Without a doubt, the headline is the single most important aspect of any blog post. If you don’t have a clear, compelling headline, people won’t click on your website content. It’s really that simple. Remember, the headline is what gets Tweeted out, submitted to social voting websites, shared on Facebook, and distributed in RSS feeds. So, it simply has to be great if you want people to click forward and read your post.

With that in mind, you may be wondering how to create the perfect blog post headline. Here are some general guidelines I use to help me craft the best headline for my blog posts.

Clarity counts — Above all else, your blog headline should give readers a clear idea of what your post is about. A reader should be able to see only the headline and still know what the rest of the post is about. Remember, there are hundreds of millions of blogs out there, all vying for the attention of your readers. Your readers are in a hurry, and they’ll make a snap judgment on whether or not they’ll read your post.

Don’t lie or mislead — Never resort to cheap tactics to get people to click on your post and read it. That’s shady content marketing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been misled by blog headlines in the past. I clicked the headline expecting to read a post on one subject, only to find out it was a lie and the post was about something else altogether. Lying or misleading in your headline might get you some clicks, but it will ensure those people never trust you or come back to your blog again. Another thing people often forget is that if you ask a question in your headline, answer it in your post. Surprisingly, this happens often.

Respect the proven formats — There are certain types of blog headlines that just work. I’m talking about “how to” headlines, “Top 10” headlines, and Question headlines. You might not feel creative when you stick to a template-style headline, but the fact of the matter is these headlines get results. That’s why you see them on the front page of Digg, all over your Twitter feed, and on the covers of magazines.

Optimize whenever possible — Your goal shouldn’t be to jam as many keywords as possible into your headline, but you should try to create a keyword-centric title if possible. If you’re able to target a keyword naturally in your title without ruining its flow or catchiness, you need to do it because it will help your SEO content attract search engine traffic for years to come. Additionally, if you target the right, most relevant keyword, your headline will more clearly describe the post’s content.

Don’t forget: sometimes a title is a long tail search term. Using sites like Wordtracker’s Keyword Question tool can help you craft a blog post title that answers a question, and is searched multiple times within an industry.

Shorter is usually better — Many eye-tracking studies show that online users only tend to read the first few words of a headline. So, you need to keep it short and put only important information in the title. Also, if people Tweet your post or submit it to a social voting site, the headline needs to be short so that it doesn’t push the character limits.

Come up with a few different headlines – Come up with a few titles for your post and ask your friends or co-workers which one they like the best. Also, you don’t just have to use that one final headline for your blog post. When promoting your post try out a few of the different headlines you’ve come up with, and test them out to help you determine what key phrases will work for next time. By monitoring click through rates on different titles you can see how popular one phrase or type of heading is over another.

These are just a few tips that I’ve used over the years to help me come up with some great headlines.

What are some of your best tips for writing blog headlines?

Search Engine Optimization is a labor intensive skill where you optimize the find-ability of a website. Several tactics and tools make it possible to attract thousands of people looking to buy what you sell.

As your business grows, the question becomes: “should you do SEO in-house or should you outsource SEO?”

We strongly believe that outsourcing SEO tops in-house SEO. Yes, in-house SEO has its advantages.

• You know your business like no one does
• YOu will have full control of every step that is taken (do you really want that responsibility?)
• And a few others, which I can’t think of right now

So what are the benefits of Outsourcing SEO? Consider the following:

• You need an SEO expert! Gaining this hands on knowledge of the industry takes time and effort. A lot of time. In that period you could have focused on a lot of equally high priority tasks and projects. Outsourcing SEO is faster and easier.
• You need expert tools. SEO Tools of the trade cost money that you can spend better elsewhere. There are also such a wide variety of tools available that are not up to scratch and won’t deliver the results they promise. A good SEO company already has them on board.
• You might know stuff about SEO. Outsourcing SEO gives you the opportunity to look over the shoulder of an SEO expert. You might learn a thing or two.
• You can set deadlines and install performance-based triggers to motivate your SEO partner. It’s much easier than screening your in-house SEO. It’s about doing things effectively and efficiently.
• You can get an outsiders’ opinion on your business strategy. It’s a good idea to have someone verify your online marketing strategy and can benchmark it to other success stories.
• Even the costs of outsourcing SEO belongs on the pro’s list. Doing labor intensive SEO in-house is more expensive than outsourcing it to a team of specialists that have the knowledge and tools of trade on a long term base.

A word of caution! Select your SEO partner wisely. Make sure you have a party that is credible, accountable and efficient.

A Few things to check and implement:

• Check SEO case studies;
• Reward on performance;
• Verify the tools they use;
• Meet with your Project/SEO Account Manager.

So watch out for dodgy SEO firms. Yes, there are a lot of them out there. Always verify the work they do. Team up with a great SEO company and your online business can grow exponentially!