Writing headlines that earn the click, not the bait

Writing headlines is the shortest piece of writing you do for a post, and the one that decides whether anyone reads the rest. A good headline tells the right reader, in a few words, that this page holds what they came for. A bad one either hides the value or promises more than the page can give.

This post is part of our hub on writing for search. It covers patterns that work, how to measure a headline, and where honest framing ends and bait begins.

Why the headline carries so much weight #

On a results page, a reader sees perhaps ten titles at once. They give each one a glance. Your headline competes with nine others for that glance, and it has to win on clarity, not volume.

The headline also shapes what happens after the click. A reader who expected one thing and found another leaves fast. That early exit tells you, and arguably the search engine, that the promise and the page did not match.

Measure a headline before you judge it #

Opinions about headlines are cheap. Numbers are better, and they make writing headlines a skill you can improve. The number that matters most for a title in search is the click-through rate: the share of people who saw your result and clicked it.

$$\mathrm{CTR}=\frac{\mathrm{clicks}}{\mathrm{impressions}}\times 100$$

Your search console shows both parts. Compare a page's rate with pages at a similar position. A page in third place with a much lower rate than its neighbours has a headline problem, not a ranking problem.

Five headline patterns that work #

These patterns come up again and again in titles that earn steady clicks. None of them needs tricks.

• The plain answer. "What a sitemap does and when you need one". Names the subject and the payoff.
• The method. "Plan a content calendar in one afternoon". Promises a process with a clear limit.
• The reader in the title. "Core Web Vitals for content writers". Tells the right person this page is theirs.
• The honest number. "Seven questions to ask before you hire a writer". Sets a clear size for the page.
• The contrast. "Earn the click, not the bait". Frames a choice the reader already feels.

The best headline is the one a reader would have written if they knew exactly what your page contains.

Where framing tips into bait #

Every headline frames its subject. Bait is framing that the page cannot back up. The table below lists the habits we see most, with the honest version beside each one. Open the full list for the rest.

The honest versions are not dull. They are specific, which is the whole secret of writing headlines that last. Specific beats clever because a reader can see at once whether the page fits their need.

Writing headlines with search in mind #

A headline for search has two readers: the person and the search engine. Both want the same thing, a clear statement of what the page covers. Put the main subject near the start, where it will not be cut off. Keep the whole title short enough to show in full on a phone.

Then read your title together with the snippet under it. The two should work as a pair, the title naming the subject and the snippet adding the detail. Our guide to descriptions that make a promise covers that second half.

Google's notes on how titles are chosen for results say the same in their own words: titles should be descriptive, concise and unique for each page.

A five minute routine for writing headlines #

When we finish a draft, we spend five minutes on the headline before anything else:

1. Write ten versions quickly, without judging them.
2. Cross out any that a reader could not check against the page.
3. Cross out any that would fit a competitor's page just as well.
4. Read the survivors next to the current results for the same search.
5. Pick the one that is clearest, not the one that is cleverest.

Ten versions sounds like a lot. In practice the first three are the obvious ones, and the good ideas start to appear around the sixth. The routine is cheap, and it keeps writing headlines from becoming the last rushed step before publishing.