Often website copywriters rely on their exemplary creative skills to win their client’s approval for increased business. This is an admirable effort, but why not step up with your best descriptive titles before diving into your creative content skill set?
Here are some techniques to get you into the habit of beginning at the top – using “Top Titles” to get your clients and their readers interested from the start.
Goal of the Title: Get the Full Attention of Your Target Audience
Find your hook, that thing that makes a reader stop – go back, and check it out. The title is your very first contact opportunity – introducing readers to your brilliant copy. This is the very point where your target audience gets drawn in to continue reading, or, in a split second, the reader passes and your copy is never read.
Saying “find your hook” is a catchy bit of metaphoric advice, but what does it mean? Really?
It means developing a strategy for thinking through possible phrases. Choose several phrases that will illustrate the content of your work with the discernment of a fisherman determined to catch a particular type of fish.
You don’t want just any fish in the pond. You are targeting those readers specifically interested in what you have to offer, because they are the key readers. These are the motivated “reader-fish”, interested in more than just reading, they want what your client has to offer, (their services or products). The primary task of effective website copywriters is to point your “reader-fish” in the right direction.
Your title will be constructed from phrases that grab attention. “Here it is! This is the very thing you are searching for!” These are examples of winning phrases that can hook your reader’s interests:
- 5 Best Kept Secrets of ______
- How to ___________________
- Are You Ready to __________
- Top Ten Best ______________
- The Truth About ____________
Then from the phrases you’ve chosen, select the one that best entices your readers to go on to the first paragraph. That’s the phrase you use to create your top title.
Don’t Just Pick a Title – Develop It
Begin with outlining the chief topics for your blog or article. If it’s appropriate, include a keyword from your article to begin developing the title. Adjust the phrase and keyword, or keyword phrase, to form a title that contains the central topic, or lead in. Play with the title wording to make it catchy, off-beat, and memorable. Are you satisfied that it will draw in your intended target audience?
As you develop the major topics and sub-topic of your content, your title should remain relevant to the main idea of your project. It’s worth these extra few minutes to create the perfect title. Your title points the way for your readers to find their path to your objective. Once they read your opening paragraph, they are sure to be inspired to continue reading through to the end.
Deborah-Lynn S. formed from the ancient fabric of Native American heritage and generations of deeply talented story-weavers, this ghost writer, SEO creative content specialist, and detail-oriented technology marketing researcher retreats several times a day from her world of words, to hug her troupe of purebred “Shorkies”, and to feed her baby quail and ducklings.
