Writing titles is hard. It is especially brutal when dreaming up a title for an online piece. This isn’t surprising; a lot rides on a title and there’s not much room to work with.

When putting the title together for an online piece, there are two main considerations: How well will the title motivate the viewer to read the article? Will the title be ranked highly by search engines?

Or, to put it another way, we have the human reaction to the title and the search bots reaction. It’s hard to keep both completely happy.

The Human Reaction

Viewers often read only the title and then move on if nothing catches their attention. To get the attention of humans, the title should be compelling and motivate people to read the piece; the title has to act as a hook and get the reader involved as quickly as possible.

One option is to write something clever and witty that is less descriptive but more entertaining and amusing. A clever title still needs to relate to the content of the piece and must not only be clever but also correct.

Another approach is to give a descriptive title, one that says literally what the article is about. It’s a bit boring, but if the viewer is looking for something specific and the title promises it to them, then they’re more likely to read the piece. A co-worker once said that how she liked to write titles was to think about the most important idea of the whole piece - the idea behind why the piece is being written in the first place - and write the title based on that.

If this title is for a blog, ideally the title would be in the same tone as the blog contents. For instance, if the contents tend to be slightly goofy, then you’d expect slightly goofy titles. A great example is Cute Overload; the post titles match the content perfectly.

The Search Bot Reaction

Unlike most humans, the search engine “bots” are extremely literal. They are not programmed to understand creativity or wit or goofiness.

To keep the bots happy, the ideal is to write very literal titles that contain key search words. In fact, it’s supposed to be advantageous to place a keyword as the first word in the title. This can lead to painfully boring titles, but good search engine rankings.

Ultimately how you write the title comes down to what you want the title to do and what you want from the piece. Is it a piece for wider distribution that you hope will rank well with the search engines? Is it just for friends and family? The higher the value on search engines, the more the focus should be on a descriptive title that pulls in keywords. If it’s a piece for friends and family, you can go wild with creativity, references and puns in the title.

A Few Final Notes

Whether you decide to take the creative path or the search bot friendly path, there are a few additional points that apply for almost all titles.

Use the active voice. A title in the active voice is more powerful and persuasive. People understand text in the active voice more readily, so it makes a more effective title.

Keep the title short. Three to seven words seems to be the recommended length.

Keep your audience in mind when you are writing titles; the title (and by extension the piece the title is for) should appeal to your audience.

More Information

Writing Effective, Attention-Getting Headlines and Titles on Your Blog: A fantastic, comprehensive piece on blog titles. Well worth the time.

10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work: Headline formulas for the keyword-conscious writer

7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work: More headline formulas

Learn How to Write Titles to Get Traffic and Links: The Ultimate Guide: A collection of links put together by Improve the Web.

Cliff Notes: In case you found this site when you were actually searching for how to write the title for your midterm. Good luck with the essay.