Understand your readers. SERP and keyword research
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 6:21 am
Understanding your readers may be a no-brainer, but this is very important.
Your readers are looking to:
Grow;
Learn;
Get something fast;
Watch a video;
Compare Products;
Etc.
For example:
Are you thinking of writing an article on "how to get rid of pimples".
The best solution is to write an article and a title that includes "Fast".
How do I know?
A simple Google search query shows that all the top-ranking articles are about industry email list "How to Get Rid of Pimples Fast" (see image below).
write blog post titles google search
As you can see. A quick Google search can help you find out what problem people are trying to solve.
You can take it a step further by doing proper SEO keyword research and finding out what words people typically use.
Did you know that people search for "Digital Marketing" more often than "Online Marketing" and "Sups" more often than "Supplements".
Do your research and speak your reader’s language.
3. Use Powerful Numbers and Words in Your Titles
Use Powerful Numbers and Words in Your Titles
Using numbers has been shown to help increase click-through rates. Odd numbers often work better than even numbers, and the number 7 seems to be pretty special.
This is a pretty simple tip to include when appropriate.
Along with the numbers and content resources we discussed in our first tip, there are some power words you can include. Here’s a shortlist, be sure to create your own based on your goals and the industry you’re in.
List of Powerful Words to Include in Your Blog Post Title
to hear you
Memorable
Latest
Surprising
Cheat-sheet
Easy
Step by Step
Tricks
Campus
Bold
Kickstart
Avoid
Struggle
Practical
Master
Free
Right away
Never
Final
untapped
Little known
Foolproof
4. Don't be spammy / Don't overdo it
Don't create spammy blog post titles
It might be tempting to fill your Blog Title with 10 Power Words and call it a day.
You may remember that Buzz Feed used to oversell with their blog titles.
Over the years, we've even had to invent the word ' Click Bait ' for spam headlines.
Don't go down that road.
People will unfollow you on social media and your SEO rankings will drop!
One thing search engines hate is ' Pogo Sticking '. Meaning, a searcher clicks on a search result, doesn't find what they expected, goes back to the search engine, clicks on the next result.
5. How to Write SEO Friendly Blog Titles
How to Write SEO Friendly Blog Titles
Your blog post title, meta title tag (for search engines), and social media title (OG/Open Graph) can differ from each other.
To be honest…
At GlobalOwls we stick to one title and make sure it's good enough for all three with SEO in mind.
But that's just because we focus more on SEO. This may be different for you.
So, how do you write SEO friendly blog titles?
Do your keyword research;
Do your SERP research (as discussed in a previous step);
Select a keyword (combination) you want to rank for;
Make sure the keyword is as close to the beginning of the title as possible;
Write a great title that will entice people to click on your search result;
Make sure your title is no longer than 60 characters or 575 pixels.
No. It's not too complicated.
But it helps to follow the checklist when writing SEO-friendly blog titles.
6. Practice: Write multiple blog titles and choose the best one
You may have heard that some journalists and content writers spend as much time writing the article as they do writing multiple headlines and selecting the best one.
I combined these two tips because they work so well together.
You need to practice to become better at writing great blog titles and you need to write a couple of titles per article to be able to select the best one.
It would be a shame if you spent 10 hours creating great content and only 1 minute writing the title.
Your content deserves better.
Your readers are looking to:
Grow;
Learn;
Get something fast;
Watch a video;
Compare Products;
Etc.
For example:
Are you thinking of writing an article on "how to get rid of pimples".
The best solution is to write an article and a title that includes "Fast".
How do I know?
A simple Google search query shows that all the top-ranking articles are about industry email list "How to Get Rid of Pimples Fast" (see image below).
write blog post titles google search
As you can see. A quick Google search can help you find out what problem people are trying to solve.
You can take it a step further by doing proper SEO keyword research and finding out what words people typically use.
Did you know that people search for "Digital Marketing" more often than "Online Marketing" and "Sups" more often than "Supplements".
Do your research and speak your reader’s language.
3. Use Powerful Numbers and Words in Your Titles
Use Powerful Numbers and Words in Your Titles
Using numbers has been shown to help increase click-through rates. Odd numbers often work better than even numbers, and the number 7 seems to be pretty special.
This is a pretty simple tip to include when appropriate.
Along with the numbers and content resources we discussed in our first tip, there are some power words you can include. Here’s a shortlist, be sure to create your own based on your goals and the industry you’re in.
List of Powerful Words to Include in Your Blog Post Title
to hear you
Memorable
Latest
Surprising
Cheat-sheet
Easy
Step by Step
Tricks
Campus
Bold
Kickstart
Avoid
Struggle
Practical
Master
Free
Right away
Never
Final
untapped
Little known
Foolproof
4. Don't be spammy / Don't overdo it
Don't create spammy blog post titles
It might be tempting to fill your Blog Title with 10 Power Words and call it a day.
You may remember that Buzz Feed used to oversell with their blog titles.
Over the years, we've even had to invent the word ' Click Bait ' for spam headlines.
Don't go down that road.
People will unfollow you on social media and your SEO rankings will drop!
One thing search engines hate is ' Pogo Sticking '. Meaning, a searcher clicks on a search result, doesn't find what they expected, goes back to the search engine, clicks on the next result.
5. How to Write SEO Friendly Blog Titles
How to Write SEO Friendly Blog Titles
Your blog post title, meta title tag (for search engines), and social media title (OG/Open Graph) can differ from each other.
To be honest…
At GlobalOwls we stick to one title and make sure it's good enough for all three with SEO in mind.
But that's just because we focus more on SEO. This may be different for you.
So, how do you write SEO friendly blog titles?
Do your keyword research;
Do your SERP research (as discussed in a previous step);
Select a keyword (combination) you want to rank for;
Make sure the keyword is as close to the beginning of the title as possible;
Write a great title that will entice people to click on your search result;
Make sure your title is no longer than 60 characters or 575 pixels.
No. It's not too complicated.
But it helps to follow the checklist when writing SEO-friendly blog titles.
6. Practice: Write multiple blog titles and choose the best one
You may have heard that some journalists and content writers spend as much time writing the article as they do writing multiple headlines and selecting the best one.
I combined these two tips because they work so well together.
You need to practice to become better at writing great blog titles and you need to write a couple of titles per article to be able to select the best one.
It would be a shame if you spent 10 hours creating great content and only 1 minute writing the title.
Your content deserves better.