Never judge a book by its cover, but you can judge an article by its title.

It's true though. Have you ever thought about your article / blog post titles? It's the first thing a person sees before they read what you have written and it could mean the difference between them reading or not reading.

If you work on catchy titles that immediately get a readers attention, there is a bigger possibility that they would read what and more than likely enjoy what you have written.

There is, of course, the SEO aspect to think about as well, but even this is not impossible to factor into a catchy title. I've been doing a bit of research and I have read that so many people recommend focusing on content, the all mighty "content is king", but you have to wonder how you would get a visitor to read your awesome content when you have a generic title, or a title that doesn't really capture a person's curiosity.

Curiosity is a powerful tool, and the downfall of many (myself included), but so many times, a person's curiosity is rewarded by reading one of the most impressive bits of content.

Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

I certainly agree with you Mod!!
People focus on quality, article length but they forget to put a catchy title which ultimately may affect number of people reading there article.
Most of them are concerned with seo aspect, number of keywords, keyword variations but they forget to put a catchy title or are too tired to think of one..!!

It would seem that they might have "lost steam" because the article itself took so much out of them to write, there you may be correct. But I just feel that if they took the time to work on a catchy title, their posts might then get the response a well written piece of content should get.

Agreed! Appealing tittle and the level of curiosity must be thinking over while you write a title. Make sure people wanna click and read that. For example, between those title below, which one you will read

i) iphone 4s now in sale
ii) 4 million iphone 4s were ordered and why you should order too

i just give a simple example, maybe you can think better than this :)

The first title is short, to the point and powerful, but the second title make a person think about it. Giving them a title that provokes thought, makes them want to click on the link to your post / article. People are always going to be interested in other people's opinions, whether they openly admit it or not. So giving them something that makes them think from the outset is a brilliant idea.

The title must be catchy as it really reflects the creativity of the author. Its never wise to judge the book by its cover but unfortunately that's what most people do.

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Originally Posted by Phoenyx

The first title is short, to the point and powerful, but the second title make a person think about it. Giving them a title that provokes thought, makes them want to click on the link to your post / article. People are always going to be interested in other people's opinions, whether they openly admit it or not. So giving them something that makes them think from the outset is a brilliant idea.

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yes that's true.. provoke title can make someone wanna click and know the real content.. sometimes people are also so concern about "FREE" word, for example 'free stuff you can get', 'hurry get free discount before too late', 'freebies to grab', and other word that can think over ;)

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Originally Posted by James Greg

The title must be catchy as it really reflects the creativity of the author. Its never wise to judge the book by its cover but unfortunately that's what most people do.

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Definitely. I mean, so many really good articles out there are being ignored simply because they have really unimaginative titles. It hardly seems fair when you think about the time and effort a writer put into writing the article in the first place.

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Originally Posted by franberries

yes that's true.. provoke title can make someone wanna click and know the real content.. sometimes people are also so concern about "FREE" word, for example 'free stuff you can get', 'hurry get free discount before too late', 'freebies to grab', and other word that can think over ;)

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I actually have a name for that. It's a doomsday title (my copyright :D). Titles that give you a choice, either read this now or you lose out, never really had much of an impact with me. Telling me that, if I don't get x product for free now, I'm going to have to pay x amount later and it would be my loss....

Here's why I don't like it. You need to convince me why I need that product, and why I would want it for free, rather than pay for it. If you're just going to try play with my mind and give me an ultimatum, you're going to lose out in the end because I will move on to one of your competitors.

What? Doomsday title? Wow kind of scary i thought :) sometime confusion state make your mind thinking seem very slow to make a good decision.. in the end you will end up something that you feel regret or satisfy with your decision :)

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Originally Posted by franberries

What? Doomsday title? Wow kind of scary i thought :) sometime confusion state make your mind thinking seem very slow to make a good decision.. in the end you will end up something that you feel regret or satisfy with your decision :)

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I call it that when people force me to make a decision or "all is lost". They make it sound as if its going to be the end of the world if you don't buy their product, instead of being honest and telling you why their product would be so important to you.

I see this all over, even in emails. When I check emails, it turns into a comedy hour for me. The crazy email titles that some come up with are the funniest things I have ever heard. Seriously, if you want people to take you seriously and you want your hard work read and given the recognition it deserves, you need to work on those titles and make an impact.

i also got many desperate email from desperate marketer especially in spam box... the appealing sentences such as "you will regret for the rest of your life", "decision can change your life", "from zero to hero", "from nothing to everything", "Can you believe $5000 per day" and...... so much more :D

Or when they tell you that you have already made money and commissions,but you've done nothing. To me, that's dishonest and if techniques like that were used on an article or post, you run a worse risk of losing credibility, business and reputation than what you would have if it was only limited to your email lists.

that's true phoenyx.. they actually losing their credibility and business reputation, that's why their email just store in spam folder... nobody gonna read that, just a waste of time :)

In terms of SEO and the fact you have only 70 or so characters, I've been writing titles like this:

"Keyword" : Don't Fall into the Trap of X, Y or Z

The keyword being placed first is vitally important or it just gets lost. Having helped ghost write an SEO book from a top SEO guy in the States (Phoenix, AZ actually!!), keyword placement is far more important than anything else. You could have the catchiest title in the world, but if it's on p4 of Google, it's a waste of time.

My $0.02 ;)

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Originally Posted by JudderMan

In terms of SEO and the fact you have only 70 or so characters, I've been writing titles like this:

"Keyword" : Don't Fall into the Trap of X, Y or Z

The keyword being placed first is vitally important or it just gets lost. Having helped ghost write an SEO book from a top SEO guy in the States (Phoenix, AZ actually!!), keyword placement is far more important than anything else. You could have the catchiest title in the world, but if it's on p4 of Google, it's a waste of time.

My $0.02 ;)

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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA good one.

That's the most important part yes. Your keyword needs to be in front, otherwise what would be the reason for writing the post in the first place. I've tried, but with my niche its kinda hard to make a sentence start with the same word/s all the time and not worry about it all sounding generic.

I remember reading a blog just because of the catchy title

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The Pimp, the Grocer and the Hit Man: Magnetise Your Headings Using the Power of the Unexpected

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When I first saw the heading it aroused curiosity in me and I spent a whole 15 min reading the content. It makes wonders if you have a unique title.

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Originally Posted by James Greg

I remember reading a blog just because of the catchy title When I first saw the heading it aroused curiosity in me and I spent a whole 15 min reading the content. It makes wonders if you have a unique title.

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That's a perfect example. Titles like that will get people reading and keep on reading. and more than likely keep them watching you to see what else you've written about.

but sometimes you also need to be careful :) because sometimes catchy title can lead you to read something about junk info and want you to click something or buy something :)

hmm A moot point, or another grey area perhaps. With everything we do nowdays, it seems that we have to be careful. Misleading titles, misleading emails, websites, and a whole host of other areas I don't have the space to mention. IMHO this is one of the reasons that IM's have to work so hard. Because people are always willing to take shortcuts, do whatever they have to do to get ahead of their competition, we have to work harder because even though we are promoting, we still need to gain a person's trust.

yes, gaining person's trust is not easier said than done.. for me, in the end, the trustworthy IM and honestly work still can win the competition.. just take a longer time