How to Write Blog Post Titles and Social Media Posts That Get Clicks

We all want to drive more traffic and get more clicks on our advisor website, right? It takes a lot of work and many different aspects, but with trial and error, it can be done! Two things that can really help your site are to creating compelling blog post titles that readers really want to click to read more and to write strong social media posts.

So, how do you go about doing these two things and creating stronger content? Read on!

Why Should You Create Stronger Blog Post Titles?

In this post by SEO Tribunal, it says that companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website. That number speaks for itself, that your blogging really does make a HUGE difference when it comes to your website. With that being said, how do you go about getting readers to click on your content? You create strong blog post titles to draw them in! One of the main parts of the page the search engines are crawling first is your titles.

Also, more research found that titles with eight words received a 21% higher click-through rate than the overall average. This shows just how important it is to draw in your audience with a catchy title, especially since 43% of people admit to skimming blogs, so you have to make them want to read more.

A strong title should tell readers about what the blog will be about while also including keywords that are written in an enticing manner. Because of this, the length of your headline plays a big role. 9 tips for creating strong titles are:

Tip #1: Include Numbers In Your Titles

When you use numbers in titles, this often signifies a list, and these guarantee a quick read that can be easy to scan. When a reader sees a number in a title, they know exactly how much information they’re getting and how much time it will take them to read. Generally, when something has lists, they know that the article will not be too wordy, and will be broken up into “easy to read” sections.

Twenty Over Ten client, Cipriano Wealth Management has a blog in their insights section, titled “Hindsight Is 2020: 7 Ways We Should All Vow to Treat Our Money Differently in 2021.” As you can see above, the blog is easily broken down in 7 different section and the reader knows that it will be a read that is easier to digest or a list since the numbers were in the title.

Tip #2: Tailor The Title to Target Your Niche

Just like your blogs should be tailored to your niche, so should the titles to your posts. You need to be speaking to your niche, especially since that is who you are trying to target. Including your niche in your blog title is great for SEO and will also grab the attention of the leads you’re trying to reach. When you are specific with your titles, then this creates more overall value.

PharmD Financial Planning is unique in that they offer financial planning for pharmacists, so naturally, most of the readers will come to their insights page looking for blogs that will answer specific questions based on that niche. The blog above, “Top 5 Money Principles for Pharmacists to Achieve Financial Well-Being” is asking readers to continue reading to find out how these principles can help pharmacists with their money planning.

Tip #3: Use Language That Makes Your Readers Take Action

Don’t you want to make your readers want to continue with the blog? Use language that entices and makes them want to find out more. What benefit will your readers get when they check out your blog post? That’s a good starting point, so ask yourself that question and then go from there. Every word you use in your title needs to show the value of your blog and what the reader can get if they click on it.

Tip #4: Use Strong Keywords

As we have said in other posts about optimizing, try to use keywords that pertain to your niche or subject but without “keyword stuffing,” then this helps your firm to rank higher in searches. Keywords communicate to top search engines like Google what information is on your website, so you should be including keywords that reflect your firm and your mission in both your title and the blog post itself.

Twenty Over Ten client, C.L. Sheldon & Company is another firm that caters to a very specific niche, as this includes active and retired military members. This is clear in their blog titles as the three shown above all contain the word military or something relating to military services.

Tip #5: Follow an “How To” Formula

Copywriting formulas are incredibly useful to write a strong title rather than simply starting from scratch. When you use a “how-to” formula, you are getting some structure before starting your title, which can get rid of any writer’s block that you might be experiencing. This type of formula is a great way to grow your organic traffic, and in fact, 72% of marketers have found that “How To” posts drive the most traffic.

Tip #6: Add Brackets

HubSpot has found that using brackets to provide extra information or clarification can increase click-through rates by 38%. When this is used effectively, it can really give your blog titles the boost that they need.

Mcintosh Financial Group, Inc. has an infographic in their blog section and this is made evident with the brackets telling visitors that they will see an infographic with retirement plans for the self-employed and not a blog.

Tip #7: Keep It Short And Sweet

Your readers are in a hurry and many times they skim articles. A title that gets the point across quickly without being too wordy is your best bet. According to HubSpot, headlines between 8–12 words in length got the most Twitter shares on average. It should be long enough to clearly articulate what you’re covering in the blog, but short enough to not lose your readers’ interest.

Tip #8: Ask A Question With Your Title

Questions are a great way to connect with a reader and get them to think about themselves. When leads see a question in a blog title, they’ll read the question and apply it to their own life. If they find the answer can benefit them, there’s a good chance they’ll give it a read.

Twenty Over Ten client, Cornerstone Wealth Consulting Services, LLC makes a statement about the American Jobs Plan being announced and then asks the question, “Could You Be Impacted?” Whenever it comes to your finances, you want to know how you will be impacted, especially with everything that has been going on in the last year, so this type of title entices visitors to continue reading to find out how they will be impacted.

Tip #9: Make The Value Clear

Does your blog title communicate the value of the blog? The reader should know what they are going to get when they click on the article and not have to question it.

How to Create Strong Social Media Headlines
According to Social Media Today, there are approximately 3.04 billion people worldwide that use social media, with 77% of people in the United States having at least one platform, and 90% of social media users reach out to brands on their platforms! With those impressive numbers, how are you utilizing this to create a stronger marketing strategy for your advisory firm?

Tip #1: Keep Your Posts Short And Sweet

You and your business have about 7 seconds to make a strong first impression, so make sure you’re only including important information that really wows. Many readers are in a hurry and may quickly be scrolling through, so resist the temptation to make your posts longer than necessary. Only include important information so that your readers can understand what you mean in your post and go from there.

tip #2: Create Compelling Content

Make sure that you are creating content that is compelling to your audience. It is important to create a routine and schedule when it comes to your social posts, but that doesn’t mean just churn out tons of posts without any real value. As the old saying goes, “quality is better than quantity,” and that goes for social media posts, as well.

DeMore Wealth Management, LLC is touching on a topic that many people have questions on, and that’s retirement planning had Roth IRA conversations.

Tip #3: Include Statistics

As mentioned in the point above, you do not have a lot of time to draw in an audience, so including statistics is a great way to get your point across and make someone more likely to click on your post. If you include a powerful statistic in a post, then it will probably resonate with your audience versus a post without any type of fact or statistic that they can relate to.

Tip #4: Ask Questions

Asking questions is one of the best ways to draw in your audience and help create more engagement. The questions should be a mix of both open-ended or close-ended questions, as some people want to provide a longer answer while others may just want to quickly answer in one to two words. When you include questions in your posts, it shows that you want to engage and care about what your readers think or you want to be able to provide them with answers or tools that will help them with their business.

Storybook Financial simply asked the question, “When will you choose to retire?” then included a short graphic. It’s short, to the point and gets the readers thinking about retirement.

Tip #5: Post About Trending Topics

Check out trending hashtags and make sure that you are keeping up with what’s going on in both the financial industry and outside of it. Post the latest trending news that you think your followers will enjoy, and post that. People want to know what is going on right now and are going to read relevant content versus something that they have an interest in. You can see what other financial advisors are posting about or you can simply search in Google and you are bound to find trending content that you can weigh in on.

Overman Capital Management posted relevant information that many people probably want to find out more about by writing a blog post on the third round of stimulus checks and then sharing it on their social pages. While timely information is something that can be updated and shared continuously, people want to know what is going on at the moment, so including timely content on your social pages is so important.

Tip #6: Don’t Forget About Emojis

Did you know that 92% of online consumers use emojis? They aren’t only for texting your friends anymore, but they are a great way to get people more engaged with your posts, it’s eye-catching and when you are trying to use fewer words, emojis can do the trick.

Using emojis on Facebook resulted in:

• 57% more Likes
• 33% more Comments
• 33% more Shares

Statistics show that using emojis on Twitter resulted in 25.4% more engagement.

Incorporating something so simple is a great way to boost engagement and show your lighter side of the business. They help to drive engagement on a variety of digital media which includes email, mobile and social.

Twenty Over Ten client, WealthKeel, LLC is very active on social and when they have a new blog post, they include an emoji to alert readers that there is a new post and a video emoji if there is a video in the post.

Tip #7: Describe The Benefits

People are going to be more interested in something when they can benefit from it versus not getting anything out of it. If you can motivate your visitors and entice them to learn more from your post, then that’s great. Make it clear that if your visitors click on their post, then they will get something out of it. This can be anything from a whitepaper, eBook, Guidebook, a useful Infographic, video, etc. Additionally, highlight that it is free as that is something that is very appealing to an audience.

Does Your Marketing Strategy Have What It Takes?

We have said it time and time again, and that is that a good marketing strategy takes work. It isn’t something static that you create once and then forget about. There are many moving pieces that need to be constantly updated and tended to, and that includes a strong social media plan and creating awesome content for your website. Check your analytics and see how different aspects of your site are performing, so you know what you need to tweak and what is already working for you.