Guest Post: 4 Steps to Creating Better Titles

**Note: This is a guest post written by one of our readers, Corry Cummings. For more information on how to submit a guest post, please send an email to janelle [dot] vadnais [at] gmail [dot] com or see our guidelines for guest posting.

It is common that a writer will stare blankly at the computer screen wracking their brain for an effective title. It can be one of the hardest things to do. A good title shows the reader what they can expect to learn by reading the related content. However, a bad title can quickly turn the most well written article or post into a piece delegated to the content bargain bin. Creating better titles should not be a daunting task.

Whether you are writing yourself, or you are using article writers, there are a handful of approaches that you can use to make sure you have good titles for your content. A good title can be the difference between gaining a new lifetime customer or reader and having a potential customer hitting the back button.

1. Keep the Title Short

Not only does Google limit displayed titles at 64 characters but readers will likely impose much harsher limits. As the average Internet reader will only read about 1/20 of your article or post, your title needs to tell them exactly what they will expect to find. There is never a reason to write a title that is more than 64 characters. If your piece is very specific, save the continuations of titles for subheads or your introductory paragraph. Remember, you have the meta description to work with if you need more space to center your piece.

Example: Wrong – A Simple Write Up on the Dangers of High Sugar Content in Food as it Relates to the Development of Children. Right – Child Development – High Sugar Content in Food

2. Keep the Title Descriptive

Nothing reduces the clarity of a title faster than word play or creativity. If your reader cannot determine exactly what your piece is about based on your title, you need to revise. Sure, a title might be humorous after the article is read. However, you never know into what context your article will be placed. A clever title to you might be an unrelated topic, or worse, offensive sentence if taken out of context. By keeping your title neat and clear, you will be able to reach a wider audience base. Few people ever avoiding reading an article because it didn’t have a catchy title.

Example: Wrong – A Magical Journey Through the World of Better Titles. Right – 4 Steps to Creating Better Titles

3. Eliminate Common Words

Search engines will summarily ignore common words like (the),(and) and (a). Strike these words from your title and replace them with items like (-) and (|). Doing so can save you some much needed characters and make titles much easier to read. If the search engines won’t find the words, there is no reason that you should include them.

Example: Wrong – The 4 Steps to Creating Better Titles. Right – 4 Steps to Creating Better Titles

4. Be Clear About Your Article

Although you should keep the title short, never sacrifice clarity for brevity. Your readers need to be able to determine exactly what they will learn about reading your post. Simply using the keyword as the title is nowhere near enough. This is especially true if you have multiple posts or articles on the same topic. If you really need that major keyword in your title, make sure you include a hyphen with more information after it.

Example: Wrong – Shoes. Right – Black Dress Shoes for Men

About the author: Corry Cummings is the owner of Content Customs, a content creation company that specializes in high quality web content writing services. He also runs a blog over at Content Customs, which is managed and written by one of the head writers of the company.