SEO Headlines: 5 Simple Ways to Guarantee You’ll Rank on SERPs

What’s the Difference Between a Title Tag and an H1, and Why Do They Matter in SEO?
Before we chat about how to craft headlines that are guaranteed to rank highly on search engines, let’s go over a few things. First of all, let’s break down two different elements that affect SEO headlines:- H1 (Header 1) tags: These are top-level header HTML tags. On most websites, the headline is coded in an H1 tag.
- Title tags: These are the blue links that appear in search results.
Can You Show Me an Example of a Headline in a Search Result?
When you are searching for a topic on Google (or another search engine), the result pages are filled with millions of title tags related to your searched keyword or keyword phrase. For example, when you type “SEO best practices” in a Google search, this is what your screen might look like:

- Your headline that appears on your content (H1) might be too long for a title tag.
- It might make sense to place the keyword in the title tag somewhere different than the H1. For example, if your target keyword appears at the end of your headline, you may want to rewrite the headline for your title tag starting with the keyword. This is because search engines consider words furthest to the left in title tags to be most important.
- You need to keep both humans and search engines in mind when writing both your title tag and your H1 (and this can be tough).
5 Easy Ways to Optimize Your SEO Headlines
Now that you have a solid grasp on the power behind a good SEO headline, let’s introduce some easy tips you can use to effectively produce your own.
Keep Your Character Count in Mind
The visibility of your title tag on search engines is limited to 50–60 characters, so it’s a good idea to utilize an SEO headline that sticks to this limitation. When you keep this character count in mind, you’re also being mindful of your audience and their accessibility to your content. How does this help you? Well, not only are you ensuring that search engine users can view the entirety of your topic from their result pages, but you’re demonstrating to readers that you’re aware and taking action toward ease of access; people will appreciate that and develop a trust with your brand/site. Try out the Moz Title Tag Preview Tool to see how your title tag will appear on Google.Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Although you may think that including your keyword or keyword phrase in your SEO headline more than once will help improve your ranking on search engines, you’re more than likely to irritate your audience by doing so. Here’s what I mean:
Recommended Reading: How to Write Press Release Headlines That Will Get a Journalist’s Attention
Clarity is Key
Another thing to keep in mind when you’re crafting an SEO headline is to make sure it’s as clear and concise as possible. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your headline’s clarity:
Utilize Attention-Grabbing Vocabulary
You don’t have to use large words in your SEO headline to sound impressive or capture the attention of readers. You just have to use words that resonate with them. Words like:- Boost
- Easy
- Free
- Important
- Limited
Be Consistent
Finally, you need to ensure that your SEO headline matches what you will cover in your content. If you fail to deliver what your title tag promises your readers, you risk losing the trust of potential customers and being referred to as clickbait. Trust me, that’s not a compliment. Make things easy on yourself and your readers by not stretching the truth or omitting anything your SEO headline provides to the audience, like this example:

Recommended Reading: 201 Trigger Words That Will Make Your Headlines More Engaging
Use CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer Studio
The Headline Studio tool through CoSchedule is another amazing resource for constructing an effective SEO headline. It’s a premium headline analyzing tool that provides data-driven feedback and resources to help marketers write better headlines and drive maximum traffic. Simply enter your headline idea:


Go Forth and Be an SEO Master
SEO headlines aren’t a long form of content, but an effective one makes a big difference. Keep these best practices in mind and take advantage of these awesome resources, so you can continue reaping the benefits of powerful SEO methods.The post SEO Headlines: 5 Simple Ways to Guarantee You’ll Rank on SERPs appeared first on CoSchedule Blog.