How To Write Catchy Blog Post Titles That Get Traffic

Do you want to know the easiest way to make sure your blog posts get traffic?

Bloggers spend tons of time researching, trying to find the latest and greatest thing that they can do to get more blog traffic.

So much time is spent doing this, that the easiest and most efficient way to get traffic to blog posts is often overlooked.

What is this magical way that bloggers keep missing?

It’s to make sure you pick a blog post title that will catch people’s eye, and will make them curious enough so they click through to your blog post.

Yes I know you might be thinking “well that sounds like I should make clickbait titles”. And that is not what a catchy blog post title is.

Clickbait = bad.

Making people irritated is the only thing clickbait is good for. And that’s not what you want to do to your potential readers now is it?

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But First the Free Stuff!

Free Blog Post Title Formulas Cheat Sheet

Get all the blog post title formulas in this post, plus extra formulas only available on the cheat sheet, for free!

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Why Writing a Catchy Blog Post Title Is Important

The main job a blog post title has is to get attention. So you really need that title to work for you.

Some really crazy facts when it comes to headlines and titles to show you how important they are:

• 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, and only 2 out of the 10 will read beyond the headline (Copyblogger.com)
• Having the right headline can cause stuff to go viral (Wired.com)
• People are bombarded daily by hundreds of billions of titles and headlines that are in emails, tweets, searches, video, and much more. Catchy headlines are what makes you stand out of the crowd of billions.

If you write a blog post title that intrigues a reader to click on it and read a line or two, they are then more likely to continue reading the rest of your post.

On the other hand if you write a blog post that isn’t catchy, and doesn’t grab people’s attention, then you are not going to get their click or get them on your blog post at all.

With so much information in everyone’s face, you have to make sure that you can pull that attention your way.

So you need to make sure your blog post titles are both attention grabbing and descriptive.

When you have a catchy, attention grabbing, blog post it can increase the amount of page views your blog posts receive.

Tips and Tricks to Write Catchy blog Post Titles

Let’s face it, getting all the blog post points checked off and making sure SEO is on point, along with picking a blog post topic that fits your target audience is a lot to do. The last thing you want is another thing you have to do that will add to the stress of making the perfect blog post.

But without the catchy blog post title on your new blog post you really aren’t going to have anyone looking at your post 🙁

So here are some tips and tricks you can use to make sure you are writing a catchy and attention grabbing blog post title each and every time!

Putting Together The Perfect Blog Post Title

You want to make sure when you are choosing which headline/blog post title you will be using that you have some key factors met:

• Readers will understand what your blog post is about
• It tells the reader what benefit they are going to get from reading your blog post.
• Search engines will understand what the blog post is about by using your keyword phrase in your blog title.
• The title will entice a reader to continue to read beyond the headline.

Do Keyword Research

This is one of the first things you should be doing once you have an idea that you want to write a blog post about.

You want to make sure that you are choosing long tail keywords or keyword phrases so that you aren’t choosing a very general keyword that is going to have TONS of search results already.

You want to niche down your blog posts. This will help you stand out in the crowd to Google.

But you also don’t want to niche down too far. Make sure to pay attention to search volume.

If you need to brush up on keyword research I have an in-depth post about SEO and Keywords:

SEO for Blogging: Keyword Research for Blogs

Come Up with Multiple Blog Post Titles

One of the essential steps for getting that perfect blog post title is to write multiple headlines.

Usually the first blog post title idea won’t be the best.

I like to take a notebook and jot down about 5 possible titles using some of the below blog post title formulas.

Sometimes this will continue on to way more than 5 possible titles because writing them down by hand seems to help get my brain working better and my creative juices flowing.

Remember, you spend so much time writing a blog post, you also need to spend a good amount of time of the headline to that blog post.

Many time bloggers will just write out a blog post title after writing the blog post. DON’T DO THIS!

Always do your headline first before writing you blog post.

Don’t Use Too Many Words

Outbrain.com did a study that found headlines with 16 – 18 words had the best click through ratio.

In addition to that, blog post titles with 61 – 100 characters also had the highest click through rates.

So to get that perfect catchy blog post title that people will click, make sure you don’t make the title too long.

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Making Catchy Blog Post Title Formulas and Hacks

1. Numbers make Catchy Blog Post Titles

Having numbers in blog post titles is striking attention grabbing gold.

A study, done by Conductor, showed that having numbers in a headline made it stand out more compared to headlines without numbers:

This shows that numbers are 15% more attention grabbing. That’s a pretty big difference. So make sure whenever you can to implement numbers in your headlines.

People like having a timeline for anything. And if you are giving them a number, then in their head it says to them it will only take up so much of their time. This makes them more eager to click and read on.

Pro Tip: Even if numbers aren’t in your blog post headline you can find ways to use them in Pinterest graphics to make your pins more enticing to click.

In addition to the amazing performance that numbers in headlines provide. It’s shown that having odd numbers in your titles will get you even more clicks.

So try to get your blog post titles to have numbers like 7, 13, 21, 33 etc.

2. The List Post

The List Post ties right in with using numbers.

This is a great way to get readers onto your blog post and reading.

With lists you can give a number in your headline. And list posts are super easy for readers to look over and pick out the parts they want to read.

But wait don’t we want them reading everything?

That would be ideal. But remember the point up above where people are bombarded by hundreds of billions of headlines each day? That plays a part in people skipping over content.

So a good compromise for your reader is a list post. With this they can skim over and pick out the parts they want the most info on easily.

Combine your lists posts with numbers:

• 13 Must Have _____ for _______
• 21 Ways I _______
• 33 Ways to ________

3. How To Blog Posts

Many people search the web by asking questions.

And most of the questions that get punched into google are How to (insert subject here).

You can use places like Quora or Answer the Public to see which subjects people are asking how to questions on.

When it comes to many blog niches, the how to’s you can come up with are endless. In fact you might find that over half of your blog posts could be formed into a How To post.

Want to combine How To with numbers and a list?

How To ______ in 7 Different Ways

4. Power Words

Power words can inspire feelings. And using them in your headlines is a great way to make a catchy blog post title.

When you use power words in a blog post title you can take something that is normally rather dull and transform it into something that compels people to read it.

Example:

Beef Stew Recipe = Dull ho-hum recipe title

The Best Beef Stew Recipe That Will Have Them Begging For Seconds! = A Catchy Blog Post Title

The second headline creates a vision of a beef stew recipe that you want to see what makes it so special. And it invoked feelings that make you curious about this recipe.

Using power words in blog post titles will allow your to capture the attention of your potential readers and get them to continue reading beyond your headline.

Some examples of power words:

• Stunning
• Genius
• Brilliant
• Shocking
• Transform
• Free
• Proven
• Easy
• Simple
• Need
• Grab
• Limited
• Today

Ways to use power words to make catchy blog post titles:

• 9 Shocking Ways You Can _________
• Steal This Super Easy Trick to _______
• 17 Proven Ways to Transform Your ______

When using power words, make sure that your blog post is delivering what your title says. If you’re promising genius ways to do something, make sure they are in fact genius and not something that everyone already knows.

5. Use FOMO for a Catchy Blog Post Title

FOMO blog post titles are one of the catchy blog post titles that get tons of traffic.

The fear of missing out is using an old trick of creating a sense of urgency within your blog post title.

Using FOMO creates a feeling in your potential readers that they don’t want to be missing out by not reading your blog post.

You can create the sense of urgency by using power words that make s the reader feel that they have been left out of the loop.

Or to create the sense that if they don’t read your post right now that they are going to miss what it is offering. Using things like “today”, “right now”, or “before it’s too late” are great ways to do this.

Another way of using FOMO is to hint that they might be making a mistake.

FOMO Blog Post Title Formulas:

• 9 Mistakes That Are _____
• Common Mistakes You ____ And How To Fix Them
• 11 Secrets Pro____ Don’t Want You To Know
• ____ That No One Will Tell You
• ____ That You Need Start Today
• 7 ___ That You’re Missing Out On

6. Where, What, Why

Where, What , and Why titles get clicks because they promise the reader that they will learn something new and find a solution to a problem.

These types of blog post titles are like How To blog post titles. They are answering a question for the reader.

Some Where, What, and Why blog title formulas you can use:

• Why _____ Is The Next Best _____ Hack to Use for ____
• Where to Get ____ for the Best _____
• Why ____ Are Successful at ____
• ______ and Here’s Why
• What Will _____ Do For Your ____

7. Use a Guide or Tutorial In Your Blog Post Title

Guides can be used for covering just about any topic.

If you have a beauty blog, you can have tutorials for makeup application, a guide for a new palette, skincare for age groups, and on and on.

Garden Blog? How about a guide to winterizing your garden, or how to grow (insert difficult plant here).

The possibilities are endless with this one, and you can bet just like How To blog posts people are looking for guides for everything.

Guide or Tutorial Blog Title Formulas to use:

• A Step by Step Guide to _________
• The Ultimate Guide to ________
• Make ________ : A Step by Step Guide
• The Complete Guide for _______

8. Offer Help In Your Title

Everyone needs help solving a problem at one time or another.

Using the word Help in your blog post title to solve your readers problems can get them to click in a heartbeat.

• Ways ____ Helps with _____
• Solve ____ With Help From _____
• Help Your ____ by _____

9. Comparison Posts

When it comes to products and services we love to compare our options.

Using a comparison post helps your readers who are trying to make a decision.

One great way to determine what to make a comparison post about is to ask your readers which difficult choices they currently have.

Some comparison post formulas:

• Why ______ is/are better than ________
• ______ vs. ______ : The Complete Rundown

Blog Post Title Formula Cheat Sheet

Don’t forget to sign up and get your formula cheat sheet. Use the blog post title formula cheat sheet to help you make the perfect blog post titles every time.

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