How to Write Great Blog Titles9 Quick Tips to Writing Blog Titles (that Capture Reader Attention) in 2023

Want more blog readers? You need to spend more time learning how to write blog titles that’ll attract readers.

Some newer bloggers think that blog post titles don’t really matter. They write a post, figure out something to call it and publish it. Same goes for the next post.

And then they’re surprised when no one seems to be reading their blog…

Your blog post titles (also called headlines) are crucial. They make a huge difference to how many readers you get through every single source of traffic: search engines, social media and email traffic in particular.

If you don’t put any time and effort into writing your blog titles, then you might as well not put any time or effort into running your blog itself. Poor blog post titles will seriously hamper your chances of blogging success.

The good news is that it’s not hard to come up with great blog titles. Plus, it’s easy to fix older titles that might not be quite working for you.

In this quick guide to blog titles, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know—covering what works, how to write a great blog title, and what to avoid at all costs.

How to Write Blog Titles (9 Quick Tips to Writing Catchy Titles)

1. Why You Need to Write Catchy Blog Titles
2. What Makes for a Great Blog Title?
3. How to Write a Great Blog Post Title (9 Quick Tips)
4. Start the Title with Your Target Keyword Phrase
5. Add a Number to Your Blog Post Title
6. Appeal to Reader Emotions Using Power Words
7. Use Title or Headline Writing Templates
8. Try Out Online Blog Title Tools (Examples)
9. Create Your Own Blog Post Title Swipe File
10. Come Up with Several Different Blog Post Titles to Test
11. What to Avoid in Writing Blog Titles (2 Major Mistakes)

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I’ll earn a commission. Know that I only recommend products and services I’ve personally used and stand behind. When you use one of my affiliate links, the company compensates me, which helps me run this blog and keep my in-depth content free of charge for readers (like you).

Need Catchy Blog Title Ideas?

Try my free AI-Powered Blog Title Generator Tool to get dozens of SEO-friendly headline ideas to make your blog posts stand out today.

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Why You Need to Write Catchy Blog Titles

On average, out of 10 readers, 8 of them will only read the title. 2 will read the actual post.

This is why blog titles are so crucial. You want to increase that ratio so that more people are reading your full post, not just the title.

Think about how people come to your blog. They’ll probably visit because:

• Your blog post showed up in a Google search
• Someone shared a link to your post on social media
• They’re already in your audience and you sent out an email about a new post

In all these cases, they’ll see the title of your post—but not necessarily much else. The title really needs to grab their attention, especially when you’re competing against lots of other things they could be reading.

But your title is even more important than that. If it’s not a good title, potential readers may never even see it in the first place.

That’s because blog post titles are a crucial on-page ranking factor for Google. If you don’t have a clear title that includes your primary keyword, then you’re almost certainly not going to rank for that keyword—however great your content is.

Titles can also influence people who are sharing your post. If your post has a snappy, clear title, you can see why readers might be more likely to share that with their own audience than if you just titled it something like “Update” or “News”.

In fact, it’s becoming increasingly clear that plenty of social media users only read the title or headline before sharing an article – and this isn’t a new phenomenon. As the Washington Post reported a few years ago:

The satirical news site the Science Post published a block of “lorem ipsum” text under a frightening headline: “Study: 70% of Facebook users only read the headline of science stories before commenting.” Nearly 46,000 people shared the post, some of them quite earnestly—an inadvertent example, perhaps, of life imitating comedy.

Now you know why titles are so important, it’s time to learn what works when crafting a great title.

What Makes for a Great Blog Title?

The best blog titles are clear–not vague or confusing, and not trying too hard to be clever.

They use straightforward language but also include emotive words that appeal to people’s curiosity, create a sense of excitement, or otherwise entice the reader to click through and read the article. Here’s a snap shot of some blog title examples from my own best content list:

Now, let’s do an exercise. Compare these blog title examples and see which you’d be more likely to click and read:

• Blog Post Titles
• This Weird 8/10 Rule Will Astonish You
• 9 Powerful Tips on How to Write Great Blog Titles

The first title is accurate and contains a keyword (“blog post titles”)—but it’s not particularly interesting. It’d be easy to skip past, especially if you come across it on social media and you’re not specifically looking for advice on blog post titles at that moment in time.

The second title is trying to get clicks but comes across as a bit scammy—we’ve probably all seen headlines like that. It’s also really vague: what rule? It could relate to literally any niche. A few readers might click out of curiosity, but most will avoid it.

The third title is the title of this post 😉  and since you’re reading this post, I’m guessing it worked for you! It’s a clear, specific title that lets readers know exactly what they’re going to get – and it includes a couple of words with a good emotional appeal (“powerful” and “great”).

Need Catchy Blog Title Ideas?

Try my free AI-Powered Blog Title Generator Tool to get dozens of SEO-friendly headline ideas to make your blog posts stand out today.

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How to Write a Great Blog Post Title (9 Quick Tips)

So how do you come up with a great title for your blog post? And should you write the title before or after writing the blog post itself?

1. Start the Title with Your Target Keyword Phrase

It’s incredibly important to have your title in mind right from the start of your writing process, when you start doing keyword research and identifying possible topics to write about. This makes it easy to match your post to the promise in your blog title. Of course, your title can (and probably will) change as you go along, but you want to start thinking about it as early on as you can.

When you’re doing keyword research for a new article, you might have a whole list of potential keywords in mind that could lead the charge for your piece.

Use My Free Keyword Research Tool

Try my free AI-Powered Keyword Tool to get dozens of research-backed ideas for keywords & topics to write about on your blog today.

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Let’s say you want to write about the nuances of SEO for bloggers. Some good target keywords to incorporate into your blog title could include:

• SEO for Bloggers
• Blog SEO
• Blogging SEO
• How to Do SEO for a Blog

None of those keyword phrases would work as titles on their own, but they’re a great starting point for brainstorming a beginning of a catchy blog title.

2. Add a Number to Your Blog Post Title

You don’t have to use a number in your title… but doing so is a great shortcut for creating a title that appeals to readers.

Let’s take those four topics we came up with from our keyword research and see how we can easily add a number at the start. I’ve put the parts I’ve added in bold:

• 6 Steps to Start a Blog
• 12 Ways to Make Money Blogging
• 10 Best Free Blogging Sites
• 8 Tips for Smart Guest Blogging

These titles aren’t perfect yet, but can you see how simply adding these short phrases turns them from keywords into catchy blog titles? This also gives you an instant structure for your post.

You can use these number formulas again and again. “6 Steps for Starting a Blog” could work in almost any niche. Here are just a few examples:

• 6 Steps for Starting Out at a New University (student blog)
• 6 Steps for Easier Traveling With Kids (travel or parenting blog)
• 6 Steps for Overcoming Anxiety (self-improvement or health-related blog)

Obviously, you could change the number 6 to any other number you want, too.

3. Appeal to Reader Emotions Using Power Words

The best titles have some kind of emotional appeal, often using what some bloggers call “power words” to do so.

Let’s take a look at our titles in progress again and add in some extra words and phrases:

• 6 Easy Steps for Starting a Blog Today
• 12 Ways to Make Money Blogging (That Really Work)
• The 10 Best Free Blogging Sites Compared
• 8 Tips for Guest Posting and Skyrocketing Your Sales

Can you see how these blog titles have become more compelling?

In the first example, for instance, we’re focusing on the reader’s desire to make things easy and fast. Words like simple, straightforward, beginner-friendly, and step-by-step can all emphasize that your post will be easy for the reader to put into practice. And words like today, instantly, fast, quick, and immediately all reassure readers that your solution is one they can get started on right away.

4. Use Title or Headline Writing Templates

There are some great templates out there for writing blog post titles, which can make it much easier and faster to come up with your own titles.

If I don’t say so myself, one great blog title writing tool at your disposal is… me! 👋

Head over to my guide about writing headlines here and leave a comment with a blog title you’d like me to rewrite and give you some inspiration on!

Whichever resource you use, you’ll likely find that some of the headline ideas work well for your niche and brand and that others aren’t quite such a good fit. Don’t use a headline that doesn’t feel comfortable to you—there will always be plenty of other good options.

5. Try Out Online Blog Title Generator Tools

There are plenty of tools out there that can help you write headlines. Some will even generate potential blog post titles for you—like my own tool does right here:

My Blog Title Generator: Free Tool for AI-Powered SEO Blog Title Ideas

Try my free AI-Powered Blog Title Generator Tool to get dozens of SEO-friendly headline ideas to make your blog posts stand out today.

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While there are certainly more tools out there to analyze your headlines, be careful not to fall too deep into paralysis of analysis. Good enough is the best place to start—and you can always tweak your blog titles over time as you see how search engines like Google are reacting to it.

6. Create Your Own Blog Post Title Swipe File

Another great way to come up with titles for your blog posts is to look out for great titles that you want to read (and make a collection of them to save on your desktop). It doesn’t matter if these are from completely different niches—you can still learn a lot from them.

Create a document for your own blog post title swipe file. (“Swipe file” is a copywriting term for a file where you store great pieces of writing to learn from and emulate.)

You’re welcome to use some of the titles from my own blog posts: Try starting with this list of my best articles.

Of course, you won’t simply copy the titles when you use them for your own posts. Instead, you’ll put your own unique spin on them.

Here’s an example: 201+ Best Blog Post Ideas That’ll (Actually) Drive Traffic

You could transition that blog title down into a workable template like this:

XXX+ Best ___ Ideas That’ll (Actually) _____

Let’s say your blog is all about keeping your home organized. You could write:

101+ Best Home Organization Ideas That’ll (Actually) Work for You

Or maybe you blog about traveling the world. With a little bit more of the twist—we’ve now switched out the word “ideas”—your title could be:

101+ Best Travel Destinations That’ll (Actually) Be Cheaper Than Staying Home

In general, as you read other blogs, pay attention to what gets you to click (and stick around on a blog). What types of words and phrases in titles appeal to you? Could you incorporate some of these into your own blog post titles?

7. Come Up With Several Different Blog Post Titles (to Test)

I’ll let you in on a not-so-secret. Whenever a new post gets published here on my blog, its title isn’t necessarily the first one we came up with.

When we outline posts, we come up with at least three different title possibilities. And these will often get tweaked along the way, too.

For this post itself, we worked with these 3 blog title examples as potential winners—and at the end of the day, we went with a more direct keyword focus (since this term is pretty competitive):

For your own blog posts, you’ll want to take the same approach of testing blog titles.

Don’t just come up with one great title: think of several different titles you could use. It’s useful to do this at the planning stage, as the title you settle on might affect the tone and structure of your post.

What to Avoid in Writing Blog Titles (2 Major Mistakes)

There are a few things to avoid when writing blog post titles – even if you see other bloggers (or journalists) using these techniques.

You want to steer clear of:

1. Clickbait or Misleading Blog Titles

Titles are described as “clickbait” where they encourage people to click by making exaggerated claims or by playing up an element of shock. Essentially, they misrepresent the actual content.

These types of titles can be effective for getting readers to click through – but they’ll often result in annoyed readers who avoid ever returning to your site.

Here are a couple of examples of clickbait titles, collected by Ranker. Notice how they don’t use keywords but lean heavily on shock value:

• “When You Find Out What These Kids Are Jumping Into, Your Jaw Will Drop”
• “Baby Ducks See Water For The First Time – Can You BELIEVE What They Do?”

Clickbait can also involve making overinflated promises. It’s not a good idea to call your blog post something like “The Billionaire’s Guide to Making Six Figures Blogging OVERNIGHT” when you’ve only ever made a few dollars from your blogging and your post is just a few general bullet points about making money online.

2. Blog Post Titles That Don’t Align With Your Blog’s Niche or Brand

Some titles might work well in certain niches, but not in others. For instance, if your blog’s niche is quite academic and serious, then dramatic titles that might work in other niches could just leave your blog looking out of place and not being taken seriously.

You also want to make sure your titles fit with your brand: if you have a calm, relaxing blog about meditation, you probably don’t want titles that focus on anger, like “The Most Annoying Yoga Moves That Everyone Hates.”

A title like that might work fine for a snarky exercise blog, but it’s not likely to be a good fit for your target audience.

Ready to Write Great Blog Post Titles for Your Blog?

Now you know what makes a great blog post title—and what to steer clear of.

Today, come up with 3 possible titles for your next blog post (or the post you’re currently drafting). You might even want to run these ideas past a friend to see which they prefer.

If you have enough time, go back through your archives and look for any blog posts which don’t have very compelling titles. Could you spend a couple of minutes tweaking these? Just adding a number, a powerful word, or a short phrase like “how to” or “top tips” can make a huge difference.

For lots more tips on writing blog titles, check out my article on how to write a blog post headline. This’ll help you pinpoint what types of title will appeal most to your audience—and it has plenty of examples along the way.

Need Catchy Blog Title Ideas?

Try my free AI-Powered Blog Title Generator Tool to get dozens of SEO-friendly headline ideas to make your blog posts stand out today.

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