Good Title, Bad Title or Why Nobody Reads Your Blogs
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Tue, Aug 25, 2009
It may surprise bloggers to know that it's quite possible to perfectly 
craft the most scintillating and informative post ever written, and have absolutely nobody read it. It makes writers want to tear their hair out. After all, most of us really do put some time and effort into these precious jewels, and when they are ignored we often go through the five stages of grief.
My favorites are anger and denial. But anyway, it gets me to thinking- why do some blogs (or any content for that matter) succeed where others, despite the best intentions, fail? The secret lies in the title, headline or whatever you want to call the attention-grabber. Our favorite Vice President of Operations here at Interact Media wrote a nice little piece about this, in which he deftly integrated a sexy panda into the title of his blog, thus rendering it literally irresistible.
So what makes a good title? How about what doesn't? Here are some common headline mistakes. See if you are guilty:
1. Boring (Yawn) Boring - It's tricky, yes, but it's not impossible to get your point across while still being interesting. Admit it- you'd read something titled "You've Been a Naughty Computer, Haven't You?" before you'd even look at "How to Get Rid of Computer Viruses"
2. Baffling, Unclear, Obscure- People don't have much time to give you. Make sure your title doesn't make them have to guess at the content. Your readers need helpful information, and an unclear title makes them wonder if you have anything of value to offer them.
3. Too Clever for its Own Good- Unfortunately, not everyone has the sophistication to appreciate what amuses you. Craft your title for your readers, not for yourself. A witty title is OK if it hints at an obvious benefit for them. Otherwise, it will just leave them scratching their heads, wondering what's wrong with you.
4. Has Nothing to do with the Content- One of the most serious mistakes your title can make. If your title does not match the content, then people will feel that they've been duped into reading. You've wasted their time, and that is not nice.
5. Does Not Communicate any Benefits- A good title gives readers an answer to a problem or question. It promises that the content will be full of useful information.
And don't pretend that you were never guilty of any of these headline offenses, either. We've all written content that was less than successful because of boring, obscure, non-useful titles. But, we live and learn, and next time we come up with better titles.
I don't know about you, but I want people to read my stuff!