Part 4c - Article Marketing - Choosing a Title
The title you create for your article is important for three reasons. First, the title plays a role in how many publishers will republish your article. Similarly, the title determines how much your article will be read by people. And thirdly, your title will affect the search engine visibility of your article.
Article Titles Affect Search Engine Visibility
Earlier, in the SEO section of this book, we talked about the HTML title element of your blog posts. We also discussed the importance of HTML titles for search engines visibility. Search engines use the HTML title of a web page or blog post to determine what the page is about.
This is also the case with the articles you publish online. When you create a title for your article, the article distribution site (e.g. EzineArticles.com) will use that same title as the web page's HTML title.
In other words, your article will become an individual web page within the article directory's website. And from a web coding standpoint, your article title is also the page's title. Translation — the title you choose for your article should include your key phrases.
Here's another important tip. Be sure to include your key search phrases at the beginning of your article titles. If you put them at the end of the title, it will greatly reduce your search engine visibility.
Remember our topic from the previous step? Here's how we can easily convert that topic into an article title:
Article Topic: Ten Reasons to Vacation in Mexico
Article Title: "Family Vacations in Mexico - 10 Reaons to Treat the Family"
You can see all I've done is put the key phrase ("family vacations in Mexico") at the beginning of the article's title. This will help the article come up in search engines for the phrase "Mexico vacations." You can think of this as a bonus to article marketing.
Sure, you're using articles to point inbound links to your business website, thereby increasing your website's search engine ranking. But the articles themselves have a good chance of coming up in search engines too, especially given the high visibility of websites like EzineArticles.com.
What's the end result? You're giving people more ways to find you online ... and then easily travel back to your business blog or website in order to learn more.
This is a key concept of this book, and of using the Internet as the "Great Equalizer." Think about it for a moment. If you can out-publish your larger competitors through web publishing, blogging, article marketing, press releases (covered next), and similar techniques, you can acquire more web traffic than those competitors.
Even better, people will be more inclined to trust your organization, if they've seen your articles and press releases on other websites. This is the way of the Online Equalizer!
Here are some more examples of titles using the key phrase from above:
- Vacations in Mexico: Taking the Family South of the Border
- Easy Family Vacations in Chinchariyo, Mexico
- Family-Friendly Vacations in Mexico - A Guide to Chinchariyo
- Etc...
Here are some things you should notice from the list above. The words "Mexico vacation" are at the front of each title, in some fashion. The word "family" is also included in the titles, which helps identify the exact audience we're trying to reach.
Now, let's say I flip-flopped the second title to end up with this:
"15 Places to Stay During Your Family Vacation to Mexico"
I've just greatly reduced the article's search engine ranking for the phrases that are important to my business. Because search engines will rank an article higher for its key phrase when the key phrase appears at the beginning of the title. I know it seems like I'm nitpicking, but it makes a big difference. Flip-flopping that title element could mean the difference between page 5 in Google and page 1 in Google. Thus, it could make the difference between obscurity and prominence.
How to Write Irresistible Titles for Your Articles
I'm going to share an article writing secret with you. If you want to learn how to create titles that draw readers into the article like a magnet, pick up a copy of Reader's Digest. I don't subscribe to Reader's Digest, but I read the cover every time I'm in line at the grocery store. Here's why...
The Digest knows a thing or two about irresistible titles. In fact, the cover of each issue is nothing more than a list of article titles. And it's worth mentioning at this point that Reader's Digest is one of the best-selling publications on the planet!
Pay particular attention to their "how to" titles and articles. People love a good "how to" article. A successful copywriter once said that if you begin a headline with the words "How to," you can't go far wrong. I think he may have been right. The title of this section is a prime example: "How to write irresistible titles."
We love helpful tips and can't get enough of them. We gobble up information that promises to make us healthier or happier, to save us money or make us money, to give us an exclusive edge.
Want proof? Just browse the nonfiction shelves in your local bookstore and see how many titles start with "How to [blank]" or "Twelve easy ways to [blank]" or "Improving your [blank] in 30 days or less."
Your Title Checklist
- Does your article title contain your key search phrase?
- Does your title create a strong desire to read further?
- Does your title suggest that the article is helpful?
- Does your title identify your audience?
- Does your title accurately describe the subject matter?
Apply This Lesson Elsewhere
You can take the advice I've given you here and apply it to any other aspect of online publishing as well. After all, every online document should have a title. And when it comes to business websites, every online document should also strive to move the reader toward some business objective.
So in that respect, you could apply this title lesson to blog posts, web pages, free reports, email newsletter subject lines ... any online document you want people to read!
And speaking of "how to" titles, let's move on to the next lesson on how to write your article.
Articles Continued >> Step 3 - Writing Your Article