The One Mistake That, If Corrected, Will Get People to Read Your Blog Post Every Time

So you've written a blog post, have you? Sure you have. And you've really put all your heart, mind, soul and strength into it? (Don't we do that with everything we write?)

And you've hit publish. (Click.) And you've sent it out to Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc. (Share. Tweet. Share.)

And now you're waiting for everybody to read it. Right?

The problem is nobody does (or very few). But it was so good (the blog post was). So what could have gone wrong?

I'd like to suggest a simple answer. And if you correct this one thing, it will get people to read (click on) your blog post every time. Well, maybe not every time, but a lot more times than if you didn't correct it!

Here's my answer. Are you ready?

Maybe it's your (spell it) ~ t-i-t-l-e ~ TITLE that needs fixing? :)

I don't espouse to be an expert at writing titles (like Brian Clark and Darren Rowse), but I have gotten better at doing it.

With this in mind I've brought together a list below that includes various of my own blog post titles (in parentheses) as examples pointing to what I try to keep in mind every time I write.

So in the interest of strengthening your own title writing muscle, here we go with...

12 Things to Remember About Writing Titles (plus one bonus):

They need to be ...

1. Personal (You Matter)
2. Catchy (10 Commandments of Blogging)
3. Transparent (I Have a Confession to Make...)
4. Emotional (7 Things to Keep in Mind When You Feel “Violated”)
5. Mysterious (3 Lessons from a Sunken Ship)
6. Encouraging (Parable of the Man Who Wouldn't Give In)
7. Seasonal (What If Santa Was Real?)
8. Ironic (7 Ways to Put Off Procrastination)

They need to ...

9. Capitalize on the power of a question (Would You Do Business With You?)
10. Play off of controversial people (3 Things I Learned About Blogging from Sarah Palin)
11. Point to lists (7 Clues That Somebody’s Lying)
12. Ride on the wave of social media (10 Mistakes People Make with Twitter)

BONUS: Titles don't necessarily need to be short. (The title to this blog post is an example.)

You might also be interested in:

• 11 Tips About Blogging (plus one bonus)
• 10 Commandments of Blogging [infographic]