Should you begin Helium articles by repeating the article's title?

No

7 of 58

by Darrell Victor

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In the first two to five seconds of reading an article, a web reader should have an idea of what the article is about. Further to that, that is the time frame when the reader decides if to continue reading the article. When you occupy those first few critical sentences by repeating the title, the reader does not gain many positives. Also, you prejudice the reader's mind by clearly communicating that your writing is that of an amateur.

Repeating an article title is superfluous- especially on Helium. On the web, when a reader clicks on a title, they expect that the article will address the title that they clicked. The title is a promise to the reader. Repeating the article title demonstrates that the writer is unaware of the representation of the article on Helium. Helium's emboldened title that is apparent to the reader makes it ludicrous to have a title repeat.

Given that the first few seconds of reading a Helium article (or Web material)are critical, you really do not have the luxury of words or a patient reader most of the time. Repeating the article title gives the reader a negative impression- even if he or she decides to bypass that flaw. If most readers are like me, they'll cringe when they see such a beginning to an article.

Title repetition, though very flawed, is based on a good principle. If a title is optimized for the web, it would contain vital keywords that help readers locate the article. However, keywords are not the entire title! It is alright to re-use the keywords in your opening salvo. Repeating the title to reuse the keywords is necessarily slothful.

Even in formal writing, when you are presented with a topic, you should not restate the topic blandly at the start of the article. You develop a thesis statement and present your position on the topic or describe what issues you are tackling to the reader. In the same way, the web reader wants to be satisfied that you are properly addressing the title very quickly and in a format that presents new information. A repeated title makes a reader suspicious about the uniqueness and worth of the content to follow.

Unfortunately , repeating a Helium title does not guarantee that your article is not going to be off-topic. It's a good idea to keep the title in mind when writing, without switching between your word processor and browser. To make things easier, simply save your document as the Helium title. That way you can keep an eye on the title and focus your thoughts. However, if you begin your article with the title to keep it in focus, the least that you can do is remove it when your article is completed.

Repeating you article title is simply not cool. Extract the title keywords and reuse them instead- not only in the opening line. An opening to your Helium title is supposed to satisfy the elements of good writing, but must also captivate your intended web audience. Consider that a repeated Helium title does neither.

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