7 Tips For Successful Article Marketing Titles
Posted on October 7, 2009
Filed Under Affiliate Marketing | 1 Comment
7 Tips For Successful Article Marketing Titles
By Bob Hamilton
Quick, what’s the first thing you see when you look at a fresh article? The picture? The animated advertisement next to it? No, the first thing you see when you look at a new article is seen BEFORE you go to the article: your title and possibly several lines from within the article.
Your article’s title needs to do two things very well: it has to capture the interest of search engine spiders, and it has to captivate your readers so that they’ll click on it and visit your site – your real motive for writing to begin with. How can you do this?
1. Start by paying attention to the article’s keywording structure, but not so much that you ignore the human aspect. Ideally the keyword you are theming your article around should be in the title, and preferably within the first five words. But don’t marry yourself to that; things may change, especially with a really hairy keyword.
2. Articles that include the words Tips, Tricks, # Ways to, # Great Hints for, Free, and similar verbiage have a better than average chance of being read. They also have a better chance than other articles of placing well in Google. Do not do all your articles this way, but do consider structuring at least some of them with these words and concepts.
3. Use shocking, but not out-of-bounds, words. One of my favorites: “The Terrible Poop Explosion, And Other Baby Emergencies”. Another: “The Use and Abuse of Google.” Sharp words catch people’s attention, sharply. Offensive language, however, is likely to turn off the very people you want to capture. Edgy, as long as it isn’t too edgy or inappropriately edgy for your audience, is fine.
4. Use action words, and words that paint a picture. If you can tell a story with your title, you’ll have them, right there.
5. Do NOT use the exclamation point in your title. Do not use an exclamation point at all. These are the fakest punctuation marks in English, and are used like a laugh track in a bad sitcom to tell the readers, “Hey! Look! this is INTERESTING!” Similarly, don’t use eccentric punctuation or capitalization to make your title cool. Keep it simple, and if your words don’t get the idea across without gimmicks, you’re using the wrong words.
6. A question mark is a good thing to use in a title. When reading a story, most people lose interest if one thing is missing: a question that needs answering. Your article should be the same way: your title should ask a question, with or without a question mark. With the explosion above, you wondered what that was about, right? How about these titles: “How can I keep my boyfriend happy?” “Does God Matter?” “How Can You Save Money On Gas Today?” All these titles will draw the interest and attention of a specific target market.
7. Finally, always remember who your customer is, and write for them. You won’t sell a thing if you don’t know who this person is, and you’re in this business to make money – right?
Got all that? Now go out and look at the articles you’ve already written for your article marketing campaign. Do they fulfill the requirements as listed above? If not, you’ve got some rewriting to do.
To your article marketing success!
Interesting in learning more about this topic? Download my free ebook on internet marketing.
Bob Hamilton is an entrepreneur, author, writer, business consultant and trainer.
http://www.OpeningADollarStore.com
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WoW! Thank you very much for that enlightening article