I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. Quite often when I have an idea for something to write about, I’ll get the words down as quickly and coherently as I can before going back, tidying up the spelling and grammar and finally, adding a title. Sometimes the title writes itself, such as How A Pot of Dead Basil Made Me smile Today and Act of Random Kindness. But more often than not I struggle to create a great title that will encourage you, the reader, to read the rest of the post.
For the last fortnight I’ve been using Twitter to show case new posts but when I do this, it’s often just the post title that someone reads. I have just a handful of words at my disposal to get across the essence of a post and the reason why someone might like to read it.
I’ve been experimenting a little too. Maybe you do something similar. Sometimes I use a question (in the hope that it might engage the reader) whereas other times I try and appeal to someone’s curious nature by being a little bit mysterious. With Paypal and the 20p Showdown I thought I was on to a winner because it sounds like a bit of a scandal. Be honest, you might not like to gossip but everyone has time for a bit of a saga sometimes 
However, it seems that I’ve been going about the whole process backwards. I should probably have done this before I started blogging but today I asked Google what advice the web could give me about writing a great title for my blog posts. (Yes, I know I should have used Every Click and got 1p for Give A Brick but I was using a different browser so it slipped my mind 
)
I found a rather excellent website called Copy Blogger which had lots of advice about headlines. There was even an article called ‘How To Be Interesting‘. I’ve bookmarked that one
Having found Brian’s site and pointed you in his direction, I’m not foolish enough to try and deliver in three bullet points what he takes an entire series to teach. However, the three things I want to remember (and therefore I’m hoping will also be of value to you if you’re in a rush for short, sharp information) are:
- Always write the headline first.
- Think about using one of the ‘How to …’ ‘5 easy ways to …’ and ‘Here’s how I … ‘ starters that people love to click
- Write your content so as to keep the promise made in the headline.
Think of your title or headline as like the description of a delicious meal. I don’t know about you but if it doesn’t sound yummy, I won’t want to try it. Same with writing. I could write the best blog post in the entire world but if my title doesn’t make it sound interesting, no one will want to read it.
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Twitter: benlumley6
January 19, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Titles are the big thing you need to get write to attract new readers into your blog.
I usually come up with title as I’m thinking about the idea. Maybe I’m really lucky like that but the two tend to come at the same time.
It’s great to be able tease your readers into the post by a title. As you say Eleanor, things like 5 ways to X and how to X work really well.
Twitter: GiveABrick
January 19, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Hi Ben,
I learned loads about titles from the copybloggers site and there’s still a lot more to explore too. I feel like I’m learning so much every day but it’s fun too so I’m not complaining.
Thanks for visiting
So how do you like our place? Any constructive feedback always received with a smile
As for the title coming together as you’re thinking of the idea, sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones. According to something I read, only a tiny percentage of people have natural ability to write great headlines but that the rest of us can be taught
Eleanor´s last blog ..How A Pot Of Dead Basil Made Me Smile Today
Twitter: benlumley6
January 19, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Yeah really like your little piece of internet real estate.
I don’t think I write great headlines really, I’m just fortunate that I can make them up as the ideas leaks out of my brain.
Ben´s last blog ..Taking the red pill – lessons for life from the Matrix
Twitter: GiveABrick
January 19, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Thanks Ben
And I agree, you are fortunate. It is something I’m going to need to work on but hey, who said this was going to all be easy eh?!
Twitter: websiteweekend
January 20, 2010 at 6:36 am
Eleanor, I have a whole series on titles. I think you may be able find them tagged “Deacon” (long story).
Come to think of it I may need to put up a tags page for convenience.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Blogging Katamari Style (I’m gonna roll you up!)
Twitter: GiveABrick
January 20, 2010 at 8:05 am
Thanks Dave,
I’ll check them out. You’ll have to explain the tagging system another time
Eleanor´s last blog ..5 Easy Ways To Live In The Moment
Twitter: insanelyserene
January 21, 2010 at 2:30 am
What do people think about including words in your title that rank high on Google Adsense? Is it true that if you put popular search words in your title, you’re more likely to be found on organic searches?
Twitter: GiveABrick
January 21, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Hi Linda
A warm welcome to the site
From what I’ve read, opinion seems to be split. You have the ‘passion is everything’ camp who insist you just need to write for your readers and the search engines will figure it out. But as you intimate, others suggest writing your title but before publishing, checking it for key word popularity. You could check, for example, the value of using the word ‘image’ over ‘picture’ in the title.
It’s not something I have any experience of. I’m still just learning how to write good titles
Anyone else got any thoughts?
Eleanor´s last blog ..How to Bottle What Makes Your Soul Sing
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