There are a lot of quality articles going unnoticed on Steemit at the moment. Some of these are letting themselves down by not backing up their quality content, with a quality title.
The other morning on the Steem Slack channel, I was asked to give my opinions on some post titles, and I ended up giving a sort of, Headline Writing 101, on the fly.
Anyway, it seemed to go down well, and a few people offline (yes I still exist offline) have also said they like my article titles, so I thought I would reveal my secrets and hopefully help you, if you're struggling to come up with eye-catching headlines for your posts.
I thought long and hard about this one, I pondered on whether to give away secrets like this, because ultimately they are a competitive advantage.
In the end, I decided the value that a post like this would bring to Steemit, outweighed any advantage I might lose.
So pay attention now, I'm going to let you in on some secrets, not all of them; just enough to help you improve, and if you read between the lines, you may pick up some hidden gems!
Content Is King - The Rest Is Conversation
Let's get the reality check out of the way first; that way we can concentrate on the real good stuff, without this causing us to pause and come back to this very important point:
Content Is King!
You can not avoid this, it is like a dog's bark, or the sunrise; you need quality content, laid out in a good way, for your posts to make money on Steemit.
Disclaimer
Making money on Steemit, is not guaranteed, quality content does not ensure big bucks
But it helps...
Provoke To Evoke
One tip that you hear given again and again by bloggers around the world, is that; it is better to polarize opinion, than not. In other words, it is better to have 100 people love or hate your work, than 1000 people think that it's okay.
Up until fairly recently, I mistook that for meaning that, if you're an asshole, and write shocking things for the hell of it, you'll get loads of followers.
However now I realise that it isn't about being shocking, or controversial for the hell of it, it's about being clever with your opinion. If you're clever with what you're trying to say, you can put it in a way, that does polarize opinion, and spark a healthy debate, without compromising your integrity.
This is the art of provoke to evoke, it is the equivalent of stopping someone dead in their train of thought and saying:
"Yeah, but what about THIS, I bet you've never thought about it like THAT before, in fact, looks like all this time you were WRONG. Ah but if you look closer, you were just looking at it the WRONG WAY, so maybe you were RIGHT, but now at least you're thinking about it."
OK, enough theory, let's look at an example; I wrote a pre-SID (Steem Independence Day) article, called; Steemit Will Not Be The New Facebook.
First of all, if you haven't read the article, what does that title say to you? Is it a positive or negative article?
Look at the thumbnail, does that say anything to you?
Well to save you going and reading it, the article is about the fact that the kind of things people post on Facebook, is driven by their motivation for being on there in the first place; family and friends.
I make the point that people will stay on Facebook to socialise with their friends, and that they wouldn't dream of posting the kind of things on here that they would on there.
Finally I make the point that the fact that Steemit will not be the new Facebook, is a good thing, because quite frankly, the Facebook model of comercialisation, sucks; it sucks hard.
So with my title, I have used a statement that a lot of people (not all) would take as negative, then within the article, I have painted a picture where Steemit can't compete with Facebook, for valid reasons.
Then I have shown why this is a good thing, and have revealed that I am absolutely ecstatic about that fact.
Some may call that clickbaiting, they would be wrong of course...
Are You Baiting Or Enticing?
At this point, I feel like I should state an obvious fact; because sometimes, things that are obvious, become so obvious over time, that they are forgotten and ironically, become not so obvious after all.
When you write an article, you are trying to entice people to read it, and of course vote on it; you want someone to see your title post and think "Ooh, yes, I'll read that!".
However; it is one thing to use clever wording, to get your point across to a potential reader, as they scroll through thousands of other posts.
It is quite another to use a provocative, picture or title, when the body of your article has nothing or hardly anything to do with the headline.
So what is the difference between a clickbait and a provocative title?
If you write a title, along with a picture, that has nothing to do with the majority of your content, then that is clickbait.
However if you use language that can be construed in more ways than one, and use a picture that honestly reflects, the story or at least a major component of the story, then that is a great headline.
And if you go even further and make the headline cryptically deceptive, in a fiendishly clever way; only to reveal the true meaning of the title right at the end, then you are a master whose level I wish to attain.
I await instruction Sensai
Feeling The Vibe
OK, now we have that out of the way, let us look how to go about creating just the right headline, to go with your amazingly sensitive piece, on studying the mating habits of, rare, albino, Andean aardvarks, when placed under the stress of being studied.
Let me let you into a little secret, the title I come up with first, is rarely the one I end up choosing, and when it is, it is either genius (I'm still waiting for that moment); or I'm being lazy, in which case, the article won't make much; which I deserve, for trying to cheat you out of a wonderful post title.
I'm going to lay it out in steps, because I like laying things out in steps, but you should look at this as much more organic process, the more you do it, the more you'll develop your own structure, for creating titles.
Step 1 Identify
Identify who you are writing for and what you're trying to say to them.
If you don't know who you're writing for, then you are trying to write for everyone; or you're thinking; I'm trying to write for the whales. (More on that later).
I often think of; what I believe is, a great subject, I login to StackEdit and start hammering away on the keyboard. Then after spewing out about 500 words or so, I suddenly stop and think, what am I trying to say here and who am I saying it to?
If I can't answer those questions; I stop writing, probably leaving that article behind forever more.
Let's take this post as an example; who is this article for?
First of all, I am trying to reach people who feel that their content isn't getting enough recognition and they are not neccesarilly sure why.
Secondly It's for people who feel that they are struggling to come up with good titles for their content.
Simple.
Next I am trying to say to you, that titling your post, is extremely important, and that it is often overlooked and can be the difference between getting seen or not.
Then I am trying to tell you how to come up with a good headline for your rocking content, to earn more money.
Even simpler.
Why is it important to identify your audience and the message you're trying to deliver to them?
Because that will give you clues as to the kind of language to use in your title.
Example:
If I was writing this for a class of 11 year old's; and I was trying to inspire them to use less literal titles for their essays; I might title the post:
Find The Line Inside Your Head!
However because I'm writing for you, I am calling it Great Content And No Cents? - It's All In The Title!
Step 2 Proof
Proofing your title, is like proofing your work, you are constantly checking, that it makes sense and stays on point. Like I mentioned above; writing about titles, whilst trying to choose a title, is a bit weird, so I'll talk about my usual method for proofing my title.
So how do you proof a title? I hear you ask...
OK, well the way I do it, is I go through step 1, then I just call the article something relevant; for example; I called this post How To Choose A Title.
This can be thought of as a working title, something that gives an aproximation, to what the post is about, it is purely functional and as | mentioned above, rarely used for a final draft.
So; identify, choose title, start writing content; here's where it gets interesting...
Whilst writing a post, you may suddenly write a paragraph, that changes the whole nature of the story you are trying to tell; you realise that you were coming at it from the wrong angle, so you change direction.
This is the first point where you might, change your working title. Often I will get to this point, stop, write a few titles, maybe change the working title and then carry on.
More often than not, I scroll to the top of the article and just write one or two titles there and then I carry on writing.
So using this article as an example, one of my proof titles was - Your Title Is Your Calling Card - Choose Wisely
I try not to bog myself down too much when I'm proofing the title, I am just checking for connections, making sure that what I write, doesn't wildly conflict with, my proofed titles. If it does, I reassess either the title or the content, or even both.
Basically, the main point of proofing, is to give you ideas for where the article might go; sometimes, my proofed titles get used as subheadings. Just like in this article at the top, I've used an edited version of, one of my proofed titles- Provoke To Evoke.
Warning: Sometimes this process may cause you to scrap an entire article, that you may have worked really hard on for days.
This is because proofing in this way, is a great chance to be hypercritical with yourself. When you do this, you might find out that the reason you can't think of a good title, is because you haven't got a good article.
Since I joined Steemit a little over 2 months ago, I have written around 30 unfinished articles, some are because I wanted to focus on something else. However most are simply because they didn't come up to scratch as I was proofing the title, and by association, proofing the article itself.
Step 3 Progression
So how did I come up with the post title to this article, and or any other article I've written with a good title?
Well for this article, it was slightly different for me as I came up with the title as I was talking about how to come up with the title!
However of course, this was not off the cuff, whilst I'd love to maintain the illusion in your mind, that I'm some kind of litterary genius, I must defer to the truth and tell you it's a progressive process, in other words; plain old trial and error.
So you see once I have identified, who my audience is, and what I'm trying to tell them, I then go onto create the titles, that I think do the jobs, they're meant to do.
Example:
Below are a few of; (from a much larger group) the choices I came to before the final decision
Provoke To Evoke - Getting The Killer Title
Content Isn't Always King- How To Write A Steem Powered Headline
Your Content Needs You('re) Headline!
Your Content Needs You!
Great Content No Cents? - It's All In The Headline!
Great Content And No Cents? - It's All In The Headline!
Great Content And Only Cents? - It's All In The Headline!
So the last one for me, is talking to the people I'm trying to talk to and, conveys the message I'm trying to convey.
I am attempting to provoke a response (you reading this article) to an emotion I have evoked (your frustration at not making enough money, even though your content is great).
With each one of those headlines, I asked myself, is it speaking to the people I want to speak to, and is it conveying the message I want to get across? If the answer to both of those questions is no, then I carry on; if however it is yes then great, I've arrived at the title for my post!
Summary
So if you're the sort of person that, writes something, title's it and then posts immediately and you're not getting much of a return, then following the tips mentioned in this article will help you.
Remember, it is about being individual and developing your own style, it may take a bit of time, and you'll get better with each post.
Writing titles in this way will exercise your imagination and improve your creative skills, and in time you'll be matching your titles to your posts in poetic ways that you wouldn't have imagined, when you started.
Things To Avoid:
Don't clickbait: Using words and pictures in your title, that are unconnected to the main body of your article, is unacceptable. It will annoy 99% of the people who read it and what is more, you will get a reputation for being a clickbaiter, which is not the rep you want.
Don't rush: Remember, it is much better to take 3 days perfecting a post and to be rewarded $100, than 20 minutes and be rewarded with $0.07.
Don't copy the structure of popular posts: Do you want to be a leader or a follower? If you see a "10 Things That..." post that makes $5000. Don't make an article called "9 Things That..." or, "Another 10 Things..."
You want people to copy you, not the other way round.
Things To Remember:
Identify Your Audience: You should ask yourself who you are writing for at all stages of the article creation process. Remember if you can't answer that question with a better answer than whales, you don't have an article yet, so you won't have a title.
Identify Your Message: As before, if you don't know what point you are specifically trying to make, or you have written an article about something, that has no particular point of focus. Then your title will also be unfocused and as before, you don't have an article.
Proof Your Title: Don't just go with the first title you come up with, as you proof the article, keep the title in mind, does it convey the words of the content? Write your proof titles at the top of the page, be prepared to scrap an entire article, or at least change direction, if you come up with a title that conveys a different message.
Polarize Opinion: You can't please all of the people, all of the time, and trying to, will just result in a bland wishy-washy product, that neither offends, nor excites. Keep in mind, that there is a fine line between polarizing opinion and sensationalism, which borders on clickbaiting.
Always stay true to your message...
Encourage Debate: Try and choose a title that will encourage debate, I have stated in my title that if you have great content, and little reward, that the key to success is in writing a good headline. You may agree with that, others might not, which could spark a lively debate. Debates are great as they enhance the value of your content and you may actually learn something at the same time!
Practice, Practice, Practice: There is no substitute, no shortcut that will improve your skills more than practice, so write as much as your schedule will allow.
Never Give Up: Don't get frustrated, you can hit low figures for article after article and then suddenly you come up with a killer title like How Steemit Has Changed My Life: From living on $1/day and 3 hours of electricity to Having over $41,319 and earn $17,349.12
What about you? What's the best title you have seen on Steemit? Do you struggle with titles, tell me how you feel below!
Cryptogee