Guest Post by Lynette Chandler
Among thousands of blog posts put out everyday, how do people decide what they will read? It may not be the only factor affecting people’s decision, but there’s a very good chance people judge your post – and perhaps your blog by your titles. A good title grabs people’s attention, makes them look twice and take a few minutes to click through to read. A bad one… well, doesn’t even register on the radar.
Blog titles are like the headlines of an ad, magazine or newspaper. These publishers spend a good amount of time crafting their headlines – so should you. However, there is good news and bad news. The bad new is, writing headlines is not always an easy thing to pick up. It takes practice.
The good news, you can make use of the old strategy of building a swipe file. This is a collection of good titles and headlines you come across. Even better, it does not cost you any money and very little time to start one. Here are 5 ways you can begin building your file.
Watch TV. Next time you watch the news on TV or your favorite shows – in particular documentary types. Pay attention to what they are saying before the commercial break to get you to stay tuned.
Re-tweets and shared links on social networks. People love to share the good stuff. If you pay attention to what your social network shares, you will see that good content is almost always accompanied by good titles. Save the ones that you actually click through to read because of the titles.
Magazines. These publishers have had years of practice in developing headlines that not only get attention but get people to buy the magazine. Clip them.
Scan your RSS reader. This is pretty obvious but instead of heading straight to your favorites. If possible, view all posts to all the blogs you are subscribed to in chronological order. This way it’s harder for you to gravitate to your favorite blogs and give all posts an equal chance of getting noticed. Do not display the excerpts, just the titles and see what really jumps at you at first glance. Save those.
Your email inbox. As the inbox gets more crowded and competitive, email marketers also have to become more creative and edgy with their subject lines. Save the ones that get you to open the email.
And there you have it 5 ways to find material to fill your swipe file with great examples. Use them as a template for your own blog titles.
Lynette Chandler is team leader at BlogEnergizer.com, a content research site who helps bloggers keep their blogs busy. They have created a swipe file of 20 Attention Grabbing Blog Titles and are happy to share it with you. Download a copy today at http://blogtitlesideas.com
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