Can good titles bring in more traffic?

Recently, you might have noticed a new concept in blog advertising gaining momentum. I am referring to the use of widgets that display random links on your blog. While BlogRush widget displays the links to individual posts, the AutoRoll widget for blogger displays the links to your blog.

Which concept is going to be useful or successful? While I cannot forecast now, my vote goes to BlogRush concept. The reader’s attention goes to the widget for probably a fraction of a second. You need to grab his/ her attention within this split second. An attractive post title might do the trick rather than the title of the blog itself.

I have a feed on my blog that gets recent posts from the bloggers whom I admire. But, I do not read each and every post from them. The title is the key to me. If I like the title, I would explore further. As such, a good title for your post becomes very important.

What are the key components of a good title?

1. There should be bait in the title (Title baiting?). In other words, there should be something that will attract the readers to click on the link.



2. The title should be short and direct. BlogRush displays a maximum of about 42 characters from your title, including the blank spaces. In certain cases, depending on the first line break, it may even be lesser.
   
   For example, I have made $10,000 from my blog (Dreaming?) last month and would like to post about it. Think of a title “Last month, my blog helped me to make more than $10,000”. BlogRush will display the title as “Last month, my blog helped me to make mor…” See how your title has been curtailed by the widget. Now, let me think of another title “My blog made $10,000 last month”. In this case, the entire title will be displayed.
   
   So, plan your title and ensure that all your keywords appear in the first 30 characters or so.



3. Include numbers in your title, if possible. It is understood that the titles with numbers attract more clicks. For example “7 easy ways to make money online”, “9 effective ways to get free money”, “5 proven methods to bring traffic” and something in that line.

If an attractive title can bring in traffic, why should I spend time in writing good content for my blog? Remember, good titles can bring in traffic. But, only good content can sustain the traffic.

If you would like to share your thoughts or your opinions on the above topic, please add your views in the comments section to make this a complete post. Please subscribe to my feed if you like this post.