Part 2 in a series of 5 titled “How Do Search Engines Really Work: Headlines, Meta & Title Tags”
By Heath Rost, March 15 2016
The fact is a very gifted writer can produce and publish a great piece of writing that no one will ever see. This is due in part to many reasons, one being the internet is still in its infancy and its hard for a small business to keep up with the 100s of search engines that crawl your website.
By using the tips mentioned in this post a gifted writer can proofread and edit their own writing in a way thats most personable to both people and to search engines. These tips will help gifted writers today, to get over the hurdle of search engines. 🙂 So without further ado..
Tip #1: Your Headline Is Relevant And Descriptive Of The Post’s Content
The title/headline is descriptive of the information on the page.
So check it out, it just so happens that what you say on your website is just as important as how you say it. By this I mean to say that your page title or “Headline” ought to work for you in several ways.
You want your readers to get a feel for your writing style, and establish a rapport with you. Meaning when they read the title of your blog post they know if they click to view it the contents will fully and completely answer the question your title is presenting.
It should also intrigue the reader to want to read it. When I do blog coaching for small businesses I like to call this “The Clickable Mindset.” In short, the clickable mindset gets a reaction from your community of followers when they read it. That reaction is.. “I wanted to know that, but I didn’t know I wanted to know until I read the title of their blog post.”
Tip #2: Use Proper HTML, H2 And H3 Title Tags
If you’re a gifted writer and want your blog posts to be seen by people its important that they be easily understood through proper formatting and the breaking down of key points in your posts. Not only that, HTML comes into play when you’re formatting because search engines can peer into your content and see how well its broken down.
First off, we don’t want to confuse search engines, so placing more than one H1 tag on a page is a big no no. Its best to place several H2 tags that are descriptive of the H1 tag, which answers your headline in a bullet format.
Why do this? Search engines like it when you break up the contents of your blog post.
That said, more and more search engines are beginning to focus more on the user experience and shareability of your blog post. Do you incorporate several H2 and H3 title tags throughout your blog? Has the post already been shared several times? It will probably rank well with search engines because search engines have identified your intention as high value and your formatting will allow them to will index it with ease.
Tip #3: A “Meta Tag” Calls Readers To Action!
This tip goes along with Tip #2. Clear call to actions at the end of your blog posts, and in the meta descriptions of your blog posts will make your content more shareable. I may be repeating myself, but this is how search engines detect the intention of your writing–through how well its shared.
Example: The meta description that shows up under the Headline of this post on social media and on search engines is “Click here to learn 3 tips for gifted writers to set your blog posts up for success with search engines by way of your headlines, meta and title tags.”
From within the content of your blog post a great way to call readers to action is by using an ending section Dave Kerpen calls “Now It’s Your Turn”. Engaging people brings them closer to your brand and they feel a part of your success. Deliberately asking questions at the end of your blog reminds and encourages them to participate. Brilliant!
Lets Review
Now Its Your Turn: Did any or all of this make sense to you, and would it help if I published my next blog post about how to use what you’ve learned here in the WordPress SEO tool?
If yes, let me know in the comments!
