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Transform the Title

Whether you're rewriting a PLR article, or an entire ebook, first read the entire thing to get a feel for it. That will allow you to see the direction and flow, help you avoid unnecessary repetition, and let you see what it covers and what it lacks.

Captain Obvious Moment

While this article is about turning PLR into winning content, it can help you transform the titles of your own content pieces as well.

Once you've done that, take a second look at the title because…

The title is the most important part of your article.

If the title doesn't grab a reader's attention and pull them into the content, the rest of the article doesn't exist (to them).

If you're still willing to just haphazardly slap a new title on your article and move on to the next step, perhaps this next story will get you to reconsider…

A gentleman by the name of Bob Morrison self-published a book called "The Entrepreneur's Manual." Wow, that made me yawn just typing it out. And apparently his prospects agreed, because he only sold 12 copies.

Disappointed, but not defeated, he changed the title to "Why SOBs Succeed and Nice Guys Fail in Business" …and over 700,000 copies of the book were sold! That's one of the more spectacular examples I could find, but it's not a fluke. A change in the title has often turned many different kinds of content from a bust to a smashing success.

Whether you're rewriting an article or an entire ebook, the point is the same—the title is vital! With an ebook, not only is the book title vitally important, but so are the chapter titles. More on that later…

As you can see, the title can make or break your article. Because of that you should spend the time necessary to craft a good title. Don't just change it so it's different from other people who have the same PLR article though, transform it into an eyeball magnet!

If you've read any books on copywriting, then you likely have a pretty good sense of how to create titles that grab attention. Here are a few basic pointers:

⇒ You want your title to get the attention of the right people, so create titles that speak directly to your target market. If your title would work equally well on a gardening article as it would on a weight loss article, then it's not speaking to the target market. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to think "everyone" is in their target market.

⇒ Make a big promise or offer up your biggest benefit. What is your article going to do for the reader? What's the biggest benefit they'll get from reading this article? Whatever it is, consider "advertising" that benefit right in the title of the article.

⇒ Where applicable, arouse curiosity. Ideally it would be curiosity about the biggest benefit the article delivers. In other words, it must be relevant. Another curiosity driver is to pose a thought-provoking question, present a surprising fact or statistic, or offer a compelling promise or solution. Intriguing titles pique readers' curiosity and make them eager to learn more.

⇒ Use compelling language. This ties in closely with the previous item. Words that evoke a sense of urgency, make a bold statement, or arouse emotion are good choices as long as the article delivers on the aroused sentiment. Also consider using action verbs, adjectives, or power words that resonate with your target audience and create a sense of excitement or interest.

⇒ Be specific. When you are specific your title is generally perceived as more believable. For example, "You can earn up to $47.75" is more believable than "You can earn $50." Or, "I lost 17 pounds" is more believable than a rounded-off number like, "I lost 20 pounds." Another aspect of specificity is to focus on the big benefit of your article. This helps readers understand what they can expect and attracts the right people.

⇒ Use "trigger" words. There are certain words that almost always grab a targeted reader's attention. These words include (but are not even close to being limited to): how, how to, secrets, discover, reveal, free, you, introducing, new, amazing, news, announcing.

⇒ Be clear. A good title should convey the main idea of your article in a clear and concise manner. Avoid being too vague or using excessive verbiage that force people to think about the meaning.

⇒ Use relevant search keywords in your title to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and increase the chances of your article being discovered by readers searching for related content.

⇒ Consider the length. Aim for a title that is neither too short nor too long. Generally, a title between 6 and 12 words is considered optimal. However, if a longer title is necessary to convey the main point effectively, don't hesitate to use it.

⇒ Test different variations to see which ones perform better. Use A/B testing or analyze the performance of different titles in terms of click-through rates and engagement metrics to optimize your approach.

Now let's look at a few specific examples. Feel free to "swipe" these examples and use them as templates the next time you need to rewrite a title:

Original Title: Housetraining a Dog

That tells you what the article is about, and will draw in some readers, but it's not very compelling. We can do better.

Rewrite #1: How to Housetrain Your Dog

The new title uses the trigger words "how to" and "your" (a form of "you" to make the title about the reader). That's a little better, but still not compelling.

Rewrite #2: The Secrets of Housetraining Your Poodle in 72 Hours or Less!

This new title uses the trigger word "secrets." It also speaks directly to a niche market (poodle owners). It also offers a big, specific benefit (fast housetraining in 72 hours). You could substitute "dog" for "poodle" to keep all dog owners as the target audience. If this were an ebook instead of an article you could stick with "poodle" and produce several variations all aimed at a different breed.

Rewrite #3: How to Housetrain Your Puppy Fast… Without Papers, Clickers or Crates!

Again, here we have big benefit (fast housetraining). But this title seeks to arouse curiosity. That's because anyone who's read about housetraining knows that most advice includes something about paper training or clicker training or crate training. So if you eliminate these common training tools, the reader will be curious about the advice in the article.

Rewrite #4: Seven Quick and Easy Steps to Housetraining Your Dog

This title is powerful because it pushes the "easy" button and pulls in readers who think that housetraining is hard. It also uses the "steps" formula. Specifically, this article has "seven steps," but it also could have had "Ten Tips" or "Three Secrets," or… well, you get the idea. Readers tend to gravitate toward step formula headlines because it implies the method has been perfected and spelled out for them.

Rewrite #5: Who Else Wants to Discover the Secrets of Housetraining a Poodle In 72 Hours or Less?

I'm sure you'll easily spot the trigger words (discover, secrets) and the big benefit, but here you see an additional element with the use of the "Who Else" headline. That addition suggests that other people have already successfully used this method. As such, this title works because it alludes to social proof. The title implies, "other people are doing it… you can too."

pro tip Note that the word "discover" is used rather than "learn" in the previous rewrite example. "Learn" is often considered boring and requires effort (in a word, it's work), while "discover" sounds more fun and interesting. Word choices matter!

Closing Title Tips

If you want to know the secrets of writing great titles, study copywriting. You can study the copywriting resources themselves or you can just study real-life examples.

If you want a handy resource, start your own "swipe file" of:

Good email subject lines.
Sales letters that make you want to read the sales pitch.
Eye-catching titles you find in article directories.
Blog post titles that almost force you to read the post.
Magazine cover titles.
Content aggregator websites.
Content marketing platforms.

Here's the idea—find titles that capture your attention and then try to figure out why they grabbed your attention. Then model your headlines after these compelling headlines to see if your results improve. There are also several swipe files online available to download. Most will ask for your email address because they're offered as list building incentives.

A swipe file is used for inspiration and idea generation, but in many (probably most) cases, you could just use the titles as you find them because titles are not copyright protected. They can be trademarked, but you're not likely to see that with article titles. Here's more information on title copyrights from Writer's Digest.

Previous Article in this Series: T.R.A.N.C.E.
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Closing Title Tips

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