How To Write Great Titles (13 Tips To Write Titles For People, And SEO!!!) is brought to you by the letter H. Wait, what?
Are you wondering how to write great titles for your articles or email? A catchy and attractive title can make a massive difference in the CTR (click-through rate) and help drive more traffic to your blog.
According to recent studies by top SEO talent, it is possible to increase the traffic by an astonishing 500% to a specific article by crafting the titles following well-studied strategies. This article covers the best strategies and hacks to help you write great titles, so stick around.
What are the most successful strategies to use in writing a great title?
A great title has the power to make a specific post become viral or at least drive considerable traffic to a page. After many hours of crafting excellent content, you do not want to lose readers because of a poor title.
There are many hacks you can use to improve the CTR of a title. In addition, you can sometimes use several hacks with one single headline, making it even more catchy and attractive.
You should know all the tricks that can help you make a title great and use those that best fit the topic of your post or that better convey your message.
Here are some of the most proven strategies to make a significant and catchy title:
1. Use questions
Questions are great to spark curiosity in readers. For example, a recent study found that headlines with a question could increase readership between 53.85% and 257%, depending on whether the question had self-referenced cues (most effective).
A question in a title tends to improve the interaction between the reader and the writer. In addition, it compels the reader to learn more about the topic, leveraging innate human curiosity.
Similarly, titles ending up with three exclamation marks can be 2x the CTR than titles without any special characters.
But, it is necessary to put some thought into the question. It must be something the audience would like to know or something valuable to them. Question titles can also leverage the audience’s emotions, such as doubts, interest, and similar.
2. Use numbers
Numbers have the power to increase the click-through rate up to the 20%, especially for what concerns the odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, etc.).
In addition, headlines with numbers attract readers because of the type of content that usually is easy to read.
Suppose the title refers to a certain number of ways to do things, many pieces of advice, and similar. In that case, readers are inspired to read the article because they know they will get more than one helpful piece of information. With multiple points of data, the reader can use and choose the one that they like the most.
Additionally, in another recent study, around 35% of the audience prefers titles with numbers, which is the first choice over other titles containing questions, how-tos, or other things.
Some of the most successful words you can use in combination with a number are:
- Secrets
- Ways
- Tricks
- Hacks
- Strategies
- Techniques
- Ideas
- Reasons
- Methods
For example:
- 9 ways to increase the CTR of your blog posts
- 11 secrets strategies to drive more traffic to a blog
3. Use “How-to” in the title (How To Write Great Titles – Look Familiar?)
Using the words “How-to” in a title is very powerful since the reader will learn how to resolve a problem or get something done. Generally, people searching the web want to solve a specific problem.
A “How-to” headline is the solution to their problems.
4. Use negative words
Although most people use positive words in their titles, negative titles can increase the CTR by up to 30%.
These types of terms can create certain emotions in the readers, such as urgency, fear of making a mistake, and deciding to avoid the negative consequences of an action. For this reason, they end up attracting more clicks.
Remember to use negative words in the title, followed by a potential solution.
For example:
- No sales in your online shop? Here is why!
- Losing traffic is terrible – 10 things you can do right now!
5. Use the concept of scarcity
The concept of scarcity is another powerful tool to use in crafting headlines. When something is scarce, about to finish, or soon not available, you can compel the reader to act “before it is too late”; it adds urgency.
People do not like to miss something that can be valuable or essential. So, giving the impression that they are about to miss out can attract a lot more attention and finally clicks on your post.
For example:
- 9 income-getting techniques to try before it is too late!
- 11 blogging niches that are still profitable
It is difficult to convey the concept of scarcity in titles or even while writing content. Do you need a professional to help you? Learn more.
6. Express a clear benefit
Depending on the topic of your article or product, a title that lays out a clear benefit is more attractive than a general title. The headline should highlight the most crucial benefit if there are many benefits or advantages.
For example, if you have a piece of content that goes over how to increase ad revenue, you could highlight “the fast and easier way” to do it.
7. Use a “first-person title.”
Using the first person in your title is another effective way to craft an outstanding title.
This strategy helps to build a relationship and trust with the audience. In addition, if you are successful in your work, you will attract readers more to read your first-hand experience.
An example of using the first-person title can be:
- 5 most essential tools I use to succeed with my blog
8. Write comparison titles
Comparison titles are not very common, but if your content describes the benefit (and negative points) of two or more products or services, you can drive more traffic using such titles.
In addition, it can spark curiosity in the audience and help them decide between two or more things.
An example of a comparison title is:
- Blogging VS dropshipping: which one is better?
9. Write the title in the proper length
The length of the title is essential in creating great titles. However, a too-long title can be confusing and cut out by Google when listing the article in search. Therefore, the most influential titles are short and precise.
In general, by recent studies, a title with no more than eight words can increase the CTR to 21%.
If you do not want your title to be cut off by Google (on the Google search page), it should not contain more than 70 characters.
10. Use uncommon or power words
Power words are often uncommon and are used to create an emotional reaction in the reader.
These types of words are generally persuasive and can induce the audience to take action. Therefore, uncommon and powerful words usually are more attractive than common words.
Examples of power words and uncommon words can be:
- Simple
- Easy
- Sexy
- Sick and tired
- Upsell
- Urgent
There are hundreds of such words, and you should use the one that fits your topic.
Would you like an expert to help you craft perfect titles using powerful words? We can help you. Contact us today; we’d love to help.
11. Don’t use too many superlatives
A superlative is an adjective meant to add a higher quality or lower the quality of something. Often, in an attempt to attract readers, a writer can tend to add too many superlatives to a title.
However, when this happens, the final result can be the opposite, which means that an audience is pushed away by a too sensational title.
It is happening because superlatives are often misused. In most cases, the content did not deliver what was promised in the title.
Readers have learned to stay away from clear click baits.
An example of too many superlatives in a title can be the following:
- The 3 best and most innovative SEO tools to write perfect articles
The words underlined in this example are all superlatives. As a general rule of thumb, most readers prefer headlines with 0-1 superlatives.
12. Address the reader
Another valid strategy for a great title is addressing the reader directly. This way, you can create a relationship with your audience and create a friendly atmosphere simultaneously.
An example of a title that addresses the reader directly is the following:
- 5 things you should know about improving website traffic
13. Use brackets in the headline
If you want to improve your title organic CTR, you could also place brackets in your title.
You can use a bracket to clarify a specific aspect of your article and make it more attractive. Recent studies show that headlines with brackets can increase the click-through rate (CTR) to 40%.
You can use both parenthesis or square brackets. In addition, using special characters can also make a title stand out.
Does capitalization matter in a title?
Although one might think that capitalizing a title or writing in lowercase is not that essential, the reality is that readers prefer titles written in sentence cases.
Sentence case means that the first letter of a word is uppercase and that the following letters are lowercase.
In general, you could write titles in lower case, capital, or sentence case. Based on a recent study to test readers’ preferences, results show readers like the titles to be:
- Sentence case – 64%
- Capital letters – 21%
- Lowercase – 7%
- No preferences – 8%
Frequently asked questions
What is a good title?
A good title should be able to summarize and convey the central message of your content while being clear, concise, and attractive. In addition, a good title needs to increase the chances that readers will click on it and take advantage of your high-quality content.
How many words must a good title contain?
In order to increase the chances of readers clicking on your title and make it visible in Google search, a title should be between 6-8 words and 60-75 characters long.
What is a creative title?
A creative title should be out of the norm and catchy. It should attract the reader’s attention and interest and make them curious about the content and what they will find in it.
Article References
Our writing continues to be industry-leading with our transparency of research sources. Why? Because it’s fair for you to know where we found our information.
- Referralcandy.com, “19 examples of the scarcity principles used in marketings,” https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/scarcity-marketing-examples, Accessed September 26, 2022.
- Wired.com, “Tabloid Chic: How Racy Headlines Unlock Money and Power,” https://www.wired.com/2013/02/tabloid-chic-the-rise-of-racy-headlines/, Accessed September 26, 2022.
- Contentmarketinginstitute.com, “ 5 Tips to Improve Your Headline Click-through Rate,” https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/headline-click-through-rate/, Accessed September 26, 2022.
- Wordstream.com, “19 Headline Writing Tips for More Clickable, Shareable Blog Posts,”https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/07/17/headline-writing, Accessed September 26, 2022.
- Moz.com, “5 Data Insights into the Headlines Readers Click, “https://moz.com/blog/5-data-insights-into-the-headlines-readers-click, Accessed September 26, 2022.
- Digitalducats.com, “Increase Organic Click-Through Rate,” https://digitalducats.com/increase-click-through-rate/, Accessed September 26, 2022.
- Blog.travelpayouts.com, “How to Create Attractive Blog Post Titles and Increase CTR,” https://blog.travelpayouts.com/en/blog-post-titles/, Accessed September 26, 2022.