How Great Titles Can Write Your Blog Content For You!

"Gordon Bryan" "The Great Gordino"Since content generation can be such a headache for bloggers, I’ve been writing a series of articles about how to create content *without* starting from scratch looking at a blank screen or, day I say it, a blank piece of paper. Here’s the latest tip, and the title of the article gives you a clue…

It’s all about the title.

It may sound obvious, but the title is an essential component of the article, because it’s the title that gets the reader to even open the article at all. If you get it wrong, then you may have some superb valuable content, but no-one will be reading it.

So, how can the title help with creating the content..?

The first way is to use the title as a driver for the actual writing of the article. There have been many times when I’ve been mulling things over, or seen a TV news story, and had an article title spring to mind. Then it’s not hard to find the rest of the article stemming from that title.

Here’s an example to illustrate the point – the ‘How To’ article is always a great model to use, and if you come across a story of how someone succeeded in something, you can take story and write the ‘How To’ article.

Take winning an Olympic medal, maybe the Winter Olympics – you can come up with a title like ‘How To Use Snow To Achieve Your Goals!’ That title has curiosity plus the ‘how to’ factor, and will likely get lots of readers.

You can also see how the title leads the whole article, because you know you will need to focus on the actual story involving the snow. I.e. the Olympic medal, and then tie it in to goal achievement theory.

Let’s go further, and look at another way you can use the title to steer your content creation…

Well, let’s stick with the example, and by the way it’s an example I just came up with as I wrote this article – it’s given me ideas for new articles myself, and you’re welcome to use it too!

Ok, so using the example of ‘How To Use Snow To Achieve Your Goals!’ you can then take the same basic point behind the article, and use title variations to use that same point again.

‘How NOT To Use Snow To Achieve Your Goals!’
‘The Best Way To Use…’
‘The Worst Way To Use…’
‘3 Ways To Use…’
‘Is This The Worst Ever Way To..?’
‘Possibly The Best Ever Way To..?’

I’m hoping that as you read those titles, you can see the idea fall into place – that those titles will almost write the articles themselves, and that they also manage to recycle content you’ve already created!

Maybe you’ve found inspiration here for a new article yourself – do let me know!

Yes, the title has to be given lots of thought because it’s so important, but do not forget the work the titles can do for you to come up with the actual content too!

Ok, that’s it for today.
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. if you enjoyed this article, then here’s another one you night enjoy:
‘Here’s How To Reuse Content Already On Your Blog!

Do leave a comment!

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26 Comments

  • You’re right, I’ve had a title or just a passing thought lodge in my brain before, and a blog article quickly follows. Thanks for this!

    • Thanks Amy,
      so many people think they need to have the whole article written before they sit down, but a title or a passing thought can often be all you need!
      Cheers,
      Gordon

    • Hi Charlotte,
      very true – they are also good ways to go. I have a text document I cna whack down titles and ideas when they come to me, then flesh them out later.
      Cheers,
      Gordon

    • Thanks Hannah,
      it’s a technique which can really help, and when developed with a bit of practice can speed things up amazingly!
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Thanks Gordon,
    I know the titles are important and sometimes I wonder if they’re just ‘catchy’ in my own mind or if others really think so.

    Do you feel that this works with any type of blog? I talk about life lessons coming from the spiritual aspect. And my content comes from my Angels & Guides…

    I appreciate your comments.
    Sue

    • Hi Sue,
      It can be trickier with some blogs, depending on their subject, but subjects like life lessons and spirituality work great with the technique!
      You can talk about the best way to move forwards, the worst way, 3 ways to not look back, and so on. Life lessons can be gleaned from so many subjects and stories, it’s a rich subject to tap inot.
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Thanks for this Gordon. It’s helpful to me because I tend towards thinking that my blog posts are descriptive rather than “how to” but actually a lot of what I am saying is around solutions, so perhaps I should think about packaging it in a more obvious way. Well, I suppose that’s marketing, isn’t it? Great food for thought!

    • Hi Harriet,
      I don’t think you necessarily have to package blog posts obviously – quirky or curious can work just as well, and that works for your own blog for sure.
      I just gave the technique as a tip for those that struggle to come up with blog posts – although it can easily be used just as well by those that don’t!
      Hmm, hope that makes sense!
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Wow. This is really amazing. I never really thought about titling things this way. Usually, I already have an idea of where I am going, then the title comes after. But, doing this way definitely helps get the juices flowing. Thank you!

    • Hi Britt,
      It’s interesting, and in fact probably food for another article (!), but I often also start writing an article without knowing what the title can be.
      I also on the other hand, use this title technique to come up with titles I know will create perfectly good articles – I just haven’t written them yet!
      Just goes to show that like most things in life, there are more than one way to do things, and sometimes it helps to come from a different angle to see what happens.
      Cheers,
      Gordon

    • Thanks Sabrina,
      I found that once I started doing this years ago, the ideas came thick and fast, andit was at that point I started a simple text file that I could whack the ideas in, and come back to later.
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Gordon, awesome article! You and me are on the same topic today! Blog content generation. So yes, coming up with a catchy title is half the battle when coming up with ideas on what to write about. You’ve helped me rethink how I should word my own titles that will captivate my audience. I would LOVE to increase my blog following.

    • we certainly *are* on the same topic, and your posts have some great ideas! Glad you found my title technique helpful.
      Cheers, Gordon

  • Oh, and one other tip I would like to share here, Gordon:

    Once you have all these great titles written out, put them in the WordPress Editorial Calendar where they are stored nicely and ready to open up at any time and start adding your content. That is what I did last year and I’m doing it again this year. 🙂

    • I have a simple text document just called ‘article ideas’ – I either whack in just titles, or any other subject ideas. It really can build up into a resource you can tap into easily when you are struggling for something to write about.
      The wordpress editorial calendar is not something I’ve used, I may well investigate, thanks!
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Hi Great Gordino,

    long time no see. What an interesting point you make. I’m always aware of the need to make my posts interesting and helpful. Your guidelines here will give me some additional ammo to work with, – so thanks for that.

    all the best pal,

    Paul

    • Hi Paul,
      Glad it helps -using both of these title ideas really has given me great content over the years!
      Cheers,
      Gordon