by Kyrill Poelmans | May 5, 2015
The question that we get asked a lot is: “How To Write High Converting Titles?”. It’s more than just making sure that you don’t use more than 55 characters.
We’re going to help you by answering this question, but first there is one important thing that we have to start with.
Writing good titles is a combination of technical and creative aspects.
This article is about converting titles, so the creative part would get more attention, but for the complete image we want to start with some technical stuff like the SEO text editor.
Start Optimizing Rankings With Our Easy SEO Text Editor
Everything starts with a good basis and, in this case, your basis should be our Textmetrics SEO text editor.
This SEO text editor makes sure that you won’t use too many words in your page title and that you optimize your title technically.
It also increases the optimization of the rest of your page.
That’s the first thing you have to think about! You want your page to be found, otherwise your title can be really good, but still standing in the shadow of the most popular articles.
This first point doesn’t really have to do anything with your converting rate, but the more people that see your page title, the more people that could click it right?
That’s why we think that our SEO text editor should be everyone’s starting point.
Well, now that this part is cleared out, we can skip to the creative part. But keep the technique in mind!
4 Greatest Tips For Higher Converting Headlines
#1. Use numbers to increase conversion of your headlines
The first step to high converting titles is to use numbers in your title. Not just random numbers, like: “3455 Going on a trip to Rome” but numbers that give extra value to your article.
People like numbers. For example, you want to write a blog about your trip through Europe. Your page title could be something like: “My Roadtrip Through Europe“.
But well, that doesn’t sound very exciting and one of the reasons is: It doesn’t have any numbers in it!
For example try something like: “32 Days Of European Roadtrip Adventures”. Way better, don’t you think?
Why do numbers help to create higher converting headlines? That’s actually a question that isn’t that easy to answer.
It has something to do with perception, large numbers are even more popular than small ones like a 60 days guarantee sounds more than two months.
It probably also has to do something with the fact that people like the structure of lists. Like: “7 Cute Kittens Dancing With Dogs” or something like that.
Want to know exactly why numbers are effective in conversion? This article from Hans Villarica can tell you more about this subject!
#2. Eight is your lucky number for the best converting headlines!
Research of shows us that titles with five to nine words and titles with sixteen to eighteen words are more converting that titles with less or more words.
Titles with eight words are rated the best:
Our research showed titles with eight words had the highest click- through rates with these headers performing 21%
better than average- so consider the length of your title if you want to get clicks.
– The Guardian
This has probably something to do with the limits of the human brains. People scan titles and can only pay attention to a few words.
Titles with eight words are probably the easiest to scan, with some valuable information in the front and in the end of the title.
If you use the SEO text editor, it will tell you how many words and characters you should use to create the best converting titles!
Something like “32 Beautiful Days of Amazing Roadtrips Through Europe” would be a good converting title according to the first two tips.
#3. Guide for Conversion: Does punctuation have influence on conversion rates?
The answer to this question is: YES! Titles with colons and question marks have higher conversion rates than titles without.
People feel personally addressed by titles with question marks and this is what you want to reach. That is how you get higher conversion rates.
By using colons in your title, you’re showing some kind of expertise. At least, that’s what people think. Your article gives thé answers to their questions.
It’s quite simple to apply these tips and the results will be great!
#4. Guide: How To Get The Best, Fastest, Easiest and Simplest Conversion In 2015?
Well, the title of this tip might be a bit confusing, because of course you shouldn’t write a title like that. But this title summarizes the next tip for higher conversion rates.
Use modifiers in your title. This can be words that have something to do with the subject of your article.
For example, you’ve got an article about backlinks. The title that you have in mind is: “Linkbuilding: Best Way To Get Backlinks”.
You could also choose to use this title, by adding a few modifiers: “Guide for SEO Linkbuilding: Best Way To Get Easy Backlinks”
This tells the search engines and your future visitors a lot more about the subject of your article.
Other modifiers that you could use are words like:
“How to…”, Great, Easy, Simple, Tips, Guide, Best, Fast, Checklist etc.
Consider adding them to your titles for better results! This tip might even be more valuable than the limit of words in SEO text editors, so keep it in mind!
Of course there are a lot more tips for better converting headlines, but according to us these are the most important ones.
Start using these tips and a free trial of our Textmetrics text editor and in no-time you will be able to score higher conversion rates in the search engines!
by Kyrill Poelmans | Apr 17, 2015
Basic tips & tricks
Of course, SEO copywriting is really important. But in the end, the main goal of your webcontent is probably to reach your target audience. To make sure they like, understand, share, feel your content. That’s why you should write for your target audience. Don’t just write what you like to write, but write what they want to read. That’s how you reach your future customers! But that may be easier said than done. That’s why we made a little list of the basic tips and tricks for target oriented writing!
Tip #1: Know yourself
It may sound a bit stupid, because of course you know your business. You know exactly what you do. But lots of businesses forget to tell why they do what they do. What their motivations are. And let this last thing be the most important thing.
People mostly don’t buy Coca Cola or Apple because they think the physical product is better than their opponents, they buy it because they like the motivation of the companies. ‘Think different’ (Apple): We’re not for everyone, just the ones that understand our status. ‘Make it happy’ (Coca Cola): We will help you to enjoy your life, Coca Cola makes everyone happy.
You have to keep your motivation in mind at all times. Don’t (let someone) write a word before they know your business from the inside and the outside. You will write the best content if you truly know yourself.
Tip #2: Know your target audience
The next tip is to know your target. A good way to make sure that you know your target, is to describe them by using a persona. Just make a little list of personal characteristics of someone in your target audience. It could be something like this:
John Sparks, 26 years old, lives in London but grew up in the countryside. He love to play soccer with his friends in the weekend but he also likes to grab a beer in his favorite Irish Pub in the neighborhood. He lives with his girlfriend in the middle of the city, but in the summer he likes to go on a holiday, back to his roots. John is a professional marketer.
The next step is to write your article or content for this John Sparks. By using this technique you make sure that you will see your target audience as people that you can communicate with, not just as customers. An important aspect to consider is the education level of your audience and making sure that you write your content at the right reading level – not too complex, not too easy.
Tip #3: Speak the same language
If you write your content for John, then you have to make sure that John wants to read your content. You reach John in a different way than you reach Janet, a fifty year old lady from France. But to reach them the best way you can, you should think about a few things.
Are you talking to professionals? Then you can talk with more technical terms as when you talk with amateurs. Does your audience read your content for fun, or to learn something? That are some of the many questions that you could ask yourself. Every target audience speaks their own language and it’s your job to be the interpreter of your business.
Tip #4: Think like your audience
The next step is to think like your audience, not like a business that tries to sell your product. People like John are looking for a lot more than just a product. They’re looking for a solution or an experience, and that’s something that you should provide. You should focus on what your audience is looking for, and not on what your company is trying to sell.
Tip #5: Know where to lead or find your audience
Sometimes it’s just important to be visible for your audience. When you rule an organization like the government or something like that, then it’s just important that they know where to find what they are looking for.
But a lot of companies have to find their target audience themselves. Than you have to find out where to find your audience. You have to find out on what social media or forums they are. If you know where to find them, then you will be a lot closer to knowing how to reach them.
With the tips that we gave you today, you must be able to become quite a good targeted writer. Do you have some tips of your own, about how to write for your target or about anything else? Feel free to leave them through the support form! If you want to know how to reach your target audience in the search engines, you should check out the free trial of Textmetrics. In this tool you’ll be able to find numerous tips to technically optimize your texts for your target audience.
Create your free Textmetrics account below and start optimizing your web content!
by Kyrill Poelmans | Mar 27, 2015
Must reads for all content creators
As a content creator, you can always become even better than you are right now. There are always points of improvement that you do or don’t see yet. One way to get better at what you’re doing is trying to learn from others. But how? Especially for you Inspired by seocopywriting.com we tried to make a little list of must reads for all content creators. These platforms, blogs, and books are the places to be if you want to read the best tips, tricks and much more.
Everybody Writes by Ann Handley
The first book on our must read list is the book Everybody Writes by Ann Handley. This is one of our personal favorites. This book offers useful writing tips for everybody that likes to write. It doesn’t matter what or for who you write, this book is interesting for every content creator. Handley treats multiple writing subjects in her book, like how to write better, grammar, publishing rules, story rules and content tools. The only thing that she forgot is to name Textmetrics in her book, but that’s something we will forgive her!
Quicksprout
The second tip that we have for you content creators is the quicksprout blog by Neil Patel. This blog is just an interesting blog with SEO information and lots more, that we would recommend to you all. Just see for yourself what quicksprout has to offer to you: https://www.quicksprout.com/blog/
The Big List of 189 Blog Posts That Convert
The third must read that we wanted to share with you is the blog post about blog posts that convert. This post is highly recommended by several copywriters in our own surroundings and this is something you should definitely read if you want to learn how to write copy that gets your customer’s attention. You can find the full post by clicking on the following link: https://blog.bufferapp.com/words-and-phrases-that-convert-ultimate-list
Grammar girl
The last but not least must read that we reviewed for you is ‘Grammar girl’. The best introduction to grammar girl was provided by Mignon Grammar Girl Forgarty herself:
“Your friendly guide to the world of grammar, punctuation, usage, and fun developments in the English language.”
This is the place to be for everyone that likes to know how to write correctly in English, especially for the non-native speakers and writers, this is a very interesting blog to follow! You can find the Grammar Girl here!
This is the end of the small list of must reads that we wanted to share with you today. Of course there are a lot more interesting blogs, books and platforms to be read. Do you want to share some of your own favorites? Please add them in the comment section, because we can all learn from each other!
Do you want to see the full list of must reads for all content creators? You can find it here! Also if you don’t just want to read interesting content but also want to write it yourself, you should check out our free trial! We’ll help you to optimize your content the right way, so you don’t need to worry about that anymore.
