What do you believe is the most important thing to get right to attract new visitors to your blog or website? 

I expect many of you will have given ‘content’ as your answer.

But guess what? Content isn’t always king.

There’s something that just about every visitor will read first before deciding whether to read a blog post. 

Why top-notch blog post titles matter…

“On average, 5x as many people read the title as read the body copy. When you’ve written your headline, you’ve spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

David Ogilvy

Yes, it’s all about your blog post titles. Give your blog posts amazing titles, and you will see lots more new visitors flocking to read your posts or visiting your website. 

Why Blog Posts Titles Are Like The Titles Of Books and Movies

I look at blog post titles like I do the title of a book or movie. If they entice me, I’ll start reading the book or watching the film.  

Blog posts titles are as important as the content of blog posts. Get both right, and you’re on to a winner.

If your blog post title isn’t enticing, how many visitors looking at it move on without stopping by to check out your post?

I do it all the time. I look at a blog post title and move on quickly if it does not entice me to click on the ‘read more’ link. 

Okay, I could be missing out on reading some great content, but ask yourself how many more visitors to your blog or website are like me and move on quickly?

Tip – When creating titles for your blog posts, ask yourself what title would make you want to click on the ‘read more’ link.

How To Make Your Blog Posts Titles More Enticing 

Certain words in blog post titles entice readers to want to find out more. Here are a few –

Other things you can use in your blog post titles to entice readers

Numbers

Yes, numbers work just as well as certain words do. For example, which of these two blog post titles do you think have more of an impact?

According to blogging guru Janice Wald of MostlyBlogging.com, odd numbers do better than even numbers in blog post titles. And prime numbers do even better.

Odd numbers generally perform better than even numbers in blog post titles because they appear less conveniently packaged than even numbers.

It’s why you’ll find the majority of my blog posts titles (that contain a number) have an odd number in them.

Tip – When using numbers, make sure you use a numeral rather than spelling out the number. Digits stand out better in headlines and take up less space.

Hashtags

Do hashtags work in blog post titles? Yes, they do. Not only can they help boost your blog post on SEO sites such as Google and Bing, but they help catch the eye of visitors who may be looking for specific information.

It’s certainly worth checking out what hashtags are trending at the time of publishing a blog post. Twitter is an excellent source for checking out trending hashtags, but never add a hashtag that has nothing to do with the subject of the post.

Warning – using too many hashtags in a blog post title can result in SEOs considering your post as spam. As with adding hashtags to tweets, don’t add more than three hashtags in a blog post title. More than three will make your tweet or blog post look spammy. 

Twitter Usernames

If you’re adding the name of somebody who has a Twitter account to the title of a blog post, always include their Twitter Username. Why? Because every time somebody shares your post on Twitter, the person you’ve included gets a Twitter notification. In turn, they may retweet your tweet to their followers, giving you and your post more exposure.  

Here’s a great example from author and blogger Graeme Cumming.

See what Graeme’s done? He’s included three Twitter usernames of those mentioned in his blog post. 

Word Count

According to CoSchedule.Com, blog post titles around 55 characters long tend to earn the highest click-throughs. Blog post titles between six to ten words also tend to achieve the highest number of click-throughs.  

To get you started creating some great blog post titles, here’s some suggestions.  

1. How To ______
2. How To Find _____
3. How To Completly Change _____
4. How To Create _____
5. How To Use _____
6. How To Get Rid Of _____
7. How I Made _____  
8. How To Save _____
9. How To Help _____
10. How To Develop _____
11. What To Do With _____
12. Here’s How To _____
13. Where To Find _____
14. What No One Tells You About _____
15. (#) Questions You Should Ask Before _____
16. (#) Secrets To _____
17. (#) Signs You Might _____
18. (#) Rules For _____
19. (#) Facts About _____
20. (#) Ideas For/To _____
21. (#) Essential Steps For/To _____
22. (#) Foolproof Tips For _____
23. (#) Handy Tips For _____
24. (#) Tricks For _____
25. (#) Key Benefits For _____
26. (#) Reasons You _____
27. (#) Wrong Ways To _____
28. (#) Most Popular ______
29. (#) Tips For _____
30. (#) _____ Mistakes You Won’t Make Again
31. (#) Things I’ve Learned While Writing My Book This Month
32. Why My Weekend Was Amazing
33. You’ll Never Believe What Happened To Me Last Week
34. Why This Is The Only Chocolate Chip Recipe, You’ll Ever Need
35. Meet _____ _____ Who Reveals Their Secrets About Writing 
36. Why I’m Recommending These (#) Television Shows To Fans Of _____
37. Book Review: (#) Reasons Why I’m Giving _____ by _____ _____ (insert Twitter username here) 5 Stars  

Insert a number where you see (#)

I’ve already used some of these titles and had great results from them. Many of my blog posts’ titles also include words that entice readers to want to find out more.

Warning – Don’t forget to add a title to your blog post. Any title is better than none. WordPress replaces blank blog post titles with a five-digit number. How many visitors would click the ‘read more’ link if seeing a random five-digit number in place of a post title? Not many!

Let’s wrap it up 

• Blog posts titles are the first thing visitors read, so make them as enticing as you can.
• Blog posts titles are as important as the contents of your blog posts. 
• When creating a blog post title, ask yourself what would make you click on the ‘read more’ link.
• Get the title of your blog post wrong, and you could be missing out on hundreds of new readers, likes and comments.
• Make sure you’ve given the post you’re about to publish a title. Any title is better than no title at all.
• Use specific words such as How, How To, Why, Where, in your blog posts’ titles to entice readers to click on the ‘read more’ link.
• If using a number, odd numbers generally perform better than even numbers in blog post titles because they appear less conveniently packaged than even numbers.
• When using numbers in blog post titles, use digits rather than spelling out the number.
• Don’t add more than three hashtags in your titles. Doing so makes blog posts look spammy. 
• Adding Twitter usernames to blog post titles help get your post noticed on Twitter.

How do you come up with titles for your blog posts? Do you have any tips for creating them that you’d like to add to my list? Do you have any questions about creating blog post titles? Share them in the comments section.

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