’s not blogging, you’ll probably find Deborah working on DIY projects around her home in North Carolina.

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