The Right Headline Makes All the Difference To Your SEO Results

by: Mark Nenadic


Believe it or not, even though you may be targeting search engine spiders when you search engine optimize your website, when you are writing your content, the best technique is still to write as you would to appeal to an actual human visitor. This is just as true when it comes to your headlines as it is for the rest of your content.

This is the case because not only will you improve the search engine ranking because of the relevancy issue that is being considered by the latest algorithms utilized by the big search engines - especially Google - but also because your site will attract much more relevant visitors. When it comes down to it, one relevant visitor is worth the same as a thousand visitors who click to your site, and then quickly click away without taking a look at what you have to offer, or, more importantly, making a purchase.

By appealing to the people who will be visiting your website, you'll bring the right visitors to your website, and then your conversion rates will naturally improve.

To write an appropriate heading, you first need to know how to use your heading tags properly. The truth is that you can actually have as many headings as you want, but it is the first heading, "h1" that will really make all the difference when the visitors actually arrive at your site and read what you have to say.

Search engines look at the heading tags as an indication of what a given page is all about. Therefore, if your site heading has not only been search engine optimized with the right keywords, but has also been written in a way that it is relevant to the actual page, then you will achieve a much higher ranking.

All of the big search engines actively search for headings within the content of your website. When your headings are placed within heading tags, the search engines know where to find the information that they want, and you'll have told them directly what your web pages are all about.

Don't try to fool a search engine, however, by trying different manipulative techniques such as placing all of your text into a heading tag, or creating a heading that uses the right keywords, but doesn't actually make any sense. The search engines have been designed to identify this kind of abuse, and will not reference your site the way you'd like it if you try to tamper with the way your headings are laid out. In fact, the big search engines will actually ignore headings altogether if they detect misuse. Worst of all, you may even be blacklisted as a spammer. Therefore, it really is in your best interest to put a real heading into the heading tags.

The next step is to know exactly what you will be using as your heading. The best technique is to identify the best keyword phrase for the page you're working on. It is also a good idea to phrase the heading in a way that encourages site visitors to continue reading your content so that they will progress to the rest of your message, your requests to visit other parts of your site, and ultimately to make a purchase.

One good technique to encourage people to continue reading is to write in a tantalizing way, such as with a question that applies to the reader, so that they will want to know the answer or result of the statement. You may also state your heading in the form of a problem, where you claim that the rest of the article holds the solution. This is especially good for having the right kind of visitor spend time at your site, because the people who relate to the problem - which, naturally, your product or service can solve - will continue to read the page. Finally, you can also appeal to a person's curiosity in your heading by using techniques such as numbers - such as "The 5 Ways to…" - and teaser terms - such as "The Secret".

By using these techniques to create targeted, functional, and powerful headings, you'll find that not only will your search engine ranking rise, but so will the number of targeted visitors arriving at your doorstep.


About The Author
Mark Nenadic is the director and face behind 15Degrees-North http://www.15dn.com where you will find articles and resources to help with Search Engine Optimisation, Internet Marketing and Web Design.