Headline Rules to Follow
Lesson 4
Here are 5 headline best practices to follow:
1. Use numbers
When you use numbers in your headline, you immediately hook the reader in to read the rest of your headline.
Numbers tap into the brain and say "This message is important."
Here's how and where to use numbers:
Put the number in the front
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Use data in the headline
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Add a timeframe
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Add the year
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2. Keep your title between 60-70 characters
Google search results will display between 60 and 70 characters of your title.
This is not an exact number since the W or M take up much more room than the letter I. But keeping it in the 60 to 70 range is a good rule of thumb.
If your title is too long Google will cut it off and your hard work of writing a perfect title will be wasted.
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Use the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin to see and edit the title that's shown in Google's search results.
3. Put your keyword phrase first
When people skim headlines they're looking for keywords that match their search.
Put your main keyword phrase near the beginning of the headline.
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4. Choose the correct letter case
Avoid all caps and avoid all lowercase. When you're done writing your headline, use Capitalize My Title to get the correct letter casing.
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5. Keep your titles short
While this is not an exact science, I recommend to use 6 to 8 words in the title of your blog post.
When scouring Pinterest, Twitter or Google for help, users will scan the titles and pick the best one. Wordy headlines get ignored while short and to the point wins every time.