Mike Clough of http://bestbizpractices.org/ in an email to those of us who are part of www.TheBloggersBulletin.org wrote:
“Many people type a question when searching. So if your title is a question or uses words such as how, why, what, when, etc., it will have more words that match and increase the chances that your article will rank higher.”
By “rank higher” Mike is referring to higher in the organic (natural as opposed to paid) results returned by the search engines such as Google and Bing when you type in a search word or question.
I have to admit that I frequently forget to write my headlines with these keywords. Note that for the headline for this post I did follow Mike’s valuable advice.
On the other hand, I do try to remember to be specific enough that a potential reader glancing quickly at my blog post headline will know what the post is about. This is why I sometimes add the words “Internet business” or “Internet marketing” at the beginning of headlines for my National Internet Business Examiner column (found at www.InternetBizBlogger.com). I want to make it clear that the topic of an article does apply to the Internet.
Many expert copywriters (of which I am not one) recommend spending a great deal of time on the headline. If the headline is particularly important, such as the headline for a sales letter (on or off the Internet), many of these copywriters recommend writing out dozens of headlines until you are satisfied you have the best.
Then these copywriters often go on to test their headlines in split tests to determine which headline performs the best. And then they retest and retest, continuing to throw out the weaker of a pair of headlines and testing the stronger against another headline.
For now, my goal is simply to remember to follow Mike Clough’s advice whenever I can.
Are good headlines easy or difficult for you to write? If you have a tip you’d like to share with others, leave your tip in the comments here.
© 2010 Miller Mosaic, LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is an Internet business consultant. Her new FREE report is “Twitter, Facebook and Your Website: A Beginning Blueprint for Harnessing the Power of 3 for Your Business” – claim your report now from www.millermosaicpowerof3.com
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Phyllis, thanks for mentioning me and my thoughts.
The reason that using words like “how, why, what, when, etc.” will cause you to rank higher is because those searching often type in a question. And if they don’t, it does not hurt your rankings.
Again thanks Phyllis!