SEO Article Writing: Using Keywords in Article Headlines

If you go overboard with your key phrases, then your article has a good chance of being declined by publishers right off the bat.

How can you effectively use keywords in your article titles?

Is it possible to please search engines, publishers, and human readers?

Yes! This article spotlights a few techniques you can implement to effectively and correctly use your keywords in your article titles.

First, let's lay the ground rule:

*Your title must serve your reader, first and foremost. The purpose of your title is to tell the reader what your article is about. A title is a great place to use your keywords, but the title must still make sense, be grammatically correct with proper spelling, and accurately portray the subject matter of the article.

Now, on to the tips:

1 - Your title must reflect what your article is about. Most of the time this decline reason comes up when a person writes an article and then tries to include their keywords in the title as an afterthought, when the article is not really about the keywords. For example: If your article title is "10 Heart Healthy Soups", then your article must talk about 10 heart healthy soups. Whatever is promised in the title must be delivered in the article.

2 - Resist the urge to use a minimalist keyword-only title. If you're extremely focused on your keywords and the impact they can have on your search engine ranking, you might wonder, "Why not just make a title that is totally keyword focused?"

For example: Hiking Boots

What is wrong with that?

Well first of all, this title is not very specific, nor does it draw a reader in. If you're using a two word key phrase, most likely your phrase is extremely general and not specific enough to make a good title.

Your title should specifically indicate what your article is about, and if your article is about a specific aspect of "hiking boots", then the title should reflect that. For example: "Hiking Boots: Top 5 Best Performers"

If you're using long tail keyword phrases (3-5 words long), then the title almost writes itself sometimes. For example "How To Eat Healthy" may be your long tail key phrase, which also works well as a title.

But many long tail key phrases need extra words added to them in order to make sense. For example, the phrase "Used Car Values" is pretty general, and the article is likely about a more specific topic, such as "Used Car Values: How To Negotiate The Best Price For A Used Car"

3 - This almost goes without saying, but unfortunately I see this sometimes: Your title should not be a list of keywords.

What would you think if you saw a "title" that looked like this:

Used Car Pricing, Used Car Values, Used Car Deals

This type of title does not make sense, is not helpful to the reader, and was obviously an attempt to get as many keywords in the title as possible. Most publishers would immediately decline an article with a title like that.

The main idea is to write for your human readers first by creating a helpful and specific title that reflects what your article is about. You may use your keywords in the title if they sound natural and make sense.

About the Author:

For more info on how you can use article marketing to reach thousands of potential prospects for your website, go now to www.submityourarticle.com/report . Steve Shaw is an article marketing expert and founder of the popular article distribution service www.submityourarticle.com used by thousands of business owners.