How to Create a Great Blog Post Title

Introduction

You probably know that any solid digital marketing plan includes a blog for several reasons. Your blog is a great place to enhance your SEO performance. It serves as a way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. It’s a great way to engage your ideal clients. And it’s a fantastic way to share information. Unfortunately, it can also be a source of frustration when trying to come up with new ideas for fresh content.

Take a look at some established blogs and you’ll probably notice that there are several formulas for creating blog titles. Trustworthy blogs will have content that supports the title. Remember when your English teacher told you never to start with the title in high school or college? Well, forget that little rule because it doesn’t apply when writing blog posts!

Why a good title is important

In the world of digital marketing, blogs are short conversational articles on a topic of interest for your ideal client. Using a great blog post title is a fantastic way to grab their attention. It helps your SEO performance, draws in your ideal clients, and it’s a fabulous way to decide what you’d like to write about! 

Most importantly, when you start with a great blog post title, you narrow down the content you’ll write about. This is a great way to help keep your blog focused and prevent you from including too many topics or wandering away from the main point. When you write a great blog post title, you’ll have a clear path to your content.

Formulas to create a great blog post title

Over time, creating fresh content can be difficult. You know you have plenty of information to share with your ideal clients, but it can be tough to develop ideas. Using a formula to create a great blog post title is a simple way to help you brainstorm ideas when you’re stuck. Let’s look at some of the most common formulas and how to use them to create a great blog post title.

“How to…” title

Just like it sounds, a “How to…” title will lead your reader to believe that they will learn how to do something. Using a “How to…” title means you will need to have an informational blog post that teaches your readers something. Using the basic “How to…” title, you can create title formulas like:

• How to _______
• How to (troubleshoot/fix) _____.
• How to know when ______.

Of course, you can expand on the “How to…” formula to suit a variety of concepts and offer valuable information to your ideal clients. Ultimately, a well-written “How to…” post can help you set yourself up as an industry expert! 

“X” title

You’ve seen this attention grabber: “Lose 50 lbs in 7-Days” – or some equally eye-catching statement. While that claim is definitely click-bait (you know those ridiculous, over-the-top statements that you click on, only to find out they’re selling some completely unrelated product?), using an “X” title can help you write some great articles to help your ideal client. 

Often, “X” titles lead to lists in your content. Maybe you’ll explain how to reach a goal, learn a skill, or solve a problem. The common thread with “X” titles is that there will be a series of steps to take to reach the end result.

Try something like this:

• X Ways to ______
• X tips about ______ that you need to know.
• X steps to ____.

“X” titles are handy for posts with a lot of information that doesn’t require much explanation. Lists are an easy-to-read way to convey lots of information without overwhelming your reader. “X” titles are great blog post titles because there are many ways to use them. In addition to the basics listed above, “X” titles convey any number in a title. Whether it’s X Steps…, X Facts…, X Places…, or any other set of information you can write about, “X” titles help grab your readers’ attention and share sets of information.

Using a “Guide” title

When creating content for your blog, you may find that creating a guide is a great way to showcase your product, service, or area of expertise. Guides can be useful for consumers because they can provide detailed information based on their experience level. They can also help buyers compare products and know what to look for when weighing their options. You can customize your guides to your ideal client’s skill or knowledge level! Some examples:

• The Beginner’s Guide to_______.
• An Intermediate Guide to_______.
• The Expert’s Guide to _______.
• The Complete Guide to ______.

While the options may not be endless, blog posts that serve as guides can be endlessly helpful for your ideal client.

If/Then titles

If/Then titles are handy for demonstrating actions and outcomes. They are a great way to show an outline of steps to reach a specific outcome. Financial experts might use this to show how crucial saving money is when you’re young: “If You Invest X by age 30, Then You’ll be a Millionaire by Age X.

“If/Then” titles also work well for sharing lists when the information needs more attention than a simple bullet point list. For example, if you’re sharing information on climbing a mountain and you sell climbing gear, you could use an “If/Then” title that looks something like this: If You Want to Climb a Mountain, Then You Will Need to Find the Best Gear. Then support that statement in your article with information on the necessities for mountain climbing.

Here is an idea of how some “If/Then” titles might look:

• If you ______, then you’ll _______.
• If you buy_______, then you will _______.
• If you want ______, then you will need to _______.

Creating your own titles

Maybe some of these ideas resonated with you. Perhaps they didn’t. If you’re in the latter group, know that’s OK. General advice isn’t typically one-size-fits-all – and how confusing would the internet be if everyone just did the same thing? Creating your own great blog post titles can be just as valuable as using one of the above formulas. You can be as creative or specific as you want – just be sure that the content matches the title and is helpful to your ideal client.

There are some important things to remember when writing the title for your blog.

• Know your target audience. It’s important to remember that you are not writing for your peers, but you are writing for your ideal clients. Speak their language to help keep them engaged and interested in what you have to offer. A catchy title is a great way to grab their attention.
• Don’t mislead your readers with a title that has nothing to do with your post. When people are searching for answers, the last thing they want to do is click on a title and see that the content is not related to that catchy clickbait title. Make sure that your content supports your title.
• Include your keywords or key phrases in your title. This is an easy way to increase your SEO and ensure the content stays relevant to your title.
• Check the performance of your previous titles. When you see what works best, use that formula again.
• Keep it short and to the point. You want your title to be directly related to your content. There’s usually no need for subtitles or tons of words in most cases. Of course, those posts do exist, and if you think of a great one, it may be worth pursuing. 

Now that you have these tips, it’s time to go write some great blog post titles!  If you are looking for help with this, and other aspects of your Digital Marketing plan, feel free to schedule a complimentary call to see how we can help!