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As a website owner or content creator, you know how important it is to write great titles. Not only do titles need to be reader-friendly so that people will actually want to click on them, but they also need to be search engine friendly in order to ensure good click-through rates and rankings. So how do you strike the perfect balance? By following some best practices for writing SEO-friendly titles, of course! Keep reading to learn more.
Including Focus Keywords
One of the most important things you can do when writing an SEO-friendly title is to include focus keywords. Focus keywords are the words or phrases that best describe your page's content and are most likely to be used by people when searching for something related to your page. However, it's important to use focus keywords sparingly—too many keywords will not only turn off readers but also trigger search engine penalties for keyword stuffing.
Considering Length
In addition to including focus keywords, another important factor to consider when writing SEO-friendly titles is length. We're not talking about character count here—although that's important, too—but rather the number of words in your title. A good rule of thumb is to keep your titles between 50 and 60 characters so that they're easy to read and don't get cut off in search engine results pages. Of course, there will be exceptions to this rule, but as a general guideline, it's a good one to follow.
Using Emotional Hooks
Titles are designed to grab readers' attention and entice them to click through to your article or website. One way you can achieve this is by using emotional hooks in your titles. Emotional hooks are words or phrases that evoke an emotional response in readers and make them want to learn more about what you have to say. For example, if you're writing about ways to save money on groceries, a title like "50 Ways You're Wasting Money at the Supermarket" is likely to get more clicks than a boring, generic title like "How You Can Save Money on Groceries."
Capitalizing Properly
Another important element of writing an SEO-friendly title is ensuring that you're using proper capitalization. There are a few different schools of thought on this subject, but as a general rule of thumb, you should use sentence case (aka lowercase with initial caps) for most titles. However, there are exceptions—such as when using all caps or small caps—so be sure to familiarize yourself with the different types of capitalization before settling on a style for your own titles.
Creating Title Tags That Match Your Brand Voice
A title tag is the HTML element that tells search engines what your page is about. Your title tag should match your brand voice so that readers recognize your content when they see it in a search engine result page. For example, if you have a blog titled "The Chilling World of Horror Movies," then your title tag should reflect that chilling tone.
Conclusion
By following these best practices for writing SEO-friendly titles, you can help ensure that your pages get seen by both readers and search engines alike. So don't underestimate the power of an effective title—craft yours carefully and watch your traffic increase!