How many times have you spent endless hours crafting a perfect blog post only to find out that no one is reading the post? The objective of writing blog posts is to have people discover and read the content you are writing. The purpose of any artist blog is to build an online presence and convert readers into buyers. In this post, you will discover how to write great titles that generate blog traffic so you can receive more post views and sell more art online.
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By the end of this post, you will know…
- How to write great titles that generate blog traffic
- Why Titles Are Important
- The blinder Test
- How To Write Great Blog Titles People Will Want To Click On
- Guidelines for writing headlines
- Content, your readers, will remember
How To Write Great Titles that Generate Blog Traffic
How do you get people to read your content?
How can you build the trust of your target audience and convert them into loyal customers if they do not click on your posts?
It doesn’t matter how good a singer is if nobody hears them sing.
It doesn’t matter how good a movie is if nobody watches the film.
It doesn’t matter how good a chocolate cake recipe is if nobody tastes the cake.
It doesn’t matter how great your blog posts are if nobody reads your blog post.
The bottom line is that you can’t make someone sit down and read your post, but you can influence them to read your post by writing artistic blog titles that spark their curiosity.
In this post, I am going to share with you some blog title ideas I use when I am crafting titles for my art blog posts.
Why Titles Are Important
Before we get started talking about how to write a catchy blog post title, let’s talk about why it is so important to spend time crafting titles.
On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of your title, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece. (Source: CopyBlogger)
Think about when you are standing in the grocery checkout lane.
Your eyes scan the magazines on the rack without even realizing it.
The only time you will wake up from the daze you are in is when a title catches your attention.
- How many magazines are on the checkout racks in your local grocery store?
- Would you say there are between ten or twenty different magazines?
- If someone offered you a thousand dollars to name 10 titles from the magazines that were right in front of you for the past ten or fifteen minutes, do you think you would walk away with a thousand dollars?
Unless you have a photographic memory, I would have to bet the answer would be no.
Why is it difficult to remember the titles in magazines, especially when you were staring at them for fifteen minutes?
I am no expert on the psychology of why people have a difficult time remembering things, but I can tell you why I would not walk away with a thousand dollars.
The titles in the magazines didn’t spark my interest.
There might be an occasional one or two titles that catch my attention and have me reread them or even pick up the magazine, other than the few exceptions I scan through the headlines to waste time.
The same happens when people are surfing the internet.
Most people do not read and click on every title that is displayed before them.
There is not enough time in the day to do that.
Instead, they scroll through their favorite social media newsfeeds to see what is happening with their friends or if they are searching for something specific on Google, they will click on the title that resonates best with them.
The Blinder Test
There is so much information that we absorb in a day. We have learned how to put on blinders to information that is not interesting or valuable to us.
Our brains would not be able to handle all of the information that we encounter in a day.
Try This
Think of all the titles that you read yesterday and write them down.
How many do you have?
Now think about how many titles that you have seen the entire day.
The number would probably amaze you.
The list you have written is relatively small compared to the number of titles that you have been exposed to.
Does that mean that your memory is bad?
No, it just means that you have learned how to filter out information that you do not need to store in your brain.
Now back to why it is essential for you to write great titles.
If your titles are not rememberable or catchy, they will be scanned and filtered out to be lost forever in cyberspace.
It is that simple.
Catchy titles for articles are remembered, bad titles are ignored and forgotten.
Titles you can remember are the titles that triggered an emotion.
They catch your attention enough to make you want to read more.
Guidelines For Writing Headlines
- Rough Draft
- Keep Your Titles Accurate
- Title Length
- Keywords
- Keep it Real
- Revise
- Finalize
How To Write Great Titles That Generate Blog Traffic Rough Draft
Start by writing down a rough draft that includes the main topic of your article.
Be specific. If it is too generic, people will not be interested in clicking the link to read more.
For example:
If I wanted to write about the pencil brand that I used for my last drawing, I would not use “Pencils I Use” for the title.
That means nothing to the reader.
It is too generic.
If the reader does not know that, I am a graphite artist, they will not understand what the title means.
Better blog title examples:
- Graphite Pencils I Recommended for Drawing
- BlickStudio Graphite Pencil Review
- Why I Use BlickStudio Graphite Pencils For My Drawings
These titles are more specific than the title “Pencils I Use.” The titles are not perfect, but they are an excellent rough draft to start.
Keep Your Titles Accurate
There is no better way to lose a reader than to writing content that has nothing to do with the title.
You want to set clear expectations for the reader.
Respect the reader’s time. After all, they are taking the time out of their day to read something that you wrote.
The least you can do is let them know precisely what your article is about.
Providing accurate titles will build an audience for your blog and generate traffic to your website.
The goal of writing content is to drive traffic to your site.
Title Length
Try to keep your titles short. Google prefers titles that are not over 70 characters.
Having longer titles could jeopardize your search engine results, making it harder for people to find your article.
If you want your articles to rank higher in the search results, keep them short.
However, there will be times that you will need a more extended title.
The post might not rank as high in Google’s search, but it will please your readers.
If it is a choice between Google and your reader, always aim to satisfy your readers.
Keywords
Your title should include keywords for your article.
Keywords are the words that your readers will type in Google’s search bar to find content that they are looking for.
It is essential for your title the contain keywords you are trying to rank for. However, you want to make sure that the title makes sense to the reader.
For helpful articles on keywords read:
Keywords 101 – Generate Traffic to Your Art Gallery
How to Use Keywords Effectively in Art Blog Posts
Keep It Real
You can see that there is much work that goes into writing great titles.
The biggest challenge you will have is to optimize your title for a Google search while at the same time, making it interesting for the readers.
If the title does not make sense to the reader, they will not click on it no matter how high it ranks in Google.
Revise
After you have written the rough draft and incorporated the critical components of a title, you will need to revise your title.
This is the time to make your title perfect.
Play around with the order of the words until you are delighted.
You will be surprised how interesting the title can become by switching a few words.
CoSchedule recommends a mix of common words, uncommon words, powerful words, and emotional words to perform the best for social sharing.
When I have completed a list of title ideas, I will check them CoSchedule Headline Analyzer.
Finalize
Now that you have revised your title ask yourself these questions to finalize your headline.
- Does the title describe what the content is about accurately?
- Is the title length under 70 characters?
- Does the Title contain keywords?
- Does the title make sense to humans?
Helpful Tips:
- Read and study how others are writing titles.
- Read Newspaper headlines.
- Read magazine headlines.
- Read titles from articles that are similar to your niche.
- Study and observe the word placement, the emotion that it provides if it is accurate to the content, and the length of the titles. When you read the title, ask yourself, do I want to know more about the topic?
Content Your Readers Will Remember
All humans want to be liked and remembered.
Now that you know who to write titles that will increase your CTR (Click Through Rate), you will want to learn how to write content your readers will remember.
Below are some articles that will help you to write content that will generate traffic for years to come.
Art Marketing Basics: Pillar Content Generates Traffic
How to Write Pillar Content and Why it is Important for Artists
5 Types of Art Blog Posts That Drive Traffic
4 Effective Tips for Writing Art Blog Posts That Rank Well
To make it easier for you to grow your artist blog, I have written the 28 Day Blogging Challenge for Visual Artists eBook.
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Conclusion:
A content marketing strategy is essential for your online art business.
It takes more than writing great blog posts to build a loyal following. It also takes well-written titles to encourage your readers to read your great blog posts.
How To Write Great Titles That Generate Blog Traffic Overview:
- Why Titles Are Important
- The blinder Test
- How To Write Great Blog Titles People Will Want To Click On
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