by Jessica Bosari

Created on: March 15, 2009

Writing effective titles is the most important aspect to article marketing. Not only does it tell readers what the article is about, it grabs there attention and gets them to actually read what you have written. You will find conflicting advice on how to write titles, but there are some rules for which there is a consensus.

No keyword spamming
No deceptive titles

Use What, Where, Why, How and When

A Surefire Title Trick

There is something to be said for the "What, Where, Why, How and When" titles. In practical testing, articles that begin with the phrase "How to" or "Why" received much more traffic. In the test, the articles were posted with titles, sometimes clever, pointing to the article topic. After a month, the articles showed little gain over the early traffic produced on publication. After changing the titles to use these target phrases, viewership soared.

Not so Certain Methods

The less agreed on methods for title writing have to do with cleverness and title length. While some believe it should be a plain, three-word summary of your content, others believe in spicing it up a little to be more attention grabbing.

Long or Short?

While long titles can harm you in some ways, they can actually help in others. Consider the reader looking through a long list of articles. The headlines that stand out the most are the longest. Now consider someone who is searching with Google. The search results will turn up the most relevant results based on your article title. If it is too vague, or too wordy, it will end on the bottom of the search results.

Cleverness

Many writers enjoy being clever. Title writers cannot agree on whether clever titles are a good strategy or not. On sites like Xomba, clever titles clearly grab readers' attention. Look at the top rated Xombytes and you will see that all the titles are either wordy or say something attention grabbing. Clever titles clearly work well for bloggers, but are they as effective for article writers?

Go to websites like Copyblogger that give advice on such matters and the recommendations are boring, time-tested formulas like, "Who Else Wants Pancakes" or "Secrets to Great Pancakes" or "How to Make Great Pancakes". While these titles are straightforward and to the point, they work best for search engine results. This is nothing to sneeze at. Most articles are found through a search engine, but if there are 20 articles on pancakes, will you choose "How to Make Great Pancakes" or would you choose something more clever like "How-to Advice for the Pancake Impaired"?

Consider Your Audience

That is a tough call and can depend on your target audience. For example, a college student is more likely to click on the clever title and a grandmother is more likely to click on the simple, straightforward one.

Be a Drama Queen

The best way for you to write more effective titles is to consider these points in your marketing. If you can create a sense of inclusion or drama in your titles, you are likely to get more readers. It is also helpful to offer some benefit from reading your article. Examples of these types of titles are:

What Everyone Should Know About Making Pancakes
Everybody Love Pancakes: Recipes to Wow Them
Secrets to Better Pancakes
Pancakes: Recipes that Keep Them Coming Back for More
The Ultimate Pancake Recipe
Best Pancake Recipes on the Planet

By creating a sense of drama, you provoke the curiosity of users, which leads to clicks and traffic for your site.

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