In our last blog post, we discussed what search engine optimization (SEO) is and why it is important. In that post, keywords and blogging were highlighted as important factors in high search engine results. Below are facts and tips to including keywords in your blogging, which is vital for exceptional SEO results.
11 Headline Facts for Blogs
How important is the headline of a blog? A headline is incredibly important because it is often what entices a reader to read your content. Here are 11 facts that will help you build quality headlines:
- Titles are your ticket to shares- Give them the time and energy they deserve!
- Digits in numeral form perform better- Use the number “3” instead of writing out “three.”
- You can load your titles with sharable words- Sharable words to include: You, Free, Help, How To and Great.
- People respond to negative titles- Negative words to include: No, Without, Terrible or Stop.
- Length is important- Keep blog titles between 16-18 words.
- Sometimes aggression works- Words like Kill, Die and Dead are dark and negative, and can be effective if your aim is to gain readers.
- Verbs move people to click- Verbs and adverbs titles convey more value to readers, leaving them convinced they’ll finish the blog article able to accomplish something they need to do.
- Teasing doesn’t work- Don’t rely on clickbait to get clicks to your blog; readers are catching on to cheap tricks; provide context to what the blog will be about in the headline.
- Address the reader- Write directly to your reader and let them know exactly what they’ll be reading from the headline.
- They’re not free advertising- Don’t include your company name in the headline or use it to tease an announcement.
- Odd numbers work best- When offering tips in your blog post, odd numbers attract the readers eye better than even numbers (7 is more attractive than 6).
Now that you know what makes a reader want to click on a headline to a blog post, here are tools to help you write SEO positive headlines.
BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo is a social media marketing tool, that can help with positive SEO results. Using their “content research” page, you can search a keyword you want to write about and it will retrieve content suited for your page. You are given the number of shares that subject has received over the past 24 hours to past year depending on your settings; this gives you an insight to how popular and how likely your post will be interacted with on social media; a low keyword search result may result in little to shares because of lack of interest.
CoSchedule: After you’ve run your keyword through BuzzSumo to find one that is appealing to your readers, next you need to create your headline. You may think the first headline that popped in your head is perfect and ready to go; however, it could still need work. Run your headline through the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer and asses your score; a red, yellow or green will come up, with red being a poor score and green being the best for SEO. Go through the analysis and use their tips to beef up your headline and make it more appealing.
Are you ready to start writing effective and SEO friendly blogs and headlines? Contact us today to learn more about our website services and how we can help your small business’ website grow through SEO and blogging.
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