Work Your Keyword Into the Title of A Webpage
One of the first things your target audience will see before clicking through to read your content is the blog post and page titles.
Writing catchy headlines that entice your audience to click through to read what you have published is an art that you can learn.
Using the right keywords within the first three words and creating a great URL is a great start. We then make sure we use appropriate header (H1, H2, H3, etc) tags, and then focus on the content that you want them to read.
Don’t Be Clever
Titles are not a good place to use puns or be too clever unless you know for sure your audience will get it. Have you ever clicked a title that promised one thing and delivered another? I bet you weren’t happy about it, were you? Don’t do that to your audience. The title should help your readers know what the content will cover.
Hook Them In
Hook Them InThe title needs to be interesting enough to make them want to click through and read. But, it also has to be honest. Honesty in titles is necessary because it trains your audience to trust you. If they click through and read what they thought they’d be reading they’ll be more likely to click through again.
Remember the Keywords
Use keywords in the title toward the beginning, within the first three words whenever possible, so that the search engines notice it. It’ll make it clear to your audience what the article or blog post is about and not just the search engines.
The Right Topic
Of course, you must pick a topic that is relevant to your audience. It doesn’t matter how optimized your title is if your audience isn’t interested in the information that you are providing. That’s why it is so important to know who your audience is.
Make it Clear Why They Should Read It
Within the title, you can let your readers know why they need to read your content. Tell them what they’ll learn, something compelling so that they realize there is an important reason to read the information.
Show Them the Benefit
When your title can portray the value of reading what you’ve written, that will ensure more people click through the title to gain that value. For example, if you have a product that can save time, qualify that and mention it.
Back-Up Claims Made Within the Content
If you can use a source of some kind within the titles that can help also. For example, “SEO research reveals XYZ increases open rates by 70%.” This type of information makes your audience more likely to read what you’ve written.
Use Numbers Within the Title
Quantifying anything always helps. Whether a list, a percentage, or another number that clarifies what’s going to be inside the content. Studies show that using numbers in your title increases open rates by more than 30 percent.
Deliver the Goods
The biggest key to ensuring that you have effective titles is to create awesome content. The content is equally as important as the title. If people click on the title and don’t read what they thought they would you’ll lose their trust.
One way to help yourself develop keyword-rich titles is to write your title first. The title helps define the focus of the article, blog post, or page on your site. That will help you focus during content creation.
