Great Blog Post Headlines: It’s all in your head

September 22nd, 2008.

Great Blog Post Headlines

This is a well-researched and documented blog topic…after all, bloggers (whether bloganistas or bloggeros) are trying to be read.

Why are blog post headlines important?

Because a great blog post headline can shoot a post to #1 on Stumble, or leave it forgotten in the blog-ether.

How?

Well, on a basic level the title is the window to your article. If it looks interesting or relevant, people might look in.

On a more complex level, it can affect how it shows in search results. Search Engine robots often scan the first few words in a heading to determine if it’s relevant to a search.

So…

if I type into Google: “cookie recipes”

and your blog post is titled: “My grannies delicious recipe”

chances are, I won’t find your post even if she had a fantastic cookie recipe.

As just about any bloganista will know, au naturale organic search traffic is what we all desire.

So, what’s new?

Well, I discovered this nifty trick recently for testing the value of your blog posts’ headlines or titles for search engine traffic.

It’s called the Google Test, what else?

1 - Try to imagine that you’re not you. Imagine you’re trying to find information, like the kind that’s in your blog post. What keywords would you type into Google?

2 - Now try to use two or three of those words in the first words of your blog post title.

3 - Final step. Once you’ve written your great title, copy and paste it into Google’s search box and search. If similar posts are popping up to the one you’ve written, you know you’re on the right track.

A more complicated refinement of this test?

You don’t want to have the same great headline or title as everyone else. This means your post will be competing with many more posts for attention.

Once you’re heading in the right direction, try to tweak your keywords to appeal to a narrower search group.

So instead of: “Great Cookie Recipe”

try: “Marshmallow Cookie Recipe”

or better yet: “Yummy Marshmallow Cookie Recipe”

This really narrows down your competition, although there are surprisingly many of these recipes to compete against for attention!

Ciao for now bloganistas,

Lilly

This article is written by: Lilly Mouse...I love communicating (through writing, art, dance, and any other way imaginable). Blogging and I have become very good friends in the last few years. LillyMouse.com is my creation, and I'm so please to share it with you! Ciao for now, Lilly Read more from this author