Effective Blog Post Titles

I'm not a professional journalist, and I don't aspire to be one. Therefore, I can't claim to know the magic formula for titling blog posts. However, I can speak about what type of titles I like, and which ones annoy me.

Let me start off by saying that I scan around 150-200 titles per day and have around 30-35 feeds relating to advertising, online marketing and Internet business on Bloglines. It's a similar story with others who try to stay abreast of daily news and commentary in this industry. A crucial factor that determines whether I read a particular post is the title.

The title generally tells me what the post is about. If the subject is something that interests me, and I feel like indulging in the writing of that blogger, then perhaps I'll read it. Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion is an example of a blogger that titles posts effectively. His posts vary greatly in their structure - some are short bits of news he's come across, others are a list of resources in link fashion, and still others are extended commentary. However, I can always tell what the post is about by looking at just the title. He has a post titled, "Amazon Launches Product Wikis"? Well, I know exactly what it's about and if I don't know what a Wiki is, then that's my problem.

Then there are others in my Bloglines (though maybe not for long), and mind you, there are only a couple of them, who title their posts in such a way that you have no idea what the post is about unless you read the whole thing. I think the idea is that they're trying to be edgy, but certainly at my expense and those with similar habits as me. I don't want to name names, but a blog post titled "Engagement neutrality" gives me no clues as to what the post is about.

Don't get me wrong. I think that edgy and ambiguous titles are fine, if you're writing in The New Yorker. However, I think that they have no place in business publications. Or...maybe these bloggers aren't trying to position themselves for a professional audience...