No matter how much effort you have taken to write an article or research paper, if the same effort is not reflected in your title it’s of no use. Though it may seem to you that writing a great title will take only a fraction of time, but it’s not true. Instead, it is one of the major driving parts of the entire work. One should spend quality time on the title because it is the first thing that a reader will observe. If you are not able to catch the attention of the reader through your title or are not able to convey about the topic through it and your entire effort goes into waste.

A title is the starting point of any article, paper, essay or any other write-up, where the writer highlights the intention or directs the reader about the content.  We all are living in an era of digitization where almost everyone searches relevant articles using multiple search engines. If you have ever observed there will be a lot of articles with a similar title that you are looking for, but you choose the one which attracts you the most and serves the purpose of your search. The question often arises here that in such a sea of information and online content, how to make your work stand different? What importance does a title play? Can a great title attract a good number of readers? Well, this article will help you share some tips and insights to write a great title and answer the above questions in brief.

Begin with a rough draft

It is best to start any article by giving a title first. It helps you stay directed while writing the rest of the body and conclusion of the article. Writing a research paper or article is a lengthy process. It might happen sometimes that you may divert from the original topic. To prevent this, it is always best to write a rough title initially and make corrections once the entire paper or article has been written.

Choose from different types of title

The titles of the research paper, essays and articles can be categorized into a number of types. As per Hartley (2008) there are as many as 13 variants of the titles. However, we will here enlist three common types of variants mostly used to convey the true essence of the topic.

1. Declarative titles – As the name suggests in such title you convey the major idea, findings or conclusion of the articles. For example, ‘A study shows naturotherapy based treatments overcome weight gain issues’.
2. Descriptive titles – Here you try to describe the entire idea behind the article or the write-up while keeping the conclusion part hidden. For example, ‘Effectiveness of CRISPR based gene editing therapy to cure blood disorders’. Here the title describes the context of the article that it discusses about the CRISPR technology but does not reveals if it is successful in treating the disorders.
3. Interrogative titles – These types of titles are one of the best ways to catch the attention of the readers. Here you convey the idea behind the article in the form of a question. For example – ‘How to write a great title’, this is an interrogative title. Here you know the article discusses tips and guidance for writing a good title for an article or research paper. Moreover, most of the readers search content in interrogative forms such as what is CRISPR, How CRISPR gene editing can transform disease treatment and much more.

Length of the title

Another important point to consider while writing a title is its length. As per standard guidelines, it is suggested that any title between 8-11 words is good. You must avoid too short titles ranging between 3-4 words, as they rank poorly on the search engine. So if you want your article or paper to be easily available to the readers, follow the standard guidelines. Moreover, in a study it is found that title with 8 words had 21% more clicks than others. 8 to 10 words long title is the medium length, wherein the idea can be conveyed very easily to the reader. Too long titles make it less attractive and boring whereas too short title does not convey the idea properly. Any article with an 8-10 word title is considered to be the best and a great way of capturing the eyes of the readers.

Way Ahead

Each of the above-said points is very useful in writing a great title. However, depending upon the type of content you are writing the demands of the title may change. In the case of research papers, articles and other related scientific content above said guidelines stand true but in case of other content such as presentations, press releases, blogs, and more the demand may change. Though there won’t be much significant change, as you can follow the three common variants of titles mentioned above that fits into almost any content. So what are you waiting for? Give it a try today and write an amazing title. Let us know in the comment if it helped you in any way. You can also share your way of writing an amazing title. You can also see another great blog on ‘How to write a good introduction’.