Nov | 27 | 2007

Weblog Usability: The Title Says it All

Posted by Guru as Marketing and Search Optimization, SEO Features, Tips, Writing

Being a witty writer is great but when it comes to titles you’d better make your title not just witty but informative as well. A good post title is something that catches people’s attentions. If you are into linkbaiting you know the importance of catching people’s attentions. In my previous post where I cited examples of successful link baits a single glance at the titles will convince you that the titles, in part, contributed to their success.

For example if the eBook “Zero Cash, A Little Talent and 30 Days” instead had some bland title like “Starting an Online Business” the title would have been descriptive but it wouldn’t be as catchy, especially since you’ll find the internet peppered with articles and eBooks on the topic. Of course, the actual contents mattered as well but still a sticky title is a whole lot better.

The other thing that makes a good post title, as I mentioned earlier, is the amount of information you convey with the title. You don’t want the title to be too vague because you want the readers to have an idea of what to expect and thus make them interested. If the example given above had the title of “Starting an Online Business” it would not only be bland but it wouldn’t be as informative as the original title. Why? Because with the title you already know that Jennifer Laycock, the author, is trying to do something from scratch and she’s trying to do it within 30 days.

Now the only problem I have with the original title is that though it is really cool and catchy it actually falls short SEO-wise. We all know how important keywords are in SEO. And Jenn Laycock’s title has specific keywords in it aside from cash. This means that if you are conscious about SEO you’d better make sure that you manage to insert keywords into your title. Though your title may not turn out to be the wittiest title of all time it sure beats having a title that no one searches. Play around with words until you find the perfect compromise between wit and practicality.

3 Responses

Derrick Tan
27|Nov|2007

Good point there. Yes. Title truly is very important. Be it articles or ebooks. It must be suggestive.
Aaron B. Hockley
27|Nov|2007

Titles are very important… I read tons of feeds via my Blackberry using Google Reader, and if the title doesn’t grab me, the post gets ignored without any further thought.
Chuck Mieser
28|Nov|2007

title to header to content to alt tags is a real good start to understanding SEO. More eyeballs on the page means more money in the bank.

thanks for the refresher.
Chuck

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