Content writing is all about capturing attention from the word go, and that means creating a title that makes an impression. The title is the first contact that readers have with a post, and that means it has to be compelling enough to make them want to proceed. When creating content for SEO purposes, titles carry even more weight because a writer has to target readers and search engines. The distinction between an SEO title and an H1 heading becomes relevant in this case. A professional content writer knows how to strike a balance with both titles to achieve the intended objectives.
The H1 Heading
This title is what writers create for humans. It is the heading that they see when they are already on the page. The headline is what will convince readers if they should stay or leave. A great H1 title has to be unique in that it should tell website visitors why the information in the post is different from all the other content out there. Specificity is another trait that should factor in when coming up with article headlines. A reader should know right away what the post is about so that he or she can determine if it is worth spending time on. Good headlines have a sense of urgency in them; that is, they encourage the reader to abandon all other activities and concentrate on that article.
The SEO Title
When it comes to optimizing SEO titles for WordPress blogs, a content creator has a set of different factors to worry about. A search engine will care more about keywords and relevance of the title. SEO titles, or page titles, target the people who are yet to make up their minds. These titles appear as snippets on search results, and their role is to drive people to the website. A page title has to be optimized for a particular search engine because it is one of the metrics used to rank sites.
Setting H1 Heading and SEO Titles
Part of content creation is knowledge on how to edit both titles to arrive at the desired results. For WordPress blogs, a writer does not have to do very much to edit the titles. Plugins make it easy to set both H1 and SEO titles without any technical knowledge. If a writer is using Yoast, the Yoast SEO meta box houses the input field where a writer can make the necessary corrections.
With most platforms, the SEO title is generated based on the heading. Yoast, for instance, optimizes the headline and adds the site name to form the SEO title. It means that a content writer only has to worry about coming up with a stellar headline. Editing an SEO title is only necessary when the writer wants to include specific information like price or location that is not in the H1 heading.
Whether a company is using a ghost writer for its posts or not, content creators must work on optimizing titles accordingly. An H1 heading and SEO title are designed for different audiences, but they are both about getting more web users to visit and stay on a particular website. Writers should focus on creating convincing titles that are customized for specific purposes.
Both Title and H1 tags are super important, and you should optimize both of them!
I always thought the were the same!
Really helpful article for beginners like me.
Can you (or should you) use different keywords on the H1 and the Title tag?