How to write a killer blog headline, even if you don’t like it

It’s true, a lot of the time, I don’t like my headlines. I would rather call this something like… ‘the cherry on your blogging cake,’ or perhaps ‘less words, take more time.’ Or maybe ‘why is being concise so hard?!’

But if you’re writing a blog, then in an ideal world, you actually want people to read it. You need to include two things in your blog headline to help people find it and entice them to want to click through and read it.

These are two things every blog headline needs.

1. A focus keyword or phrase
2. A power word

Here are some other great examples of headlines that would have worked for this post:

The secret to writing a blog that people will actually read

Your quick and easy guide to writing a blog headline

2 things every blog headline needs to convert to clicks

Why do these work?

Well, they all give the reader something they want. A quick and easy solution, a secret to success, or 2 simple ways to get more clicks. And they all contain my focus keyword, ‘blog headline.’

What is a focus keyword, and how do I choose one?

Your focus or primary keyword is the word or phrase your target reader is most likely to type into Google to find what you’ve written. It’s also the clearest way to tell your potential reader what’s inside.

Now we could go deep and get all complicated about keyword research, but that’s not what you’re here for. You want a quick and easy guide to writing a blogging headline.

Nobody likes clickbait. Try and ensure that whatever keyword you use or title you give your blog tells people what is inside and doesn’t mislead them.

After all, blogging is about building trust, so don’t take yourself five steps backward with a clever title that tricks your reader.

If you want do want to learn more, check out my popular guide to writing SEO friendly blogs.

What on earth is a power word?

Oh god, here we go with buzz words and jargon, Sorry!

A power word empowers your text with some feeling.

Rikki Sullivan

How much content do you scroll through each day? Or how many emails pop up in your inbox?

And how do you choose which ones you give your attention to?

In a scrolly world, we have just 5-10 seconds to make an impact and tempt a click through. A power word will help someone make the scroll-stop and give your post a chance…. Well, that and a strong image!

Here are some examples of power words to get your juices flowing:

1. Secret
2. Incredible
3. Easy
4. Fast
5. Love
6. Surprising
7. Awesome
8. Special
9. Learn
10. Revealed

Humans have shorter attention spans than goldfish

It’s true! Microsoft found the average human has an attention span of 8 seconds…. And goldfish have an average attention span of 9 seconds. Woah, we are distracted little beasts, aren’t we?!

But, you don’t have to start from scratch

There are a zillion tried and tested title formulas that can make it easy for you. It’s not copying, you’ll adapt them for your topic and audience, but they can help stop you staring at the blank page of dread.

Some blog titles that work well:

• How to posts – power this up by adding ‘even when’ or ‘because’ to address your reader’s pain point or objection, E.g., how to train your dog in just 5 minutes a day because time is short.
• List Titles – 7 reasons why, 6 ways to, 5 top tips. These work well because people know what they’re getting, and they’re easy to scan read.
• 3 steps to – These are gold. We’re all time-poor and want quick results. Promising to deliver something in x number of steps is click-worthy…. But make sure you deliver on your promise!

Bonus top tips

Use ‘you’ as much as possible. This will help your reader feel like you are talking to them, specifically, which will help you build a connection.

Take a bit of time before you start writing to think about who that ‘you’ is, so you can give them what they want

Think about what objections your reader might have. If you can address these succinctly in your headline, then you are on to a winner.

That’s it. You’re ready to go and polish up your headlines and see if you can get some more readers! I’d love to hear how you get on. And if you’ve found this helpful, please do give it a share.

For more blogging tips for your pet business, have a look at my guide to six free tools to make your blogging easy peasy lemon squeazy.

There’s one more thing you need to know to transform your content marketing success – learn about the secret power of meta titles and descriptions here.