What do you consider the most crucial factor in attracting new visitors to your blog or website?
Many may immediately say, ‘content.’
However, content is not always king.
An essential element that nearly every visitor encounters first before deciding to read a blog post in depth exists.
Crafting Compelling Titles for Your Blog Posts
Why Great Blog Post Titles Are Essential…
“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
Indeed, the secret lies in your blog post titles. Craft captivating titles, and you will witness a surge in new visitors eager to read your posts and explore your website.
I don’t know about you, but some blog post titles can make me sleepy, especially when they have been used repeatedly.
Blog Post Titles: The Equivalent of Book and Movie Titles
I consider blog post titles akin to the titles of books or movies. If a title captures my interest, I am likely to begin reading the book or watch the film.
Titles are as significant as the content itself, yet many bloggers give their blog post titles little, if any, thought. Master both, and you’re on the path to success.
If your blog post title isn’t engaging, how many potential new and existing visitors will scroll past it without a second thought?
I often find myself doing the same. If a title fails to grab my attention, I quickly move on.
Think about this: how many visitors to your blog are likely to do the same?
Tip: When creating titles for your blog posts, consider what title would motivate you to click on the ‘read more’ link.
Strategies to Make Your Blog Post Titles More Enticing
Certain words in blog post titles can attract readers’ interest in learning more. Here are a few examples:
- How
- How to
- When
- Have
- Have you
- Don’t
- Did
- Do you
- This
- This is
- Who
- Why
- What
- Where
Additional Techniques to Enhance Your Blog Post Titles
Incorporate Numbers
Numbers can greatly affect the effectiveness of your titles. Think about these two examples:
My thoughts on Ways to Get People to Read Your Blog Posts.
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According to Janice Wald of MostlyBlogging.com, odd numbers generally perform better than even numbers in titles, with prime numbers yielding even greater results.
Odd numbers tend to attract more attention as they seem less predictable compared to even numbers.
Tip: Opt for numerals instead of spelling them out when using numbers. Digits tend to stand out more in headlines and require less space.
Utilise Hashtags
Hashtags can enhance your blog post titles, aiding both SEO and drawing in visitors seeking specific topics.
Explore trending hashtags around your post’s publication time. Bluesky and X are great resources for identifying these trends, but always ensure your hashtags are relevant to your content.
Warning: Excessive hashtags can lead to search engines flagging your post as spam. To maintain a professional appearance, limit yourself to no more than three hashtags in your blog post title.
Incorporate Bluesky and X Usernames
If you mention someone in your blog post with a Bluesky or X account, including their handle in the title can be beneficial. When your post is shared, the individual mentioned receives a notification and may expand your reach by resharing it.
For example, when writing a book review, in the blog post title, include the Bluesky or X handle of the author.
Optimise Word Count
Research from CoSchedule.Com suggests that blog post titles around 55 characters long typically earn the highest click-through rates. Titles within six to ten words also tend to yield better engagement.
To establish a foundation for creating your blog post titles, consider these templates:
- How To ____
- How To Find ____
- How To Completely Change ____
- How To Create ____
- How To Use ____
- How To Get Rid Of ____
- How I Made ____
- How To Save ____
- How To Help ____
- How To Develop ____
- What To Do With ____
- Here’s How To ____
- Where To Find ____
- What No One Tells You About ____
- (#) Questions You Should Ask Before ____
- (#) Secrets To ____
- (#) Signs You Might ____
- (#) Rules For ____
- (#) Facts About ____
- (#) Ideas For/To ____
- (#) Essential Steps For/To ____
- (#) Foolproof Tips For ____
- (#) Handy Tips For ____
- (#) Tricks For ____
- (#) Key Benefits For ____
- (#) Reasons You ____
- (#) Wrong Ways To ____
- (#) Most Popular ____
- (#) Tips For ____
- (#) ____ Mistakes You Won’t Make Again
- (#) Things I’ve Learned This Month
- Why My Weekend Was Amazing
- You’ll Never Believe What Happened Last Week
- Why This Is The Only Chocolate Chip Recipe You Need
- Meet ____ ____ Who Reveals Their Writing Secrets
- Why I’m Recommending These (#) TV Shows to Fans of ____
- Book Review: (#) Reasons I’m Giving ____ by ____ ____ (insert Bluesky or X username) 5 Stars
(Remember to insert a number in place of (#).)
I’ve used many of these title ideas and seen excellent results. My titles frequently include words that draw readers in.
Warning: Always remember to add a title to your blog post. Any title is better than having none. WordPress replaces empty titles with a five-digit number, which does not encourage visitors to click the ‘read more’ link.
AI – can it help with blog post titles?
Yes, it can.
Did you know that WordPress has an AI block? Just ask it to suggest a title for your post, and see the result.
Not sure how to use AI on WordPress? Check out this excellent post from Fedora, who blogs at Fedora Pancakes – ‘A Guide to WordPress.com’s AI Assistant.‘
Conclusion
- Blog post titles are the first impression for visitors; make them as compelling as possible.
- Titles are as important as the content of your posts.
- Consider what would encourage you to click ‘read more’ when crafting a title.
- A poorly chosen title could mean missing out on countless new readers, likes, and comments.
- Ensure every post has a title; it doesn’t have to be perfect—just better than a default number.
- Use engaging words like How, What, Why, and Where to entice clicks.
- Odd numbers usually outperform even numbers in titles, making them more appealing.
- Use numerals for numbers in titles for better visibility.
- Keep hashtags limited to three to avoid looking spammy.
- Mentioning Bluesky and X usernames can help boost your post’s visibility on social media.
- Use AI to help generate blog post titles.
How do you generate titles for your blog posts? Are there any extra strategies you would like to share or questions about title creation? Join the conversation in the comments!
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These are great tips, Hugh. I so agree with you that titles can make or break you~!
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Absolutely, Cindy. If the title of a blog posts fails to grab my attention, I skip past it just like I do with emails with poor subject headings from retailers.
An interesting and informative post with many helpful tips…Thank you for the link to Fedora, Hugh :)
Fedora published some great blogging tips posts, Carol. I hope you find them as helpful as I do.
I’m sure I will, Hugh I have followed Fedora so I don’t miss any :)
Great advice Hugh thanks. I am a teacher, so we’re always sceptical with AI with students using it for their work. Are they learning or is AI doing the work for them. Sometimes difficult to challenge. AI also scares me as it’s so real looking, for example, with photos and videos of people that aren’t real. It’s difficult to know what is real and what isn’t. I love the benefits of it but there were sadly there are always those who abuse it.
Yes, I get you with regards to the students using AI to do homework, Wayne. It’s one of the negatives of AI, but doesn’t everything come with its negatives these days? Just look at all the scammers’ emails and calls made using technology, social media, and mobile phones. I’ve even heard of bloggers being scammed by clicking links on blog posts. We have to be so careful. I always look at the positives more than I do the negatives.
So true Hugh and I totally agree with your mentality. I always look for the good too and try not to focus on the negatives. Life’s too short.
Another great post Hugh. I had no idea WordPress had AI to help with titles etc.
Yes, WordPress has AI that can help with most things, Wayne. It also has an AI image creator, although I have not found it very good when using words in an image.
Thanks Hugh, I will definitely be looking into this. AI seems to be everywhere right now, no escaping it but I can see the pros as well as the cons.
AI is here to stay, Wayne. I make it work for me rather than me work for it. You can use it as little as you like (which I do). I’d never ask it to write a blog post for me. But it can help me with spelling and grammar errors and suggest other points to add to posts.