Even when you write great content and have delicious recipes, you need catchy titles and headlines to get your blog read. How to write a title that your readers want to read takes practice. In this article, you’ll find tips to help you write catchy titles, and learn about tools you can use to make your food blog headlines more engaging.
Tips for Food Blog Headlines
“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” – David Ogilvy
Start with a General Title
Titles can be general and aggregate archived recipes. This is especially helpful when you’re having writer’s block and need inspiration. Do your own archive dive, and pull out some recipes. To do this, find recipes that share some feature, such as ingredient, technique, season, or purpose. Think “Healthy Baking” and approach the theme in different ways:
- Carrot Recipes for Quick & Healthy Desserts Your Teenagers Will Gobble Up
- A Single’s Guide to Baking Your Favorite Desserts for One
These titles set up your food blog post to cover several of your recipes. Both promise a collection of your recipes that are related by ingredient (carrot) or by portion (single portions), or any other grouping.
***Keep in mind: one type of title is not perfect. Just it’s important to think of being specific enough to be search-friendly but also related to your recipes.***
Then, Go Specific
Specific titles guide a single post and offer focused contents. Again from “healthy baking,” you can do the following titles:
- Why the Perfect Oatmeal Cookie Uses Applesauce
Here, instead of “The Perfect Oatmeal Cookie,” this title of “Why the Perfect Oatmeal Cookie Uses Applesauce” indicates to the reader immediately what makes the recipe special. The title is intriguing and pulls the home cook into wanting to know why the cookies use applesauce.
More examples of specific titles are:
- How to Effortlessly Crimp Pie Crust
- Why the Perfect Pie Crust Uses Only Butter
Use trigger words such as Why, How, or when to persuade or enable someone. Avoid using a trigger word and a number at the same time. One promise sounds the best and makes the most impact.
Make a Daring Promise
Promise your reader something valuable in your recipes. Will you give her your secret to the best buttery, flaky pastry? Will you persuade her to use an ingredient or do something she’s never done before? Will you unearth your grandmother’s treasured cream sauce?
You want to dare your reader to try your recipe. Be bold. Be ultimate. Be tempting. And then deliver what you promise.
Example: Take the subject “vanilla milkshakes.” You could write an article called “How to Make a Vanilla Milkshake” or “Why I love Vanilla Milkshakes.”
Or you write an exciting article called: “17 Unbelievable Ways You Can Make a Vanilla Milkshake” or “3 Essential Ingredients for the Ultimate Vanilla Milkshakes.
Then, deliver on your promise for the Ultimate Creamy Thick Vanilla Milkshake.
Try this formula.
Number or Trigger Word + Adjective + Keyword + Promise
It takes more than great content and images to get people to actually read what you write. The most important of writing an article is the headline.
Coming up with blog post titles can require brainstorming. Ask yourself as you draft your headline: “Would I want to read this?” If not, keep brainstorming until you have a catchy headline. It’s not just adding a cherry on top of the sundae: the headline is the sundae. It describes the content.
Remember a catchy title gets you more readers and more buzz. Apply these ideas will help you be the most effective with each post you publish.
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