Effective Titles Get People To Read Before They Leave

By: Allen Taylor
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:43:26
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I admit it. I've got an axe to grind.

I spent some time a few years ago as a newspaper editor. I learned that a good headline can really sell newspapers. It can get people read. I came up with some real doozies.

One of my favorite headlines to write was "Train Derails, Spills The Soybeans." Any idea what that story was about?

If you guessed it was about a train that derails, spilling soybeans everywhere then give yourself a pat on the back. You'd be right. Which brings me to my first main point.

A good headline should grab people's attention. The second point is this: A good headline should tell the reader what the story is about. And that about sums it up.

Of course, with article writing and web site content, they're not called headlines. They're referred to commonly as titles. Hey, you say "tomatoes" and I say "funny looking red fruit."

Titles are a lot like headlines. You want them to grab your readers' attentions. A good title will draw your readers in and get them to read the article or content to which it belongs. Content without readership is just dead copy. Who wants a decomposing cadaver of words on their web site?

Yes, you want a title that reaches out and grabs your visitors by the throat, then puts its schnoz right up against those beady little eyes and yells, "Read me, you fool!" Only a fool would click and run.

Well, you know what I mean.

At any rate, suppose you do write a title that captures your readers' hearts and minds. What then? Suppose, furthermore, that the title that gets their attention turns out to be for an article about a different topic altogether. Do you think your readers are going to be happy about that? Probably not.

That's why you want your titles to get attention, but you also want them to state what your readers will be reading about. The title should reflect the thesis of your content. It should say, "This is what this story is all about." If it lies, it dies.

OK, but after you've got their attention and you've told them what they're about to read, what next? One more thing: Keep it short without leavin' nuthin' out.

Pardon my ingrammaticalness. I'm just trying to keep it simple. The point is your title should be short enough to grab your readers' attentions but long enough to say what it needs to say. It should be optimized for size.

So that's it. Taylor's three rules for writing titles. Follow them religiously and you'll be read.

Allen Taylor is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer. He and his wife operate an Internet marketing consultant company for small businesses in Pennsylvania. Taylor also edits The Content Letter, a weekly newsletter sharing low-cost marketing tips for small businesses. In addition, the Taylors manage the article writing process for Article Content Provider, an online content provider.

Article source: Expert Articles

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