The title of your blog post plays an important role in determining the success of your article. We all know how important blogging is to a business. Blogs are an integral part of a successful website strategy. Compelling titles help generate interest in your articles and can help you succeed in blogging.

We can never measure the full impact of a blog post on a company’s web presence. For the Web Design Company I work with, the benefits of blogging are priceless.  The quality of the article is important, but if its title is not compelling,  it  may  be overlooked by readers.  Due to its importance, blog post title features as one of the  first items in the Checklist For Successful Blog Posts.

In this article we will discuss the types of posts and titles that have the potential to become popular. Such posts are often more appealing to readers and publishers alike.

1. Top / Best lists

List articles such as ‘Top 10 websites’, ‘Best web design blogs’ or ’15 ways to improve the design of your website’ are known to attract readers. Some of the most read posts fall in this category. In addition to popularity, it can be easier to research and write a list article. List articles have a potential to drive massive traffic to your company’s website or blog and also tend to receive more back-links.

2. Top Tips

Although tips are a type of list, I have listed it separately due to its widespread use and popularity across the blogosphere. ‘Top tips for Web design’ or ‘Tips on writing a compelling title for your blog posts’ are some examples. Tips offer value for readers as they usually offer a better, cheaper or more efficient way of doing something.

2. How to articles

How to articles have a similar impact to ‘Top lists’ or ‘How to’ articles discussed above. They are popular as they help readers to solve a problem. ‘How to write a compelling blog post’ or ‘How to choose your Web Design Company’ are some example of ‘How to?’ articles. Such type of blog posts are often appealing to readers and have the potential to become popular.

3. Tutorials

Tutorial posts are articles that teach users to use or do something. ‘Using Dreamweaver to design a website’ or ‘A step by step guide to designing a website’ are some examples. Offering tutorials on widely used topics stand a better chance of becoming popular. Tutorials can be technical or non technical depending on the theme of your blog and the market you are targeting. Tutorials should be related to your niche. There is not much point in a Web design company writing a post on gardening.

4. Product of service reviews

Reviews can cover anything from movies, restaurants or songs to websites, blogs or software. Most users search for reviews on the internet before buying a product or service. Reviews are so popular that there are many successful blogs dedicated specifically to reviews on certain types of products or services. When writing reviews you should encourage users to contribute and share their own experience via comments. Reviews also offer more opportunities for interaction with readers. Features such as customer rating, user Polls or surveys can be easily be applied to reviews.

5. Case Studies

Case studies offer a level of trust about the information contained in the article and readers tend to have more confidence in them. A Case study usually examines in detail how a particular individual, group, or event was able to achieve exemplary results in a particular situation. Example of this type of post is ‘Case Study – How Website Re-Design helped ABC to double its profit’ or ‘Case Study – Effect of Top 5 Google Ranking on my website traffic’.

7. Pros and Cons

Pros and cons or advantages and disadvantages also have a potential to become popular. They usually offer a contrast between using or not using a particular product or service. Contrasting opinions also have high search volumes. Some examples are ‘Pros and cons of using Open Source software to design your website’. The content of such posts may be similar to reviews but the title or tone is different.

8. Comparison between two options (Versus)

Such types of posts are popular as allow users to weigh their options before making a decision. They offer a contrast between two options. Comparisons can cover diverse topics e.g. you can compare two products, services, tools or technology. Such posts also regularly feature among the most read posts on this blog. Examples are ‘WordPress Vs Joomla for Web design’ or ‘Organic SEO Vs Pay per Click’.

9. Benefits or Advantages

Posts titled’ Advantages’ or ‘ Benefits of something’ also have a tendency to become popular. The titles are more eye-catching and appealing to readers. ‘Benefits of professional web design’ or ‘Advantages of using WordPress’ are some examples.

10. Use Power Words in your titles

Although the use of power words in titles can be highly beneficial, it should be used with care. Some readers may view it as promotional and email filters are known to flag it as spam if the subject includes some of these words. In general however, they tend to attract readers and have the potential to drive massive traffic to your blog or website.

If you blog for business, here are 15 Blog Posts Topics for Business Blogs.