How to Write Headlines that Stand Out in Search Engines

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author

Day 8: 

Writing the headline for an article or blog post seems easy, but easy doesn’t always get you the response you want.

Headlines play a significant role in how your posts rank in search engines. Some will get more social shares and click-throughs than others. Why?

It’s all in the words you choose. Think keywords, common, uncommon, and power words.

Statistics reveal lists, and how-to headlines get better traction while emotional or positive headlines get shared more often. Having the right combination of words and the right length will make your headline stand out.

The free headline analyzer from Co-schedule will help you learn to write the best and most compelling headlines.

Coschedulescreenshot

In addition to the analyzer,  CoSchedule provides word lists that will help drive traffic to your blog. Download your copy here.

Headline words

The headline for this post scored –  70 A+

What do you think? Do you think headlines make a difference? Do you think about your headline?  I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, and Contently.

33 thoughts on “How to Write Headlines that Stand Out in Search Engines”

  1. I know I should put more time into thinking through what my headlines should be, but I don’t. I do put more time into it when I’m not writing them for the A to Z challenge, but even then, not enough. For the challenge , I usually just put the daily letter followed by my title to make it easier for people who stumble upon my blog. I saved the link for the headline helper you provided. I’ve also been scouring your entire blog. Call me a stalker, LOL. I’m looking for all of your other great tips.

    Melissa Sugar
    http://melissasugarwrites.com

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  5. I definitely agree a headline helps when it comes to deciding what I’ll read. I’ve been lazy during the A-Z Challenge, though, and using just short phrases or words for headlines. Thanks for the reminder how useful those are!

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  12. Headlines are so important in search engines. I’m usually rushing through and don’t put the thought and time into my headlines. I too have co-schedule at work and it is awesome. Looking forward to adding it to my home blog. It’s great for sheduling a mini-strategy for promotion with social media also. I read several of your posts and really enjoyed them. Signed-up to receive your email.

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  13. I’m in. Really liked the practical, pared down advice that will help me improve my writing process overall . . . and with this post particularly in reaching out to my audience. Very useful. Maybe a marketing hat wouldn’t hurt. Now adding key words to the hidden search box for Blogger also is supposed to help, but I often skip that step. Hemingway’s quote? One of my favorites. Takes me right back to the writing. Thank you!

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  14. Again, you are a big help to me. I should say I am a writer and I live in a very non-English speaking environment, and I am isolated from writers with whom I can share and learn from on the English-speaking market. So I am lapping up the knowledge you’re sharing on your blog during the Challenge. I had never heard of Co-schedule but I did recognize the importance of having a good headline. I have downloaded their word lists and will utilize Co-schedule from now on.

    Keep up the good work. You are doing an excellent job passing out pertinent need-to-know information to writers.

    Have a great weekend.
    Visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge.

    Shalom,
    Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

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