A page title is a vital element, which shouldn’t take a backseat when you’re publishing web content. A strong page title helps get your content in front of the right audience. It communicates to readers what your page is about and why they should click on it. This way, readers can figure out whether your page or content is a great fit for them.
As well as writing to humans, writing page titles for SEO purposes is important. Most search engines like Google consider titles to be a ranking factor.
In today’s article, we’ll walk you through how to write page titles that attract the right audience to your content and help you dominate search engine result pages (SERPs).
Write captivating page titles for SEO and for humans
Writing page titles for humans and SEO robots takes more than guesswork. You need to ensure you optimize for the perfect keyword, but you shouldn't neglect your human readers. They are the ones who'll reshare your content on dark social.
1. Brainstorm title ideas with GTP-3 tools
GPT tools save you time brainstorming for headline ideas. With pre-set templates, you can create custom page titles.
The trending GPT-3 model is ChatGPT, powered by OpenAI. While these tools are beneficial, GPT-3 software still lacks the necessary human empathy to make headlines compelling, or on par with the creativity and uniqueness that great writers can muster. This is because GPT-3 software relies heavily on existing data to generate content.
2. Use power words to evoke emotion
Make the first impression count by spicing your headlines up with words that trigger human emotion. Power words are descriptive and persuasive, they stir a positive or negative emotional response in the reader. They make the reader feel safe, motivated, or curious. They can also invoke certain feelings in the readers which persuades them to read on and compels them to take a desired action.
Let’s say we want to encourage our readers to try out GIFs for calming breath. You could work in some magic with a headline like “10 Awesome GIFs for Calm Breathing.”
3. Use headline analysis tools
Headline analysis tools are excellent for page title refinement. With them, you can create unique and compelling headlines. Share Through is a crowd favourite for providing detailed analysis to improve your page titles for SEO.
4. Use brackets to increase click-through rate (CTR)
Brackets, also known as parentheses, are punctuation points that enclose additional information on page titles (like this).
They enhance your click-through rates when used effectively. According to Outbrain & Hubspot, headlines with information brackets performs 38% better than titles without.
Add parentheses to headlines by describing the form of your content. Let's say your content is an infographic, include it in your page title. It's a great way to tell your readers that there’s more to reading your content.
This headline from an Oberlo article is a perfect example of how to use parentheses in headlines. It could be done by including the format in your page title:
[Videos]
[Podcast]
[Template]
[Checklist]
You might also use brackets to denote updates:
[Year of Publication]
[Updated on Date]
Write captivating page titles, so both SEO and humans will see you
Next time you’re writing page titles for SEO, make sure you write titles that will grab their attention and compel people to read your content.
While these are a few actionable tips on how to write click-worthy page titles, we've only managed to cover a few here! Check out more blogs to learn how to write for real people and SERPs alike.
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