‘I am so sure I am ready for an arranged marriage. I am tired of disappointments.’
This could the heading to your blog post, the reason your readers continue reading or you acquire a new reader. I mean, who doesn’t want to read about an arranged marriage of this manner? I was going through the blogs on the BAKE website reading different bloggers works of art (those things are many you should really give them a read) and one thing that stood out for me were some catchy headlines and titles. So, how can a catchy title work for your blog posts?
The kind of title someone has can extend as far as dictating the mood a person is in immediately. If your title has a nice joke or a funny quip then the post assumes a different tone from one that talks about maybe a ‘death in the family and other not fun things…’, either way it gets the reader interested in your blog post. Catchy titles can be written in different styles and this is completely dependent on the blogger, you, and the post. What kind of message do you want to send when people read your work. I was racking my brain for a couple of ways to write a catchy title and I came up with these few tips, I hope they are the sauce you need to spice your writing.
Humor.
This is by far the most attractive method of drawing in your audience. Everyone loves to laugh and everyone loves to have a good time and be happy. The kind of title that elicits laughter makes a reader stop by your blog and give it a read. One book series that has managed to rake in millions is dummies.com, With more than 200 million books in print and around 2,500 titles. The quirky title the books possess make them the more approachable to the market and have some of the easiest set of instructions for dummies.
Humor has been known to make you live longer so why not try your hand at it and have your readers happy they read your work.
Puns.
These are those statements or words that have more than one meaning, or words that sound similar to other words. They have the reader (those that get it) laughing at your creativity. For example, “if you’re a sweet person that likes puns then that makes you a pun-king”. I have a feeling this would sound so much better if I inserted a picture of a pumpkin here but let’s all be creative now. Puns take a more creative spin in that they are dependent on a certain topic and if the reader is familiar with that topic or reference, if not, they get the urge to .
Suspense.
Once in a matatu and the lady next to me was busy on phone and she was being loud enough that I had to eavesdrop. So she shouts at the other person on the phone that she’s on Thika rd and I can assure you we all were listening by now. The other person on the line I assume claims he’s about to get there and she adds she’s about to alight but there are cops making it hard she might take a bit of time. I immediately feel sorry for the poor chap; given we were in Rongai. But what she does next made me…
In that moment you are already interested you want to know more and more. How did superwoman hack a trip from Rongai to Thika rd? and that is how suspense works. So why not add it to your title and have a couple millions of readers at your neck. Some authors who have used this technique are Chimamada Ngozi in Purple Hibiscus, Mejja Mwangi in Kill Me Quick etc. The titles left you wondering what next and will I read something relevant to the titles.
Quotes /sayings
These remind you of your childhood right? You remember coming up with different ones that would be relevant to your essay. You were fueled by imagination and, of course, wanting to impress your classmates. The older we become the more we know, and the more we see the quotes coming to life, they give you that whiff of nostalgia. Use quotes by your favorite people or figures in society in your titles. someone might resonate with it and read your blog. then, there’s that interest that is piqued by a saying that just makes you want to feed off that wisdom.
Tips are meant to be used right? Abused even.