Publicity, You can’t have bad publicity. Well actually that’s not entirely accurate but by creating a shocking title or controversial topic, the publicity that it will generate (as long as its not offensive) far surpasses that of social networking or SEO ranking, and that’s word of mouth or viral.
Take this post title for example, wether your celebrity mad, or interested in the news this title catches your eye, and is worth a quick click. Once reading the post, it may generate enough interest for the reader to continue and see what your about, see a link for your other posts and you’ve cracked it. So what other shocking titles or ‘grab titles’ could I have used?…
Is Obama really Canadian? Everyone knows who Obama is, Everyone knows he is the President of the USA, Everyone knows he is American….. Could he really be Canadian?, What implications would that have, could it really be true? Oh my god….. CLICK
Government conspiracy uncovered! – People love scandal, and they always suspect something is going on, God damn I knew it, those suits are always trying to hide something …. – CLICK
A grab line is massively important, If I called this post, ‘titles for you to use to increase your exposure’ it would recieve hits of course it would, but no way near the amount it deserves.
Post Image Having a luring picture that catches the eye, related to your post. Take the image I used on this post for instance, related to the post title and boosts the grab line.
Viral Having one post on your site that goes truely viral will transform your site overnight, blinking on everyones screens around the world constantly, and its the click factor thats going to make that happen, Users tweeting, re-tweeting, digging, facebooking and sometimes even email (do people ever email these days!)
How far to push your title? You want to grab headlines and draw traffic in, but you don’t to to push it too far, So don’t write anything offensive, It could destroy you before you have even started.
What titles are you using?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been trying to be more creative with my titles lately. I wrote one article recently called “Natural Marketing: Or Why You Should Always Take Your Chicken To Town”
And One called “The Trans-Canadian Adventure: Or Three Broke Wannabes in a Greyhound Bus”.
You have to be careful to not get too crazy with your titles, or you’ll end up drawing in people who are not in your target group. And they won’t get it. But that can be an advantage, too. Just depends on what you’re trying to do.
[Reply]
theinfopreneur
Twitter: theinfopreneur
Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 20:40
Yeah too true, Keep the title or grab line loosely related to the topic if it really needs a shocking title! But as you rightly said it can work for you if you get the wrong target audience too!
[Reply]
LOL! Really creative title. I HAD to click on it.
[Reply]
theinfopreneur
Twitter: theinfopreneur
Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 02:13
which proves the point hopefully! Thanks Zek
[Reply]
Twitter: bigredtomato
January 13, 2010 at 23:11
Also make sure that the image is at least relevant to the article you’re writing about and not just an image to get you noticed.
Matthew Needham´s last blog ..6 Days only – 31 Days to Build a Better Blog + 3 Free Bonus Offers
[Reply]
Twitter: DJames
March 7, 2010 at 16:44
Now I feel bad that clicked on this – so duped! Just kidding, James. Actually, I had this same revelation a few weeks back while analyzing Digg articles that get clicks.
Actually, I have one for you if you hurry – and, it is true (at least the Twitter part)
My headline gifts to you!
1. Dalai Lama Tweets from Chicago
2. Great Tweeter, the Lama
3. Does the Dalai Lama Have an iPhone?
4. Why My Community Cares More than the Dalai Lama
PS – the Dalai Lama is on Twitter – his account is DalaiLama
Don James – The Agile Marketer´s last blog ..Learn How to Make Money Online – Affiliate Marketing Success Story
[Reply]
theinfopreneur
Twitter: theinfopreneur
Reply:
March 7th, 2010 at 20:22
Funny you should mention this as I have been researching digg titles, great minds! lol
[Reply]