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1. Use a Title with a Number:   "5 Best Stock Tips for 2007", "3 Ways to Improve your Exercise Routine" – these titles pull traffic better than something like "Stock Advice". Maybe it is because users like to scan short bites of material rather than long essays. Perhaps they think that they can improve their odds of getting something out of the article if there are more tips. Regardless, add a title with a number to your site or newsletter and you should see a lift in clickthrus.

2. Be Direct: For example, “How to Present Effectively” pulls better than the ambiguous “How to Get More Done”. When people are scanning your site or newsletter, certain titles will jump out at them based on their interests or what is currently going on in their lives. Overall, a specific and direct title is more successful than a general and ambiguous one.

3. Be Current: If you are talking about a catchy subject that is popular (eg. The Starfish and the Spider) use it in the title so that your site or newsletter looks up to date.

4. Be Useful: Titles that look helpful with phrases such as “How to”, “Make Better” “Tips on” pull well. People click on them because they think they can immediately benefit from reading the article.

5. Be Predictable: Include product and service names of what your company is typically associated with. You may have a different strategy coming, or you may want to make a drab product seem more exciting by sprucing up the title, but this is not effective. The web is a big place so if people are on your little piece of it, they want to see specific information on what you offer.

If you are looking for more information on this kind of stuff – check out Marketing Sherpa.