Sunday, July 29th, 2007...9:25 pm
how to write a great blog post title
On Saturday I proposed ending sucky blog titles. [post] The post was a proposition, and a call to action, but there was no “how to”. (on purpose of course)
When you do a Google Search on this topic, here is what you get. Just under 1 billion results….holy cow!
So, a billion ways to write great blog titles…no, that is to complicated. Here are my thoughts on the topic.
How To Write A Great Blog Post Title:
-> Learn from the best. Newspapers. Follow the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, etc. They understand how to write a great headline.
-> Make it clear, and present your post in a concise manner.
-> Do not over hype it! You will loose credibility.
-> If you are presenting stats or numbers, get them in your title.
-> Choose your words carefully….focus on action if possible.
-> 8-12 words as a rule of thumb is a good idea.
-> Write your title first….then your post! Remember your title is VERY important.
Great additional resources if you so wish to dive deeper into this topic.
How to Write Magnetic Headlines
Great post titles give great reader figures
The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg
Writing Effective, Attention-Getting Headlines and Titles on Your Blog
TRAFFIC DRIVING blog titles
I lead the digerati team at
5 Comments
July 29th, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Thanks for the tips and links Terry… I’ve been checking links like that, and the ones referenced in the comments on your last post out over the last couple of days and have been trying to apply them to my own blog. I think I’m doing better… but you’re definitely right. I have 68 blogs in my Google Reader, and if the headline doesn’t grab me, I go right by it.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Terry - Thanks for the tips. This is an area that I think I have great room for improvement.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I spent months researching my article on Effective Post Titles and you are right. There are too many articles out there that don’t say much about how to effectively write post titles. And yet it is so very, very important.
What I learned most is that your post title must do two things:
1. Describe the content within your post.
2. Use search terms people will use to search for the content within your post.
July 31st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Like the newspapers……use capital letters in your blog post title to stop driving the reader crazy
August 9th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I actually sat on a draft of a post overnight the other day, cause I couldn’t come up with a title that was good enough. Look what you are doing to me!
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