I’ve written these kinds of headlines before! They’ve article titles worked before. But now, I’ve improved my headline writing skills.
I recently developed a blog title framework that is simple and easy to copy, while also sounding natural.
Outline
My SEO Blog Title Framework
An excellent blog title not only ranks well in searches, but also makes people want to click on it.Your headline is the first (and sometimes only) impression you make on your readers.
1. Use your main keyword at the beginning of the title
Put your main keywords at the beginning of the title to clearly tell everyone what your article is about. This will not only help Google improve your content ranking, but also let readers know at a glance that they have found what they are looking for.
For example, when someone searches for “China sourcing tips,” they are more likely to click on “10 China sourcing tips to save you cost and time” rather than “Saving you cost and time with these 10 China sourcing tips.” The former immediately meets their search needs, which builds trust.
I’ve tested this on my blog and found that articles article titles that start their titles with a keyword always perform better.
Your keywords don’t always have to be at the very beginning of your title. If it’s grammatically necessary, like putting a number first to build a list, that’s fine, and you can adjust the position accordingly. But your keywords should be as close to the beginning as possible.
2. Identify pain points or benefits
Your headline should address an issue your audience cares about or promise a benefit they want.
Think about why your audience is searching for this term? What are they worried about?
Your headline should solve a problem being thoughtful about remote and hybrid work or promise a benefit that your audience actually cares about. This is what gets them to click and stay on the page.
If a title does not contain a pain point that the user urgently needs to solve or a clear benefit, its click-through rate will definitely be lower.
3. Less than 60 characters
Your title must be less than 60 characters, otherwise Google will truncate it in the search results. When the title is truncated, readers cannot see the full staff augmentation is a common solution because value of the article, and the click-through rate will naturally decrease.
When I first started writing SEO articles, I never paid attention to the title length and often used ridiculously long titles.
Now when I write titles, I try to keep them short and to the point to optimize SEO.
Short titles don’t mean they’re not effective, but they force you to focus on the most important information.
If needed, I’ll use Open Graph to create longer headlines for social media (e.g. using Rank Math and setting different headlines for social sharing areas).
Studies have shown that the average title length of the top 10 posts on Google is only 48-54 characters, so using short titles is more likely to get better rankings.
You can definitely deliver enough value in 60 characters.
4. Use numbers (when applicable)
Including numbers in your headlines can instantly grab attention and make the content easier for readers to understand.
For example, would you click on “ways to sault data improve your photography skills” or “5 ways to improve your photography skills”?
The answer is obvious. The latter is more attractive because it clearly gives specific action suggestions. The former may be a 200-page article. At the same time, I found that odd numbers have a higher conversion rate than even numbers.
I found that articles with 10 or 11 tips in the title article titles performed significantly better than articles with 8 tips.
Don’t force numbers on, though! Use numbers only when it really fits your content.
5. Create a conversation headline to start a conversation with your target audience
When you write anything, whether it’s an article, an email, or an ad, you always have your target audience in mind. Who are you talking to?
Purchasing manager? Engineer? Marketing manager? Or company owner?
Your headline should feel like a one-on-one conversation with your target audience. When someone sees your headline, they should think, “That’s exactly what I need!”
Using words like “You” or simply referring to your audience will make your content seem more targeted.
This principle is very simple, but many people actually ignore it.
6. Be specific
Specific headlines are more appealing than vague ones. Readers want to know what exactly they’re going to get before they click.
Vague titles only raise questions: “Will this really help me?”
For example, a title like “How to source XXX in China” is acceptable but too broad, whereas “5 untold secrets about sourcing XXX suppliers in China” is more specific.
Now your audience can clearly understand that this is an article about 5 insider tips on purchasing product XXX. This clear title will naturally attract more clicks!
Google also likes specific titles because they imply that the content of the article is detailed and valuable. Readers prefer specific titles because they know exactly what information they will get.
7. Have a unique angle
With so much content on Google, you can’t just follow the crowd. Think about what can make your article unique? What insights can you offer readers that others don’t?
Your angle can be a unique point of view, an in-depth interpretation of a specific audience, or a topic that few people talk about. Not only should you pay attention to what everyone is searching for, but you should also think about what you can bring that others can’t.
If your article does not add new angles or new value to the existing topic, Google will actually feel that the article is not worthy of a high ranking.
8. Use punctuation to separate titles
By using punctuation, such as colons, periods, or article titles parentheses to separate headings, you can highlight key information.
Colons and periods can create natural pauses or connect two sentence fragments, which not only makes the title look more structured but also makes it more attractive in search results.
You’ll find that many people often adopt this approach, especially when using AI writing.
Parentheses are great for adding extra context, like a year or a unique angle.