How to Write Good Titles for Online Articles

When you write an online article, you want it to get viewed. Your article will only get viewed if it can be found. Your article will only get found if it is searchable on the internet. In order for your article to be searchable, it has to have a good title. A good title will have keywords in it that people will type when searching the internet. These keywords will carry weight with search engines, allowing your article to be found. Once your article is found, the title has to clearly state what the article is about in order for people to decide that they want to read it.

How to Choose Keywords for the Title of Your Article

The first thing you have to ask yourself when choosing keywords for you title is what your article is about. Then you have to decide what words people would type if they were searching for the information that is in your article. When I wrote an article about synthetic and natural thyroid medication, I made sure the title had as many keywords as possible. The title is Synthetic Vs. Natural Thyroid Medication: Synthroid Vs. Armour Thyroid Medicine. Whether someone types in "synthetic thyroid medication", "natural thyroid medication", "synthetic thyroid medicine", "natural thyroid medicine", "synthetic vs natural thyroid medication", "synthetic vs natural thyroid medicine", or "Synthroid vs Armour", this article is on the very first page of the search results and gets thousands of views every month.

Clearly State What Your Article is About in the Title

The title of your article is the first thing that readers will see when your article comes up in a search results list. Within moments, a person will decide if your article is what they are looking for. The title needs to clearly state the facts about the information that is in your article and catch the reader's attention. When I wrote an article about Synthroid making me sick and how to know if it was making you sick, I knew I couldn't have a title that said "Synthroid Made Me Sick". First, most people wouldn't type those words in a search bar. Second, that title wouldn't clearly state what my article was about, it would sound more like a personal blog post than an article with useful information. So I gave the article the title Side Effects of Synthroid - Signs that Your Thyroid Medicine is Making You Sick. I knew that "side effects of Synthroid" were words that people would type in a search bar and that the rest of the title clearly stated what my article was about. This article gets thousands of views and many comments from people thanking me for the information because they are also sick from being on Synthroid.

A Good Title is Important

A good title is definitely important to getting your articles found and read. Even if you choose popular topics and have well-written articles, poorly-written titles can keep you from getting the views you hoped for.

Sources

Page Titles - Yahoo Style Guide

SEO Basics - Yahoo Style Guide