Whats In A Title? I’m Sorry WHAT?
What is in a title? I mean does it really even matter? I’ve started picking out topics that I feel are a bit more interesting to discuss lately and I think the response has been good in terms of comments and link backs but what is in a title? What makes a title worthy? So I pondered about this for a good part of today and instead of doing a list I figured I’d just talk about it.
I personally think that the more eye catching a title is or the more controversial it is, the more people are likely to read it. I mean Syed had a recently post on Balkhis with the title “9 Tips To Be Successful Online” and to me thats just more interesting than saying. A few tips on being successful. It isn’t by accident that you have a good title you really have to work for it.
One of the things is the word choice. Picking one word over another makes a big difference specially with adjectives. You can say “Unhappy With X Advertising Company” or you can say “Absolutely Frustrated with X Advertising Company”. Its not about embellishing anything, its just about saying or writing something in a manner that makes it more interesting.
You could also go into the whole aspect of how to phrase the title. Whether you write it as a sentence or a question. Usually questions result in more comments mainly because you connect to your readers. Lets take a look at Jim’s post which I’ve talked about before, its titled “Google Pagerank Update - Does Pagerank Accurately Judge Website Popularity?” Phrasing it as a question instead of saying “Pagerank Inccurately Judges Popularity” is just more interesting. That question automatically brings up an answer in my mind and so thats another example.
The basic point is that the title has to be attention grabbing. You can do so by making it informative such as a review of a highly anticipated product (ex. iPhone 3G Detailed Review) or controversial (ex. Are You Faking Your RSS Subscribers? Some People Are). You have to realize that although being controversial can be a good thing, you shouldn’t necessarily blatantly point fingers at anyone unless you know the entire truth. Controversial topics are a bit risky but can be highly rewarding.
So, I personally think that I’d be more likely to read a post if I find it more interesting and that can depend from person to person but usually you tend to strike a chord with everyone by using some of the tips above. I’ve had some great titles and if you look at my earlier posts, some not so very good ones. Overall, your title should get the point across in an eye catching manner! Let me know your thoughts, Are you more likely to read a post if the title is interesting?
Yes Enkay Titles are a very important part of the blog post. Not only on blog, it matters alot in SERPs, Social media and more.. For example digg will work only with titles that stick to the user.
Excellent post and thanks for the mention of Balkhis. I do try my best
Title is a very first thing which a visitor gets attracted to read the whole post….
for eg :-
thepissbiscuit.com/5-ways-lose-page-rank
cool blog
That was a good post. Thanks for that link!
I think titles can be very important to draw new users, but I think that would mainly relate to search results and things like that…if you are on a person’s feed reader, they would likely read a post no matter what the title (or if it didn’t even have a title) and then from there, it’s more a matter of what anchor text other bloggers use to link to it (whether they use the title or something else)
After re-reading my last paragraph, I guess I don’t think the title would be too terribly important :S
It does matter to a certain degree but like you said, I usually read all the blogs that I visit on a daily basis so it makes a difference but not too much if they’re one of my favorites. But then again, what if you visit a new blog.
I still think it would mainly only benefit search results in drawing new users…when I visit a new blog, it’s generally one of the below situation:
1. I’m looking for something via Google and it looked to be a relevant result (title is important here)
2. It was recommended and linked to by someone like you, Derek, Jason, etc (the title isn’t important, but what you say about it and/or use for anchor text is)
3. The owner or writer of the site stopped by my site and left an interesting comment or I seen them on the MyBlogLog widget (in which case I don’t even know the post title until I click over and start reading the first couple of posts to see if I am going to become a regular reader)
I think it does make a difference but like you said, recommendations from other bloggers is one instance where I dont really look at the title. Also, the idea of checking out blogs of people who comment on your blog, but what if you go to their website and don’t see any interesting post titles or they sound like same-old, same-old?
I’m constantly aiming to make my titles much attention grabbing, but it does take a while
Titles are very important,it draws attention to the post.
Creative post! I liked it a lot, and thanks for that added link back. I didn’t realize I’m so creative
Nice post Enkay! Titles are very important. Very well written.
Thanks Angad. I’m glad you liked it!
Yes Enky, Great thoughts. Great written article buddy, Love it!