How to Write Catchy Headlines and Blog Titles?
Last Updated on 20th September 2023 by Ajmer Singh
As we all know, blog post titles and headlines are extremely important for getting our articles to read.
The article titles should give a good idea as to what the content of the article is about and make people want to open it.
Headlines play an important role in getting clicks from readers as well as search engines.
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20+ Tips to write catchy headlines and blog titles
Here are some aspects to keep in mind while creating engaging titles:
1. Be specific, general terms are boring!
Your blog post title should be catchy but not too vague.
For example, if you are writing about how to make money online, your title should say something like ‘how to make $1000 per month via a blog’ or ‘5 tips to make money from a blog’.
Titles that are too vague will not attract readers.
2. Be creative!
Don’t write the title in a very plain way, it’s your article after all.
You can be as creative as possible with your titles as long as they fulfil their purpose which is to get the readers’ attention.
Make your titles sound interesting and presentable to entice people!
3. Give away some of the content, but not too much!
If your blog post has a lot of images or videos, you can just give a brief description in the title,
and then provide links and other information afterwards for those who want to learn more.
For blog posts without images or videos, you can give a short introduction about your post in the title itself so that readers know what they are getting into.
4. Use numbers and lists to get attention!
Using statements like ‘5 ways to do something’ has been proven to attract more clicks than just saying ‘Do something’.
Readers like to know how many steps are involved in doing something. So use numbers and lists to grab attention!
5. Use punctuation for effect!
Using hyphens, commas, colons etc enhance the readability of titles by making them more clear and eye-catching.
For example ‘How To Make Money Online: A Step By Step Guide’ is easier to read than ‘How to make money online- a step by step guide’ therefore making your article more appealing.
6. Make the title relevant!
If you’re writing about ‘how to make money’, it is better not to use keywords like ‘make money fast’.
People who are looking for how to make fast money will probably search for that particular phrase and get results that don’t relate to what they’re looking for.
So it is better to just use relevant keywords.
7. Don’t overdo it!
Too many big or strange words in a title may put off readers who are not very fluent in English.
Which in turn decreases the number of people who will read your article.
You can use big words in your titles, but be sure to balance them out with more common words.
8. Be Humorous!
Everyone loves a funny title.
There are many humorous content-based sites on the Internet that have very high views because they are so entertaining to read.
Try being humorous, it works more often than not!
9. Create curiosity!
Catchy titles are not only useful for your blog post, but they are also important for people clicking on your links on social media sites or related posts of other blogs.
If you have a title that makes the reader wonder what the article is about, you will increase your chances of getting people to click on your links.
10. Be succinct!
Titles should be as brief as possible without compromising on the information they provide (except for numbers and lists).
Short titles can make articles seem more approachable and clear. Make sure that they contain all the necessary details.
11. Stay on topic!
If you’re writing a blog about how to make money, then the title of your article should talk about a method of making money and not something else.
If possible, keep your titles as close as possible to the content within your article so readers can expect more from it.
12. Be careful of copyright infringement!
If you are reusing titles of other people’s work, make sure they haven’t copyrighted their titles under any free-use license.
If you are not allowed to reproduce or alter the title, don’t do it.
Duplicate content is a major factor that reduces SEO rankings for websites hosting it.
13. Be specific!
An especially useful tip for content-based websites with large databases of articles.
Using keywords with specificity can help your article rank higher when people search for similar things using those keywords.
For example, ‘how to make money online’ is a vague and general key phrase that could mean anything.
However, if you say ‘How To Make $100 By Watching YouTube Videos’ it will be easier for people to search for that phrase and find your video.
14. Use the standard!
If you’re writing about technology-related things like ‘How to configure a firewall in windows’, using the standard terminology is preferred.
If you invent new phrases when writing about tech topics, you could confuse readers who are not familiar with these terms.
15. Don’t be too abstract!
Show the reader what they are getting into right from the title, but don’t reveal everything about it or else there will be nothing left to read.
Use appropriate keywords that give an overview of what the article is about without revealing key details.
16. Avoid click-bait titles!
A very popular method is to use shocking words at the beginning of titles, like ‘you won’t believe…’ or ‘the secret behind…’.
Click-bait titles are usually written in a way that suggests they are going to tell you something amazing or reveal some major mystery about something.
You should avoid this kind of title unless you can pull it off successfully.
17. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
If you’re not getting any good titles, don’t keep writing the same kind over and over again.
Try using weird words or phrases, write down random words and see what interesting combinations you can make out of them.
It takes creativity to make great titles, so if it’s not working out for you, take a break and come back to it with fresh eyes.
18. Make them truthful!
If the title promises something the article does not deliver upon, this will cause your readers to lose trust in you.
Try leaving off any ‘musts’ or ‘gotta haves’.
Instead of promising that the article is ‘how to make money’, you could say that it’s about the ways of making money.
19. Remember, your readers come first!
Your readers will be happier if they get exactly what they were looking for and didn’t have to click on a bunch of unrelated links before they found something interesting.
Try your best to provide them with the information they are looking for (which can be derived from their search terms) and they will keep coming back for more.
20. Be suave about it!
If you feel like titling your article something that might not fit in with the tone of your blog, don’t worry about it.
Titles like ‘What Your ____ Says About You’ aren’t common but they work well for some blogs.
If your blog is about serious topics, it might not be the best idea to write clickbait titles because it might seem unprofessional.
Things to consider before writing a blog post title!
1. Choosing catchy words or phrases that are relevant to the article.
3. Using popular search terms commonly used during searches related to the article’s topic.
4. Adding words that show an introduction of what the article is about, but not revealing everything in the title.
5. Making sure there aren’t any keywords or phrases already copyrighted under someone else’s name.
6. Avoiding click-bait titles that promise to deliver more than what the article can actually provide.
7. Making sure your title is relevant and beneficial to readers, not just what will attract the most to read it.
8. Employing a unique phrase and style of writing for each new title on your blog.
9. Checking to make sure the title is suitable for the topic and won’t mislead readers when they read it after clicking on your link.
10. Making sure there aren’t any spelling or grammar mistakes in the title since it’s going to be visible to a large audience.
Things to avoid when writing a blog post title!
1. Using the same title repeatedly.
2. Don’t use clickbait titles that promise to deliver more than what your article offers.
3. Avoid using very popular search terms since they’ve already been used many times before and will bring up too many results when people are looking for something specific.
4. Using very confusing or abstract words in your titles since the article might not be able to provide proper explanations for them.
5. Blog post titles shouldn’t mislead readers into thinking that they’ll find something else than what’s actually covered in the article.
6. Not putting any effort at all. If you don’t want to write a good blog post, why send traffic?
7. Using the all too common “How to” phrase in your titles, especially when it’s something vague like “How to make money”.
8. Avoid doing anything at all creative with the title since you’ll probably confuse readers and they won’t know what to expect from your article.
9. Don’t use a generic title that could apply to every other article on the internet.
10. Using a title that doesn’t fit in with your blog’s tone and theme.
Wrapping Up
I hope you understand the importance of a blog post title.
It is what gets your content read or not, so it’s worth spending time thinking about and crafting something that will resonate with readers.
Even if you have a really great idea for a blog post but don’t spend any time on the title,
people won’t find it when they search for topics related to your niche because Google doesn’t know how well-written or engaging it might be!
So take some time to think carefully about this one – just like blogging itself, there’s no “easy button” here.
Spend 5 minutes brainstorming before writing down anything; then pick the best option from those ideas (or create an even better one).
You’ll thank yourself.
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