Writers spend a lot of time thinking of ideas they can write about. Time goes into research of background information. They find time to write the article. Uploading the article to the publishing site of their choice, they barely remember to add a title. And that is what titles often look like: slapdash. But the article's title is the entry door to the real thing.
A title is the calling card of a post or article. Most titles I find on the net I personally find uninspiring or uninspired. Both are deadly. The chance to draw the reader in is gone. The foremost marketing tool of an article has been squandered. And it's free marketing for but a few minutes thought.
There are many things you can do to promote your article. Tips on SEO, on marketing, on social networking, on linking, and on submitting it on relevant pages can be found all over the net. They all will fail if your title is not up to the challenge of tickling the reader’s curiosity. The title is the doorway through which your readers enter your world. It's the first thing they see. And if you go from writing articles to writing a book, it gets even worse. Editors are even less inspired than many article writers on the net.
There are several points you have to consider when producing a title for your work.
Keep the title short
Keeping the title of your article short serves two purposes: The attention span of searchers is minimal. With a long title, chances are you loose them before they reach the end of it. Their eyes have already veered to the next search result. And search engines accord only a limited space to displaying search results. Your title might be cut short. What remains might look like gibberish, the ravings of a lunatic, or just plain weird.
Your title should tie in with what you're writing about. It should also be relevant in relation to your keywords to attract readers to the content offered. The title 'About Cat Pee' might stand out in a search about dog breeding. I doubt it would find that many readers. If the article is about cat pee and dog breeding at the same time, be a bit more specific.
Make the title pertinent
A title should reflect the content of your article. If the title runs 'How I Clean Cat Pee of the Sofa' but its content is a list of your failures to do so and a cry for help for someone to come up with a solution, readers will not be impressed. They had expected a solution to their own problem, not a fellow sufferer. If on the other hand you present one or several possible solutions, you might get free advertising when someone puts it up on a page about cat pee problems or sofa cleaning tips.
A title may be funny
You may indulge in humor in your title if you want to. Don't be surprised if the article's content won't be taken seriously if you do that. You have to be aware of the dangers of using funny titles as well: 90 percent of people won't share your humor. That figure is for using a widely acceptable variety of humor. Most readers won’t get humor at all.
Usually it is safer to limit humor to the article where you have unlimited space to explain it. Usually they still won't get it. You noticed: I'm referring to funny as in jokes so far. You can also go for a title of the funny peculiar kind. Depending on the article's content this might be a serious option to consider.
Prioritize
When applying yourself to your title, keep your priorities firmly fixed in your mind. You might notice that the points above are in part contradicting each other. If you add questions to your mindset like 'Whom do I want to reach?' and 'What are people looking for?' it gets that much more complicated. You’ll have to set priorities to get it right.
Compromise
Often you can't resolve the problems of so many contradictions at all. Learn to compromise. What you want to say in your title should not compromise your article, your message, or your convictions.
Don't punish your readers
Don't use puns. Most of them can only be understood in your local idiom you speak at home in lieu of English (read: English as in received pronunciation). What sounds like a pun in Charlottesville, Virginia, probably won't be understood in Cork, Cardiff, Carlisle, Cumbermauld, Canberra, Christchurch, or Calgary. Those puns that are generally understood are usually as old as Methuselah and frankly quite awful. You have noticed that in my pictures I refrained from making a title pun by showing a picture of Prince William for instance.
If you get the title right, you'll rake in many free views on your articles. Readers are drawn in by what the title promises for the article. And don't worry. You can't get it right for everybody. If you know you've done the best you can do, that has to be enough.
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