If you could make a single change to the way you work and instantly begin generating as much as ten times your current traffic, would you? Of course you would. Many bloggers and writers spend the majority of their time researching the topic and crafting the content for the article, then hastily throw in a title and publish. The mistake they’re making is simple: rather than ignoring the title, they should spend more time on it. Even just an extra half hour coming up with a more effective title can help.

Why are titles important?

The average title will be read 19 times more often than the content. Think of when you’re reading over an article; when a title pops up, the decision whether or not to investigate further is made in a split second. If your titles are not interesting and memorable, readers won’t want to read them. However, if you can craft a title that stands out and immediately grabs the reader, they are much more likely to check out the content on the other side of that link.

What makes a good title?

The effectiveness of a title is made up of several things: its timeliness, the words used, and the style. Timeliness is one thing; if you can create a title that plays off of a current event in popular culture, it will begin pulling in traffic almost immediately. However, unless the event its reference is particularly long-lived, this traffic will fall off with the trend. The next thing that matters is the phrasing. While you shouldn’t write a title that sounds bland or boring, it’s also not a good idea to use words that readers need a dictionary to understand. Titles are best aimed at about a sixth-grade reading level.

Finally, the style of the title has the most influence. A title that simply states the article is boring; no one wants to read that. However, using numbered lists can be a fantastic way to draw eyes to your page. The Empire State Building doesn’t sound appealing. However, 6 Bizarre Facts About The Empire State Building will pull in a lot more eyes. Take note of the word ‘bizarre’ – it creates a sort of mystery that compels the reader to find out more. If you can do this with your titles by asking a question or finding some way to make the title compelling, the will come.

What can I do to improve?

Take some time to do a bit of competitive analysis; look at those in your niche who are outperforming you. How do they write their titles? Now look at major news sites like Huffington Post, or list sites like Buzzfeed. What do they do to generate the massive amounts of traffic they have?

By emulating your competitors and superiors, you can move forward. You can also take ideas from them and slant them towards your specific audience, making it more appealing. Begin using numbered lists, questions, and other eye-catching article styles to catch your reader’s attention. A well crafted title usually means the content within will be interesting. However, make sure to vary up the way you write titles; doing it the same way over and over again can get boring after a while. Remember, if the title seems boring to you, your readers will probably feel the same way.

However, if you take the time to craft your title appropriately, the traffic you receive will be its own reward. A great title takes more than five minutes to make, however – spend the right amount of time on it.

 

<i>by Tip Hero Robert Cordray</i>