Optimal Length Of Blog Post Title Guideline

Ever wonder how long your blog post title should be or what is the optimal length of any blog post title ?

Most experts argued that the blog post title must not be longer than 65 or 68 characters, including your URL.

For example, I have one post titled "Mistakes You Maybe Making With Your Blog" with it's URL shorten to http://www.blogtactic.com/2008/09/mistakes-you-maybe-making-with-your.html (total 65 characters). That's roughly about 35 character excluding the .html for my title words (mistakes-you-maybe-making-with-your).

In short, if you have a long blog URL like http://myverylongblogname.blogspot.com, the number of characters reserved for the post title would be significantly less.

Navigating through the search results of a search engine, you soon realize the importance of the title post of an HTML document. What is the title post meant for? Essentially, the title post should identify the content of the document in a fairly wide context.

Why is the title post so important?

Search engines, especially Google, emphasize the importance of the title post. This is extremely evident when you examine “relevant” search results. Almost always, the top result of a search query has some form of the original query embedded in the title post. Ultimately, the title is used by the major search engines as the most important piece of information available to determine the ranking of your page.

In addition, the title of a page is displayed at the top of the browser window. The title acts as a guide to users allowing them to distinguish between different browser windows.

How many words should be used in a blog title post ?

Definitely not too short or not too long. Experienced bloggers suggested that the number of words for a blog title post should be between 4 to 7 words. Shorter title meant, your post will face stiff competition from established blogs or websites. Longer title meant, it will be truncated (or cut off) by free blogging software such as blogspot or wordpress and that resulted in loss of critical words.

The statistics don’t go without saying that title post should be filled with those keywords that are relevant to your blog or website. Don’t stuff the title post for the sake of stuffing it, else your blog will be branded as spamming (or splog).

Why long blog title is bad and not recommended

Quite a few themes (or blog templates) will not be prepared for long titles because the author didn’t test that before releasing the theme. If you want to be able to use long titles now and then, and the current theme doesn’t handle them very well, then you should look for another theme. Fixing an issue like that won’t be trivial in most cases, and different for every theme, that is why the author cannot post a global fix.

How to write a good post title

So when writing post titles, always try to think from a searchers perspective and what they would type in if they were looking for this product or service. Yes, backlinks and the content of the post matter a lot and I’m not denying that, I’m just saying that if ALL OTHER FACTORS WERE EQUAL, the post with the better title and optimal length would win out. So, crafting a good post title with an optimal length is indeed a winning combination.

Hard-and-fast absolutes about the length of your post title

There are no hard-and-fast absolutes when it comes to blogging title post. Here’s what I've learned along with my own thoughts.

1) Be Specific:

 This is probably the most important thing. Strive to ensure that the title is compelling enough to entice a reader to click on it and read on. It can be factual, provoke thought, or even be controversial – just relate it to the content inside.

2) Long Blog Post Titles:

 I’ve seen a general consensus among some successful bloggers that long blog post titles work better. Also, by curbing the babbling, provides a better chance for your entire title to appear within search engine results.

3) Stand Out:

 This is tricky. Writing good blog post titles is like writing good newspaper headlines. Try to write a title so that they just have to read more. How about asking a question that you have answers to? Can you teach them how-to? Solving problems and sharing experiences often can draw in readers.

4) Use Effective Keywords:

 Almost everyone will tell you this, and I think if anything, this is the most “absolute” of my points. Use effective keywords in your blog post titles. Use words that are related to your blog, use words that you want/hope people will search for using Google, etc. so that they can find your posts. It’s a fairly well-known and accepted truth that search engines eat up blog post titles with vigor, so if you’ve got good keywords in there, your search traffic will improve. Read also how Long Tail Keywords can be used to improve effective keywords in your blog post title.

5) Content Summary:

 Does your post’s title quickly explain its content? A title should succinctly express what readers can expect to gain by reading more. An evocative title without the supporting copy is a major turnoff!

Read more: http://www.blogtactic.com/search/label/Blog%20Contents#ixzz0y24f7Q2q
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