As bloggers, when we write a post, we write a catchy title hoping that it will increase click-through rate (because readers love clicking on content with catchy titles).
But one problem with this approach is that if you optimize your post title for your readers, you’re missing out on one of the most important aspects of post titles: search engine optimization (aka SEO).
I have talked many times about the importance of keyword research , how to do it and the tools you can use to do it . Once we have our target keywords in hand, it’s time to write some quality content that takes both readers and search engines into consideration.
Our goal is to write reader-oriented content that is also search engine friendly. We should apply basic on-page optimization techniques and use plugins such as SEO Writing Assistant.
One title for readers, one for search engines
Let's say you wrote this post title:
“Make money online with Canva”
This title has very high competition in search engines because it contains the words “make money online”.
But you can optimize this title to make it rank higher on search engines by keeping it about Infolinks (our main keyword).
So now we have two titles:
- **User-friendly post title: **Make money online with Canva
- **SEO-friendly title: **Canva: In-text advertising program (review)
So how do we create these two titles?
Optimizing Post Titles in WordPress for SEO and Readers
Most WordPress SEO plugins, such as SEO by Yoast , All In One SEO , and their built-in SEO features give you the option to write different titles for search engines (technically called “meta titles”).
The difference between meta title and post title is as follows:
If you use WordPress as your blogging platform, go to this post:
Now, whenever you write an article, after writing a user-friendly title, go to the SEO section at the end of the page.
Add your “SEO Title”, which will be displayed on search engines. Also, don’t forget to add a unique meta description of 158 characters to make your post more search engine friendly.
I recommend you to read this article which discusses how to make your blog posts targeted for certain keywords .
Make a habit of optimizing your blog posts for your readers and search engines. This will help you get better rankings and increase your readership.
When you write meta titles for search engines, always keep the CTR in mind. An attractive post title will help you get a better CTR, and search engines follow the click patterns to judge the quality of your page. This will ultimately help you get a higher ranking.
For more SEO tips, see the following articles:
- SEO Keyword Research – The Ultimate Guide for Beginners
- 43 Simple SEO Tips to Help You Rank Higher
- Best SEO Keyword Research Tools
- Image SEO: Actionable Tips for Optimizing Image Traffic
- Black Hat SEO Techniques: May Be Hurting Your Google Rankings
If you have any additional questions about creating meta titles, let me know in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.
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