You've heard the old adage don't judge a book by it's cover? Well, your blog has a cover, and its your blog posts. By now you should have a well functioning RSS feed that is syndicated with several blog directory services. When someone has a number of feeds in a reader, they scan for interesting headlines, just like a news paper. Think of the last time you were looking for something interesting to read, did you stop on a catchy headline? If course you did. Its human nature. We are all curious.
A blogs title is a very important part of the overall post. The content must be powerful and engaging, but you have to get someone interested in what you have to say before they will ever read it. I suggest you read some RSS feeds or post directories to get an idea how other bloggers are titling their posts. Visit other blogs, see what bloggers are using for titles. You might find some titles have little or nothing to do with the content you read. This is on purpose. I don't suggest you do this because it may turn some of your readers off like a bait and switch.
Take some time to come up with the blogs title. Some times I change mine 3 or4 times before settling on a title. Most of the time I write the post, edit, re-read and then come up with a title. I start out with an idea but that's not the title. Depending on your blogs focus you may try powerful title with calls to action. Or you may have a creative blog that stirs emotion. You also want to use good key words which will help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These are key words search engines like Google will pick up on and rank your blog higher on its result pages.
Let's try a few out:
- Today I went to the library vs. Picked up the Steven King book Bag of Bones at the Library today
The second title contained several key words that the search engines will pick up on plus if I'm a Steven King fan, I might want to read what you have to say.
- Back from vacation vs. View the pictures of my vacation to Machu Picchu
The second title tells me there are pictures, which everyone wants to see, and maybe someone is getting ready to go to South America and wants to get your take on the area.
The point is to give us a taste of what you want us to read. Tell a small quick story. Use words that carry larger meanings or paint a picture. You may try using words that describe a smell or a feeling. You will get better with time. Writing great blog post titles is an art. Practice makes perfect.
ProBlogger's day twenty two post: Catch New Readers Up on the Basics of your Blog
Is this a title that grabs your attention? Feel free to jazz it up.
ReplyDeleteBRAZILIAN TEAK FLOORS, SLAVE LABOR, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RAIN FOREST.
You can find it at:
http://www.realestatetwincities.net/blog/
Anything that you can do to help promote awareness of this issue will be greatly appreciated. If you can think of a catchier title, go for it and give me a backlink. Normally, I don't ask for this kind of help, but the issue is that important to me.
Thank you!
[...] Day 22: Create Catchy Blog Titles That Beg To Be Read [...]
ReplyDelete[...] your blog post as you do the post content. My second highest read post is one I wrote about using killer titles. Read it and let me know what you think here. What are some ways people can raise their blog posts [...]
ReplyDeleteGood tips! I agree. Keeping you visitors interested is the best way to ensure you have good traffic. Thanks for sharing.
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