5 Secret Ingredients of a Delicious Blog Post Title

Imagine that you’re given two recipe options:

• Roasted Chicken
• 3-Step Slap Ya Mama Pan Roasted Chicken with Rosemary

Which would you choose?

Dollars to donuts, you’d go with the second option.

Why?

Much like a recipe, even the best blog post can go unread if attention isn’t given to the title. A list of titles is the first thing you encounter when you’re searching for a topic, and you’ll probably have to recall the right title on several occasions when you want to return to that best post ever as a reference.

How do you craft a title so irresistibly delicious that it makes the mouth water?

Establish clear value

In the above example, you already knew what you’re looking for when you were digging through your recipe files. Roasted chicken. That means that the title needs to offer you more than a general topic. It needs to tell you exactly why one particular roasted chicken recipe has greater value than the others. What makes the second recipe title seem more valuable? The title indicates that it’s probably going to be easy to undertake, that it won’t require an abundance of ingredients, and that it’ll be so tasty you’ll be tempted to slap your dear old mother. Oh dear.

Include the main keyword or keyword phrase

Adding the most relevant keyword or keyword phrase will help Google find your post when users are searching for the topic in question. If I’m looking for a roasted chicken, I expect to see roasted chicken in the recipe title, right? It just makes sense. Likewise, your blog post titles should reflect the content of your blog post to make it easy for Google and your readers to identify.

Make it concise

Ideally, your blog post title should be 70 characters or fewer in order to fit into the small space allowed for titles on search engine results pages (SERPs). If longer titles are cut off before the keywords are stated, readers may not see the value of the post. In addition, a long title may lose the reader’s attention before they even get to the content.

Use colorful language

If you’ve ever walked through a farmer’s market in the spring, you’ll understand the power of color. It’s hard to resist the draw of magenta radishes and emerald asparagus bunched up neatly together. Likewise, colorful, vivid language activates the imagination and stimulates the emotions. Choosing descriptive, powerful words will generate interest while maintaining the economy of language necessary for titles.

Appeal to emotions

Vivid language used correctly should have an appeal to the emotions. The second roasted chicken title employs playful but descriptive language to tickle the reader’s funny bone while also expressing the utter deliciousness of this particular recipe. Humor, curiosity, and delight are all emotions that you can inspire with a carefully crafted title, making your blog posts the number one pick of prospective chefs.

Remember that a blog title is just as important as the content of the blog, and it impacts SEO as well as readers’ perceptions. Take your time to create a title that sizzles.

What is your favorite blog (or recipe) title of all time?