From ProBlogger Expert Ali Luke of Aliventures.
How often do you sit down to write a post, only to draw a complete blank?
Blogging prompts can be really helpful agb directory if you’re stuck for ideas. Sometimes, though, what you’re struggling most with us coming up with a title.
What you want is a ready-made title template: one that you know will hit the mark with readers, and that will help you create a well-structured post.
The great news is that you can find those templates all over the place, on any popular blog you read. Just take a great title of theirs … and spin it into your own.
But Is it OK to Use Someone Else’s Title?
Some bloggers worry that using someone else’s title is unethical, or even illegal.
The truth is, it’s neither. Legally, there’s no copyright on titles – and given that many blog post titles follow tried-and-tested formulas, there are inevitably lots of posts with very similar titles anyway.
Morally … might be a greyer area. If you’ve swiped a particularly unusual title, you may want to link to the original post to acknowledge it. If you think someone might mind you borrowing from them, it never hurts to ask.
Many bloggers, though, freely borrow other people’s titles and even post structures: it’s common practice, even at the highest levels of blogging. (Check out this account from Jon Morrow about how one of his most popular posts was heavily based on one of Brian Clark’s.)
However …. as with any area of blogging, don’t do something that you feel personally uncomfortable with. If your title seems a bit too close to an unusual original title, you might want to have a rethink.
How to Find a Great Title
If you read blogs (and hopefully you do!), then great titles are all around you. Some especially good places to look are:
- Twitter – what post titles have stood out to you recently? Which ones did you click on?
- “Popular post” lists – you can find these on many blogs, often in the sidebar. Posts don’t generally become popular unless they have a reasonably good title!
- Magazines – editors know all about creating titles that grab attention on the cover. (Note, for instance, how often they use numbers.)
It’s often a good idea to seek out blogs outside your own niche: this can bring in fresh title ideas, and it also forces you to change at least a few words of each title. If you blog about WordPress, for instance, you might find inspiration on a parenting blog … or vice versa!
How to Twist That Title
Once you’ve found a title, it’s fairly updated 2024 mobile phone number data straightforward to “twist” it and make it your own. You can do one – or all! – of these:
- Change the main topic (e.g. “blogging”, “writing”, “growing tomatoes”, “raising happy kids”).
- Change any numbers involved (e.g. “six tips” could become “ten tips”).
- Change the adjectives (e.g. “one powerful way to…” could become “one simple way to…”).
- Change the context (e.g. “at home” could become “at work”).
I’ll run through a couple of examples for each:
#1: Change the Main Topic
Title: How to Make Time for Blogging During Your Lunch Break (Larry Alton, ProBlogger)
Changing the topic could turn this title into:
- How to Make Time for Writing During Your Lunch Break (writing blog)
- How to Make Time for the Gym During Your Lunch Break (health blog)
- How to Learn a New Language During Your Lunch Hour (language / education blog)
Title: Is it Smart to Increase Your Credit Card Limit? (John Ulzheimer, The Simple Dollar)
Changing the topic could turn this title into:
- Is it Smart to Put Your Kids in the Same Bedroom? (parenting blog)
- Is it Smart to Join the Gym in January? (health / fitness blog)
- Is it Smart to Keep a Handwritten Journal? (writing or personal development blog)
#2: Change the Numbers
With a list-style post, you don’t need to stick with the original number of items. (This can also help to make the title feel like your own.)
Normally, you’ll also want to change the topic – the exception here is if you’re linking back to and perhaps building on the original post.
Title: The Five Most Realistic Ways to Make a Living as a Writer (Glen Long, Smart Blogger)
This could become:
- The Three Most Realistic Luo liidejä synnytyksen aikana webinaareilla Ways to Make a Living Blogging
- The Ten Most Realistic Ways to Make a Living While Travelling
- The Twenty Most Realistic Ways to Make a Living Working at Home
Title: 7 Ways to Write Better Action Items (Charlie Gilkey, Productive Flourishing)
This could become:
- 3 Ways to Write Better Blog Post Introductions
- 6 Ways to Write Better Calls to Action
- 10 Ways to Write Better Emails
Occasionally, a title might use a particularly significant number – e.g. the title of my post “7 Habits of Serious Writers” was inspired by Stephen Covey’s book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. (I’ve also seen a lot of posts that are the “Ten Commandments of…”) If that’s the case for your borrowed title, you’ll probably want to keep the number the same.
