How To Write Killer Titles for your Blog Posts

Posted on Oct, 01 2008 under Blogging by Héctor Cabrera

“Let’s face it: Content is King… but it won’t have its kingdom unless it has got a killer heading!” - Héctor Cabrera | Rauru.com

You spent many valuable minutes of your life writing this awesome article full of details and ideas that your readers would surely love to read. You make sure there are no grammar mistakes either. Hit Publish. A few hours later, you find out that your entry isn’t getting as much attention from your visitors as you expected. “I don’t get it, what’s wrong?” - you ask yourself while scratching your head. Does this sounds familiar to you?

The heading is the heart of your blog post. It is the first impression you make on a prospective reader. Moreover, headings can communicate a entire message to its audience and entice them into reading the first lines of your contents. You need to understand this in order to write better titles for your posts.

Heading Elements That Rock Your World!

Many bloggers out there dedicate a lot of effort to writing engaging, interesting articles - but tend to forget about headings. Without a good title, the whole post loses its effectiveness.

Most compelling headings I’ve seen makes use of some common elements that are enticing enough to keep me reading the whole post. I’m sure you have seen them, too. Let’s check them out:

The Direct Element: This one hits the nail straight on the head. The approach is pretty straightforward here. A good example would be something like Leave your Comment and get a Free Domain Name.
The Indirect Element: Opposite to the Direct Element. This one uses a more subtle approach. Often, people makes use of titles with double meanings. Here’s a good one on a News Site: Sunday Morning Quickies. No, it’s not about sex, it’s about brief notes of sunday events ;)
The “How To…” Element: This one is a no-brainer. “How To” posts are very engaging and proven to be highly effective. A nice example is the title of this entry
The Question Element: Opening your post with a question can entice your reader into continue reading to find out the answer behind it. Personally, I have used this one a couple of times. Here’s an example: Want to Know How To Make Money With your Blog?.
The Listing Element: Bloggers’ favorite. This element announces to your audience that your content consists mainly of a list of tips / ideas. These headings usually starts with 10 reasons why…, Top 5 strategies to…, 10 Do-It-Yourself Tips to…
The Quoting and Paraphrasing Element: You’re incorporating into your post external references to support your ideas. This element is quite helpful since you can use it to provide support for claims or add credibility to your own writing. A good example of this could be something like “I’m an assiduous reader of Rauru.com - Great stuff! Subscribe to this blog!”, said John Doe.

Dedicating time to writing killer contents is a must - but you also must consider your headings as a vital part of your posts. Combine a great title with a great entry and your readers will stick to your blog as nails in the wall.

Got any other great heading ideas? Share it with us!

5 Responses to "How To Write Killer Titles for your Blog Posts"

Swastik Oct, 01 2008

Hey Ikki,

The quote was good

Nice post. Heading is the thing people see at first, so it is something quite important to ignite the desire of the reader to read even further. If the heading is good, the reader will go on reading, and if he finds it useful, he may become a regular reader of your blog which ultimately benefits you and your reader base.

When readers start expecting from you, then comes the real responsibility. Because you see, there are many bloggers in the corner who we all know are just posting crap content, which is no use to their readers. But they have build up a hype (that’s why visitors keep coming back, you know its a natural mindset of people to get involved in dramas and all) . Those who perform good when their readers expect from them, and do it consistently come out as a good blogger eventually.

Since it all starts with a first step, the heading, your first post are some of those things which constitute that first step.

Killer post
Wong Oct, 01 2008

Great post Ikki.

Its true that the header gives a first impression of potential blog readers - i guess i need to work on my headers. What do you think of them?

Thanks for sharing this killer post with a killer header!
Ikki Oct, 01 2008

@Wong: I’m glad to know that you liked it! About your headings, they’re quite good too I’m sure that after reading my posts they’ll be even better!
@Swastik: … and that is why I decided to write this post
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