Expert Techniques for Crafting Magnetic Blog Titles

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but people definitely judge a blog by its title. There’s nothing wrong with a title like “How to do your makeup in 7 steps,” but it’s a little bland, isn’t it?

Alternatively, a headline like “The lazy girl’s guide to full-face makeup in 7 quick steps” is more engaging.

Writing blog titles is an art and a science. There are helpful formulas you can follow, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to grab the reader’s attention with truly eye-catching blog post titles.

Everyone knows they need better headlines, but writing them is another matter entirely. Check out this complete guide to learn why great blog titles are so crucial. We’ll even give you five proven techniques—with examples—to write head-turning blog titles.

Why Do Blog Headlines Matter?

You spend a lot of time on content creation. You can have pro-level copy and amazing content promotion, but your blogs will miss the mark without strong titles.

Tweaking, testing, and perfecting blog titles is worth your time. Solid blog titles help you:

Stand out in search engine results: The best blog titles carefully integrate SEO keywords. This improves your blog’s visibility in the search engines and attracts more organic traffic.
Boost click-through rates: Clickbait is popular because it works. We aren’t encouraging you to create wild blog titles or anything, but a solid title will encourage people to continue reading. If you want to engage with users from social media, email, or your website, engaging blog titles will reel them in.
Save time (and money) on marketing: A compelling title makes it easier to promote your content. You’ll see better gains in content performance and make your marketing team’s job a little easier—it’s a real win-win!

5 Techniques for Crafting Click-Worthy Blog Titles

Do you have a case of writer’s block? Follow these tips to write engaging titles that garner more attention.

1. Start With Keyword Optimization

Keywords are a must-have for any blog title. These phrases draw potential readers from search engines, boosting your blog’s organic traffic and visibility.

The right keywords make the difference between a successful blog and one that gets lost in the digital void. You already did keyword research for the blog content, so pull out that keyword list and use it for your title, too. Your title displays as an H1 to search engines, which is one of the best ways to optimize a blog for easy SEO wins.

The tricky thing about keywords is that they don’t always fit naturally with engaging titles. It takes finesse to transform bland keywords into compelling blog titles, but it’s a skill you’ll improve over time with practice.

2. Add Emotional Triggers

Emotion compels people to act. Emotional triggers take your headlines, add a few power words, and transform them into catchy blog titles. For example:

For comfort: “Soothe Your Soul With 7 Relaxation Techniques for a Calmer Mind”
For fear: “The Threat Within—Are These Common Habits Putting You At Risk?”
For community: “Find Your People by Building Relationships That Foster Growth”
For surprise: “How This Simple Change Can Dramatically Improve Your Health”
For curiosity: “Get Ready for a Surprise—This One Organizing Trick Will Astonish You”

Power words are great, but use them sparingly in copywriting. If you overdo it, you risk looking a little unhinged or untrustworthy.

Plus, if you lean too heavily into negative emotions, you risk riling people up—for all the wrong reasons. Positive emotions might not get as much traction initially, but they usually have a better effect because people associate your brand with positive feelings.

3. Pique Their Curiosity—Without the Clickbait

Humans are naturally curious. A title that teases a story or promises an in-depth look at an interesting topic could be the hook that attracts your target audience.

Think of this as the “What happens next?” effect. Your blog title should be so interesting that people can’t help but click.

Create a slight disconnect between what the reader knows and what they want to know. For example, titles like “Did You Know This Common Wedding Flower is Deadly?”, “The One Ingredient Top Chefs Won’t Cook Without (It’s Not What You Think),” and “We’ve All Been Recycling Wrong,” are just interesting enough to persuade people to keep reading.

There’s a fine line between piquing interest and clickbait. Clickbait overemphasizes the value of the content with a shocking or out-there headline for fluffy, low-value content. Your goal is to craft a great headline that, while attention-grabbing, still aligns with the value people get from the copy.

4. Include Action Verbs

Action verbs are copywriters’ best-kept secrets. Starting your title with strong action verbs encourages reader engagement. These words make you look more authoritative and action-oriented.

This includes titles like:

“Navigate Your Career Path With Strategies for Professional Growth in 2024”
“Explore the Hidden Wonders of the World’s Oldest Rainforest”
“Launch Your $1,000-a-Month Side Hustle in 5 Steps”
“Chase the Thrill With These 10 Extreme Summer Sports”

Every title in this list starts with a verb — navigate, explore, launch, chase — instead of an adverb like “Why,” “When,” or “How.” We don’t have anything against adverbs, but switching to action verbs is an easy way to boost reader engagement.

5. Use Blog Title Analysis Tools

Are you trying to decide between several potential blog titles?

Instead of posting a so-so blog title, test your headers with blog title analysis tools. Not only do these tools check for SEO compatibility, but they also analyze engagement and emotional sentiment.

Try analysis and optimization tools like:

Coschedule’s Headline Analyzer: This free tool optimizes titles based on the type of content you want to post. Plug in keywords to generate titles for blogs, YouTube videos, emails, and social media posts.
HubSpot’s Blog Title Generator: With this tool, you plug in a noun or a topic, and it generates five free title ideas for you. You can also enter your email to get 250 blog post ideas for free.
Semrush Writing Assistant: You need an Semrush account to use this tool, but the SEO Writing Assistant is great for optimizing both your blog copy and headlines. It also checks for tone of voice, plagiarism, readability, and engagement.

If you’re still torn, try A/B testing. You’ll need to use A/B testing software to pull it off, but this option displays multiple variations of a blog title and measures which option performs best.

At the end of the test, you go with the blog title that garnered the most engagement. Over time, split testing will give you helpful data for writing more effective titles for your audience, so it’s great for fine-tuning your writing game.

What Are Some Catchy Titles? Check Out These Blog Title Formulas

Need a little help writing blog titles? The tips in this guide will get you far, but these attention-grabbing blog title templates are helpful in a pinch, too:

The Ultimate Guide to [Topic]
Everything You Need to Know About [Topic]
How to [Achieve a specific goal]
X Secrets of [Person, Successful Case, or Topic]
X Surprising Facts About [Topic]
X Ways to Improve Your [Skill, Process, or Topic]

Press the Content Marketing Easy Button

Solid blog titles are the secret sauce to writing blogs that turn heads and boost brand awareness. Copywriting isn’t easy, but following the five techniques and examples in this guide will strengthen your title-writing chops over time.

Of course, you could also push the easy button by working with Growth Machine. Our team of SEO experts doesn’t just churn out optimized content. We create quality content edited by writing professionals, complete with images, links, and strategic headlines, that get results.

Isn’t it time your content got more views? Contact Growth Machine now to increase blog click-through rates, reader engagement, and content success.