Blog post titles should be reflective of your audience.
Overly creative titles don’t work well online. Most aren’t searchable and don’t make the right connection with the intended target when seen in a Twitter feed, LinkedIn, Facebook or Google Plus.
Clever titles will not be read if they cannot be found.
I recommend, when creating a post title, that you connect it with the content and the audience.
Well over 90% of my post title are written this way. Here are some examples of connecting post titles with specific content to a specific audience:
- A 4-step writing formula for ad agency new business
- 20 Tips to Create a Niche Blog for Ad Agency New Business
- Steve Jobs: 10 Presentation Tactics for Ad Agency New Business
- The Top Advertising Agency Associations and Networks for New Business
- Add A Fact Sheet for Ad Agency New Business
I connect with my primary audience through my titles by consistently including “ad agency new business” in almost every post title. That consistency allowed me to obtain the number one position in organic search through Google for that term. It also helps produce a steady stream of targeted traffic to my blog site as a large volume of my content is being shared to over 100,000 followers through my @michaelgass and @FuelLines’ Twitter accounts. A good portion of my blog’s traffic also comes as my content is shared through my Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus and even my Pinterest accounts.
Here are some examples of targeted titles for niche blogs to help create new business opportunities.
Stacy Carter, partner/creative director for ABZ Design Group, Charlotte, NC, developed her blog to help her agency to build awareness and appeal for their services among community hospitals and hospital systems. Her blog is titled: “Creative Triage: Marketing Your Community Hospital Efficiently”.
Here is a sampling of her post titles:
- 3 Steps to Creating Targeted Online Ads for Your Community Hospital
- 8 Steps A Day To Community Hospital Social Media Success
- 4 Keys to Optimizing Your Community Hospital’s Digital Marketing
- Listening Helps to Tell Stories Through Community Hospital Videos
Another niche blog is targeting hospitals, but doesn’t want the smaller community hospitals. The primary target is hospitals with 350 beds or more. So, Julie Robinson, COO of the Kuhn Whittenborn agency, Kansas City, MO, created a blog, “The Main Artery: Getting to the Heart of Cardiovascular Marketing”, as a way to reach the larger hospitals that have cardiovascular as a primary service line which the smaller hospitals don’t have. Here are a few of Julie’s post titles:
- Can Cardiovascular Marketing Help the Broken-Hearted?
- Food Fraud and Cardiovascular Marketing
- Five Reasons Email is Still Effective for Cardiovascular Marketers
Scott Kuhn, CEO of Sheehy + Associates and his partner/creative director, Dave Carter, created The Store Starters‘ blog as a way to reach multi-unit retailers. The blog positions the two as expert marketing gurus for launching new retail stores. Here’s a sampling of their post titles:
- 11 Ideas for Turning Your New Store Opening Into an Event
- How to Promote Your New Store Using Direct Mail and Social Media
- 15 Essential Planning Considerations For Your New Store Opening
- 9 Tips for Writing an Effective Press Release for Your New Store Opening
Jose Vasquez, CEO at Quez Media Marketing, Cleveland, OH, wants to reach startup tech companies. He developed a niche blog called, Build.Brand.Blast. He connects his content to his target audience with titles like the these:
- Top 10 Cities for Startup Tech Companies
- One Thing Startup Tech Companies Cannot Be Successful Without
- Top 5 Ways to Use LinkedIn for Startup Tech Companies
- Top 10 Branding Strategies for Startup Tech Companies
For futher helps, check out an overview of “My 7 Steps for Fueling New Business Through Social Media”.
Thanks Michael. Titles are so often the bane of my blogging existence-these real world examples are very helpful. (And I think that may be the best picture to-date!)
Thank you Lee. I’m glad you found the helpful.