20+ Tips to Write Catchy Headlines and Blog Titles in 2023
Last Updated on 20th March 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.
How 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.
However some things are also important for a great user experience, like
- Your website loading time (Switch from shared hosts to cloud host)
- Choose a multipurpose theme (I use Themify ultra)
- Landing page
- Unique content
- Quality Images
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.
FAQS on blog post titles and headlines!
Q: How can I make my title really click-worthy?
A: There are many great strategies you can use for this. You can write something that makes readers curious or surprised.
You can also do things like writing the whole title in all caps to draw attention, or use numbers to appeal to readers with a shorter attention span.
There is no right or wrong way to do this, just try different things and see what your readers respond to best.
Q: I don’t want my titles to be clickbait, but still grab people’s attention. What should I do?
A: It’s important to remember that your blog post titles don’t have to be catchy in a clickbaity way in order to get the most readers.
Sometimes, using more unique and creative phrasing can work just as well without leaving readers feeling tricked when they click on the link only to find it’s not what they thought it was going to be.
Q: Why should I even bother with my blog post titles? Is it really that important?
A: Yes! Your blog post titles and headlines are the first things people see when they search online for something or click on your link.
They’re one of the most important things to get right when writing a blog post.
If you’re not getting readers to click, then your hard work in creating an awesome blog is going unnoticed.
Even if you do manage to get them to click through, without a good title they might not stay on the page long enough to see your great content!
Q: How can I make my titles catchy, but still fit my blog’s tone and theme?
A: You can do this by being creative in your word choice.
Also, inserting certain keywords or images in a clever way to tie in with the title makes it more memorable since people will associate those images and words with your post.
Q: Is there a good length for blog titles and headlines?
A: The best thing to do is look at what other popular posts in your niche use for their titles.
You can even get ideas from the most popular videos on YouTube or any other place where people share content online.
There isn’t a right length for blog post titles, but shorter ones tend to do better since they are easier to remember.
Q: Can I focus on creating a catchy title and worry about the article’s content later?
A: Not exactly. While it is important to have a good title, you can’t just throw something together at the last minute.
You need to put some effort into your blog post titles in order for them to be effective.
The best thing to do is focus at least 50% of your time and effort on creating a great title because it will make up half of the success or failure of your post.
Q: Does the order in which I write my blog post’s content matter? Should I start with an introduction, or should I jump right into the main part?
A: It’s actually best to start with an introduction, but it’s up to you.
People usually think the main part is more important so they put that at the beginning, but it can be just as effective to start with a good intro.
Q: I’ve heard of SEO, but what is it and how does it relate to blog post titles?
A: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process used to improve search engine ranking.
This comes from using certain strategies or elements for your blog post titles that help them rank higher in searches.
Using keywords, relevant images and other content, along with making your post easily found on social media are all important to SEO.
Q: What is the best way to include keywords in my blog titles?
A: Since it’s difficult to cram too many keywords into a good title without it sounding spammy,
you should focus on choosing 1-3 of your most important keywords and using them in your title.
Remember to choose them wisely since you don’t want to sacrifice readability for the sake of SEO.
Q: What should I do if I don’t have time to sit down and brainstorm titles, or I can’t think of anything good?
A: There are many tools you can use to name your blog posts quickly.
YouTubers use YouTube titles that are 15-25 characters long, which is great for bloggers looking for a general idea of what to include in their titles.
Using pre-made lists of catchy headlines found online is another way to find titles for your posts.
Q: Is it better to go with the flow when writing my blog post’s content, or should I plan everything out first?
A: It depends on what you’re more comfortable with.
Planning out your blog post ahead of time allows you to focus all of your efforts on creating great content from the get-go.
On the other hand, going with the flow means you can take a more “stream of consciousness” approach and get creative with your writing while it’s fresh in your mind.
Q: I have a few different ideas for blog posts but don’t know which one to choose. Which should I go with?
A: Sometimes it’s good to just pick one at random since you can always edit your post later on.
If you do this, make sure to come up with a schedule so the readers know when your posts will appear.
That way they won’t forget about your blog by not publishing anything for too long!
Conclusion
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.