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Writing titles for Helium articles requires writers to pay attention to the nature of internet search engines. Writing titles to maximize search engine hits requires that writers adjust their usual understanding of title-writing, which aims to tease or hook the reader's attention. But don't discard the old teachings too fast! While you want to create a title that search engines can spot, users will click on titles that are the most engaging.

Writing keywords relates directly to writing titles. Search engines scan titles, keywords, and texts to identify repetitive keywords and phrases. You want to try and identify the most common wording for keyword searches, use these in the title, in the keyword field, high up in the introduction, and a couple of times in the text. You do not want to overuse this in the text, as this will become identified with spam instead.

Here are some guidelines developed by Helium staff:

1. Write an engaging title.
2. Make sure that the words and phrase(s) used in the title match popular queries.
3. Keep the words in the exact same order as the most popular queries/phrases. You can conduct a simple Google search to test different terms, synonyms, and word order combinations.
4. Only use popular keywords/phrases in the title if they make a nice, engaging title. [Guiding principle: Engaging is the most important variable.]
5. Make sure you state your article topic clearly in the title, rather than obscurely through clever plays on words.
6. Make sure that you use the same keywords: in the title; at least two times in the body of the article (but not too many because it could lead search engines to flag the page as spam), including one time in the first paragraph (very important)
7. Make sure that you enter into the Keyword dialog box the same keywords that you used in the title and article, along with synonyms and more related popular keywords.

While revered 'old school' style teaching emphasizes hooking the reader's attention with an attention-grabbing title, the internet requires extra thinking in developing effective titles. Clear titles, written in a way that mirrors common queries, maximizes a user's ability to find a piece you have written. But, keep your titles engaging enough. Once they emerge high on search engine results, you still have to entice the reader to click on your article. As the old adage goes: 'something old, something new...'

Learn more about this author, Barbara Whitlock.
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