Your latest blog post is so full of good information, you should be selling it. It’s so readable, it should be used as an example in writing classes. The images are so gorgeous, you just can’t stand it. But not one will read it. No one will share it. No one will even click on the link. Why not? It’s your title.
That’s right, when it comes to your fabulous article with the ho-hum title, Mark Schaefer is not going to read it. He told me so. In a comment on his blog post, 12 Ideas to Ignite Your Content NOW. I quote, “I am not going to read a blogpost called “My dog” or “Here are some thoughts.” Wake up folks. : )” Smiley face his. Ha!
It’s Your Title
Sad Truth: Your post titled “My dog” might actually be the first of its kind showing once and for all how to end leash pulling in 30 seconds. It might be guaranteed to work, painless (for both of you), free, and easy, but no one – NO ONE is going to click on that title. But seriously, if you have that secret, please tweet me. 🙂
That title tells me the post is all about your dog, with no hint as to what I might get from it. There are too many other amazing writers out there who tell me up front what I stand to gain by reading their articles.
It’s All In the Packaging – Brilliant Blog Titles Matter
Am I the only one who makes purchasing decisions based on packaging? Nope. Am I likely to spend a little more, buy a slightly inferior product without doing the research, or suggest such a thing to others just because it’s appealing to the eye? Yeah, I am. In many cases, you are, too!
Blog titles become tweets. They become links on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus and sometimes they become pin descriptions. Sometimes the title is the only thing a person will ever see if they don’t click. Like the only packaging they can see before they buy. So, make it impossible for them NOT to click. Ask yourself, would I click on this? If not, go back to the start.
The Process of Writing Mouthwatering Blog Titles
Writing epic titles for blog posts can be a real struggle. Particularly if the topic is, shall we say, at less than a BuzzFeed-level of intriguing. However, this information will be interesting and valuable to someone somewhere, so it’s our job to package it in a way that makes it completely irresistible to those people. Check out the pin at left – sometimes you just need a little inspiration!
Here’s my bestest blog title-writing process:
- Read the existing title and tag line, if provided.
- Check out the image and caption, if applicable.
- Skim the subheadings and bulleted lists.
- Read the entire article.
- Run titles through a headline analyzer (which sometimes I ignore).
This process works for your own blogs or those written by others.
By the time I get to the point where I read the entire article, I have a pretty good idea of what the writer wants us to take away from it. Sometimes a heading will actually be the perfect title for the post, which makes my job easy.
As I read, I look for anything – ANYTHING that evokes an emotional response. If something makes me smile, makes me want to learn more, take action, makes me fear I’m missing out, or sparks a bit of outrage, I note that phrase (on paper or in notepad) and keep moving. Once I’m done, I go back and pick out the key phrases I want to use.
Then I’ll consider “what will the reader get out of this post?” and combine that with the emotion-provoking words or phrases I picked out of the article and form it in to a title that works. The biggest challenge for many of us, me included, is to get all of that in to 70 characters or less.
It’s the very rare article that ends up with just one title option. Usually there are two or three. In that case, I save them all so that when I share the blog posts on social media, I can try them all out, especially on Twitter. It can be very helpful to see which appeals to your audience.
Give it the Time it Deserves
For some of us, it is a little harder to complete the process above on your own blog post, so you might start with a “working title,” write the post and then come back in a day or so and come up with something brilliant.
It’s not uncommon for me to spend 30 minutes coming up with a title or three. If the content is worth reading, it’s worth a fabulous title. Interested in more tips for fantastic blogging? Follow our Pinterest board – it’s a fabulous collection from all over – just for you (and me).
Takeaway: Never publish a fabulous blog post with a ho-hum title ever again. If you have some posts that didn’t get the attention they deserved the first time around, give them new titles and share them again. If they’re worth a read, it’s worth your time.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: Blog Post DOA? – Resurrect it Now!
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