Are You Delivering on the Implied Promise of Your Business Blog Post Title?

My June Hunt’s Headlines e-newsletter made a point worth repeating to all blog content writers: Don’t let your titles mislead your audiences.

“Customers who bought tickets to the Broadway show ‘Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo’”, starring Robin Williams, “were understandably disappointed,” Hunt observes.  The play was a drama about the war in Baghdad, not the comedy they’d expected, he explains.  And, while “Bengal” received critical acclaim, communications expert Hunt thinks that’s no excuse for giving the play its “misleading” title.

I’m not sure I’d pay the price of a Broadway ticket without reading reviews, but as a professional blogger and corporate blogging trainer, I agree 100% that a title constitutes a promise of sorts, and that the content needs to deliver on that promise.

“A good title makes all the difference in the world,” says Nolan Wilson of benchmarkemail.com. Included in Wilson’s list of tips for writing engaging blog post titles, along with including keywords, being short and to the point, and using power words, is the warning to “Deliver on your promise in the body of the post.”

A concept that’s important for business owners and freelance blog content writers to keep in mind is keeping the title and the actual blog post content congruent.  I like to share a funny anecdote from a Jerry Seinfeld CD I own. Jerry thinks having the airline captain come on the PA system to detail the flight plan is ridiculous. “Just end up where it says on the ticket!” says Jerry. Come to think of it, that’s a very good rule for business blog writing.

Remember – online readers haven’t read “reviews” of your “play”. The title of our blog post, Wilson reminds us Indianapolis freelance content writers, is the first thing that readers see, and, as the old saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression!”