1. Double-check spelling and word usage in your article  title.

2. Commas are allowed, but only in the middle of a title.

3. Do not put a period at the end of your article title.

4. All colons (:) and semicolons (;), long and medium  dashes, pipes (|), and slashes (/) are to be replaced  with two short dashes (–), or changed to word  equivalents.

5. Ampersands (&) and parentheses () are allowed.

6. Quotation marks are allowed to emphasize a part of  a title, but not the entire title. Please remove quotes  around the entire article as they are superfluous and  of no benefit to the author or reader.

7. Microsoft Smart Quotes: Please remove them. They break  RSS feeds, emails, etc.

8. Never put an article number in the title of an article.

Example: [Wrong] Dog Grooming Tips-Article #3
Example: [Right] Dog Grooming Tips

Tip: The reader is most likely not privy to how  many articles you may have written on a  subject. It also creates useless title bloat.

9. Never purposefully use commonly misspelled words in  your article title to try and gain traffic from humans  who misspell words in their searches. WHY? It’s  sneaky and it can ruin your credibility as an expert
author.

10. Never put a year or date in the title of an article.  This greatly reduces the “shelf-life” and marketability  of your article.

Tip: If you want to update or “freshen” up your  article, update the copyright date in your  resource box as a marker that will tell the  reader when you originally wrote the article.

Writing articles for syndication means that your content will be read for many years and decades to come. Consider that for a moment before you write your next article title.

Having a smart article title is the key to hooking more readers, but the article title is only the envelope in our article marketing campaign.  What’s inside your article envelope will determine if the reader is satisfied enough to begin to understand and/or trust you.

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Article Title: Avoid These Common Mistakes published at Start a Business Building Websites

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* This article title is too short to get any hooks and the reader has to guess what your angle to the topic will be about.

Example 2: “Car Audio and Electronics”

* This is better, yet it does not explain why someone should read the article.

Example 3: “Car Audio and Video That Will Make Your Friends Envy You?”

* Now we have picked up a 2nd keyword, “video” and a reason why to read the article.

Example 4: “Car Audio Components, Subwoofers and Tweeters-7 Tips to Amp Up Your Stereo”

* Here you see multiple high value keywords, gave a reason to read the article and even used a high value keyword as a verb, “Amp.”Tip: Use a keyword tool such as GoodKeywords, Google Suggest, or Wordtracker to help identify keywords for your article titles.

Also, ask yourself this question: “Do the first 3 words of my article title introduce the topic of the article?”

1. Start your article title with your article subject.

2. Avoid starting with ‘junk words’ or conjunctions, such as “a” or “the.”

3. It is acceptable to start your article title with a verb and then roll directly into a dense keyword relating to the subject of your article.

4. Consider using two article topic hooks in your article title.

Example: “Yoga Moves – 7 Tips To Flatten Your Abs With Hatha Yoga Techniques”Topic hook #1 is “Yoga” or “Yoga Moves” Topic hook #2 is “Flatten Your Abs” or “Hatha Yoga”

Can you imagine the possibilities of using two very narrow topical hooks to help your reader know what the benefit will be if they invest the time to read your article?

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Guide To Writing Keyword-Rich Article Titles published at Start a Business Building Websites

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2. The Article Body is where you GIVE; The Resource Box   is where you TAKE. Thou shall never TAKE in the   Article Title.

3. Your objective is to create a relationship of trust and   credibility with your readership. You will not get the   opportunity to sell to your reader until they know, like   and trust you.

4. In your article title, you are trying to sell your reader   on the benefits they will receive if they continue   reading your article. Put your creative sales focus on   selling your reader the benefits of the information in
your article, not your business.

Does my article title attempt to sell something other than information? published at Start a Business Building Websites

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2. Longer article titles can also increase your reprint rate  and value. The narrower the focus, the more  specialized the reprint website and the more qualified  the visitor/reader. This results in a greater referral rate  of traffic to your website.

Tip: For EzineArticles.com, your article title can be up to 100 characters long. Make your article title just a little
longer than what might feel comfortable and you will often see a higher return from your article in terms of how much traffic it can attract for you.

3. A good article title length is greater than 70 characters   but less than 100 characters.

4. Get to the point. Do not use exclamatory wording like  “You Don’t Want to Miss This”  or “This is a Must Read”
in your article title to induce urgency.  It usually just  induces annoyance. If your article is good, you don’t
need it in your title. Focus on the article topic.

5. Rambling on and on in your article title shows a lack  of respect for your readers time. Most people make the
mistake of spending 99% of their time on the article  body and 1% on the article title. Instead, put 20% of
your time on the article title and 80% on the article  body.

6. Don’t use slang. It will often backfire, especially if your  English-speaking reader did not grow up in your same
country or with your same life references. Be direct  and be sensitive to cultural misunderstandings when
choosing your article title.

7. Brevity is golden. Start with a long article title with  multiple hooks into your key topic and then continue
to ask yourself how you could tighten up the article  title without sacrificing your intended article title
promise.

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Does my article title use clear and concise wording? published at Start a Business Building Websites

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1. Your article title should be specific, to the point, and  completely deliverable. If you are struggling with
delivering all the information promised in your article  title, consider splitting your topic into 2-3 separate
articles.

2. Acid Test your article title: Will your readers feel  satisfied and have their expectations met by your
article body content after reading your article title?

3. In terms of content supply and market demand for  information, it is true that there is a huge demand for
information on broad topics, but that comes with a  huge supply of content to meet the huge demand.
I.e. Your article can get lost in the shuffle.

4. You may find a market advantage by answering the  long-tail demand of a niche topic by looking at the
more specific, narrowly defined questions your market  is asking for you to answer.

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Can I deliver on my article title? published at Start a Business Building Websites

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1. After reading your article title, a question should   appear in the reader’s mind.  Your article body is   where you deliver the answer to that question.

2. This is a powerful concept because you have just  engaged the mind of your reader, moving them from a  passive to an active state. In the active state, your
reader is more likely to find value in your content and  thus visit your website.

3. Never underestimate the power of “How To” article  titles. There is clearly a huge demand for articles that  answer common problems in an easy-to-read “How To”  format.

4. Don’t be afraid to offer your readers more questions  they should ask themselves when evaluating the topic  of your article. Questions become highly relevant  answers to your readers because your questions act  like a personal coaching session.

5. Avoid the shocking question that forces you to stretch  the truth to answer the question in your article body.  Instead, be creative and interesting with your article  title question.

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Does my article title entice the reader to ask a question? published at Start a Business Building Websites

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Ask yourself: “What does my article title promise to give to my reader?”

1. Your article title should promise to deliver your expert  information on a specific topic. It should build interest  or motivation.

2. Within 2-5 seconds of anyone reading your article,   they should be able to clearly see the answer to the   promise you made in your article title.

3. Do not bait or trick your reader into being forced to   visit your website to see the answer to the promise   you made in your article title. This is a credibility   and trust violation.

4. If you have a very short article title, be certain that   your article body includes the most socially acceptable   or expected solution or information that any   reasonable person would expect from a short title.
Better yet, don’t use very short article titles. Instead,   make them longer and more descriptive.

Ask yourself: “Does my article body deliver on the promise made in my article title?”

When you can answer that question with an absolute “YES!”, you know you have the makings of an excellent article.

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Article Title Training published at Start a Business Building Websites

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