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I've mentioned titles in a previous post in my Quick Tips series. This week, I'd like to build on the points I raised and look at some other things relating to titles.Post titles
You want to write good titles. What kind of titles should you try to avoid? Here are some examples:- Something I want to say
- Did you know?
- Things to do
- I wonder what people will say to this
- Check this out!
The main problem with these titles is that they don't tell you anything about the content of the post. You might be able to get away with a cryptic title if you can make it clever or witty. But steer clear of bland. Wishy-washy titles are not the best way to encourage someone to read a post.
You shouldn't write content for search engines, but titles are something to get right. If you're going to do anything with search engine optimisation, start by getting the post title right.
Thread titles
Forums are great places to interact with other website owners and bloggers. If you start a new topic or thread (the terms are used interchangeably on forums), you'll want to use a good title to get people reading your comments.For instance, if you want to know what people think about the latest version of WordPress, use a title like "What do you think of WordPress 2.5?" rather than "WordPress". If you need help with choosing a web host, use a title like "Looking for a good web host - any ideas?" rather than "Hosting". Even the "bad" examples are not really that bad, but you should try to avoid titles such as "Question" or "Help me".
This is especially important on busier forums where most people probably don't read every post in full.
Subject lines
Want to contact a website owner or blogger privately? Use a descriptive subject line. For instance, it's probably better to go for something like "Buying text link ads on your site" than "Hello".Forums are busy, and people are busy too. I'm usually very good at keeping on top of my emails, but sometimes I do get busy and I can't reply as soon as I'd like. If everyone used a descriptive subject line when emailing me, it would make my life a lot easier. I will say though, most of my emails are automatic notifications - such as telling me I have new comments, or new messages on other sites.
Using good subject lines helps the person you're contacting because it's easier for them to anticipate the contents of your email before they even read it. This ultimately benefits you as you're more likely to get a fast reply.
More posts like this
If you like this post, check out some of the earlier posts in this series: Quick Tips archive.What do you think?
In your opinion, how important are titles?Do you always try to use good titles or do you sometimes put anything down?
Have you had a better response to your posts, topics and emails when you use a good title?
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Tags: quick tips, post titles, thread titles, subject lines
Posted by Ben on March 25, 2008 21:09 / Edited: Never
Comments
Hi Arnold, thanks for the comment. Good titles definitely attract my attention much more than bland titles. Then again, if the content isn't good, even the best title won't get me reading the whole post!
Oh how this irks me lol. A lot more so in forums and emails since you can see the blog post right under it. You're right however in the SEO factor for blog titles, this is HUGE with Google; especially if you use adsense as the titles basically determine the ads that run.
In forums and email though, there are millions of busy people (myself included) called "skimmers" that will just skim down the threads looking for subject lines that interest us.
If you have an awesome post titled, "what do you think of this...", you may lose MANY potential readers.
Great post.
Dennis, thanks for the comment. Most of the time I don't even look at a post to see if it's any good if the title doesn't grab me. Well, not unless someone specifically asks me to look at their site to give feedback. In case I may very well suggest this kind of thing to them. :)
Very true indeed. I visit many blogs on a daily basis. It is always the articles with the great titles that attract my attention to start off with. If the title does not attract my attention I would normally not even look at the relevant article.
I like the way you have brought this same idea into the forums and emails. Your point is just as valid in these.