❓Answering Common Questions: How to grab people with your Post Title and Thumbnail Image? 👀
To get people to see your great content you NEED to get them to first CLICK it!
Don't underestimate the power of a catchy title and thumbnail image!
The first thing I want you all to remember is that pretty much every post you make is seen by others in huge lists of other posts whether in a feed, steemit.chat, or a discord channel. You HAVE to make yourself stick out to entice people to click on your post!
Think for a second on the things that grab your attention. What makes you want to click on them? Did the title look interesting? Maybe the thumbnail image caught your eye? Or perhaps you saw a specific authors name that you've really enjoyed?
Most people when they first join on Steemit don't come in here with an established following or a personal brand, so you have to work to build things up. One of the ways to do this is strengthening your posts titles, thumbnail images and first sentence, inducing more people to open it up and give it a read!
Having the best content in the world still only gets SEEN once the post is actually opened.
Q: Are you telling us to make clickbait?
On some level, every catchy title is clickbait. But what actually causes the problem is then the it doesn't actually reflect the content of the post itself!
Using that perfect headline when it accurately describes when your content is about it just good marketing. Again, think about the things that caught your attention to click and read. Did you feel offended after finding that great, applicable read? Probably Not!
So don't let this term hold you back. Simply keep your titles (even when catchy) in line with the content your providing inside and you'll be just fine.
Q: What makes for a great post title?
First it's worth noting that there are different ways to make an effective title. Over time you'll find what things work best for you. What's below is just a way and not necessarily the way.
Be Accurate! It's worth stating this again. This is what separates a good headlines from clickbait! ALWAYS make sure your title describes what the reader will get inside. (Some funny or satire posts can break this rule.)
Quickly make the value clear. This often means having your keywords early in the title and be somewhat blunt about it. We're in an attention economy where you literally have a few seconds at most to get somebody to click or not. Personally, I prefer shorter, to the point titles.
Leave the reader wanting more! Think of this like a movie teaser where they give you just enough to catch your interest. This does mean that you need to have an idea of what grabs your target audience.
In my non-written posts (like photography) I try to tell a story with it. Either something that frames the theme of the image itself or how I got the shot and sometimes how I feel or react to it.
Include one or two enticing descriptors. For example, compare these:
- My Flower Picture
- My Brilliant Flower Picture
- The flower that changed my Life
Use your thumbnail image, which is the first in your post, to enhance the title.
Q: What make for good thumbnail images?
For visual posts (photography, art, etc) try to choose the best one for this. It can mean the picture with the greatest contrast (remember it's a small image) or the finished art work versus the pencil sketch of it.
For written posts, find something that conveys your message or mood. You want something that not only stands out, but says what you want it to that the title alone couldn't do.
For example: imagine a post with this thumbnail:
What do you think of when combining this with with a title "You are being watched!" versus "I want to see the world!"
The first one takes you to immediately towards big brother, surveillance, etc. The second doesn't really make much sense (since it'd be better when places your been or want to be...not the eye itself.)
Q: How to make use of the first sentence that shows in your post's list view?
Many people forget that this part gets included in a feed or even on your own blog! But it can be extremely useful!
Every post should have a flow to it, especially written ones. It should be easy for the reader to move from point to point without having to work to connect the dots. In the sense of effectively catching people's attention, you want this flow to be especially strong.
If you're able to get someone to read your title and be enticed, often the first sentence (which shows in the list view) is what seals the deal for you. Use this to state a point, ask a question, describe an experience...something that makes them want to open the post to get to the next sentence.
Remember that ALL of my guide posts are eligible to be added as entries to the Steem Center Wiki or Operation Translation.
Click here to find out how these can earn you Steem!!
Feel free to ask me anything. I'm here to Help!
Previous Helpful Posts for Newbies
❓Answering Common Questions: Needing feedback on your posts? Try MSP-Workshop! 🆘
❓Answering Common Questions: Where can I get Steemit Help? Have you tried the Minnow Support Project? 💁
Want your own Steemit Business Cards? Here are some FREE designs for you!
❓ Answering Common Questions: What is Steemit Local Music Society? 🎶
❓ Answering Common Questions: How can I explain voting simply to others? ☑️
❓ Answering Common Questions: What is BitShares? 💱
❓ Answering Common Questions: What is SteemitBoard? 🏆
❓Answering Common Questions: Where's my payout going?!?! It's Going Down!! 👇
!!SPECIAL!!❓Answering Common Questions: What questions do YOU have?❓!!SPECIAL!!
❓Answering Common Questions: What Tags should I use? 📛
🎮 Attention Gamers!! How To Embed Your Live Gaming Stream directly into Your Steemit Post! 🎮
❓Answering Common Questions: How do people align things? How do I get those fancy designs between paragraphs? 🎭
❓Answering Common Questions: Wow! Why did my payouts go WAY up? What's this hardfork I keep hearing about? 🍴
❓Answering Common Questions: How NOT to gain Meaningful Votes or Good Followers! 💩
❓Answering Common Questions: Can you explain how Powering Down works to me? 🔌
❓Answering Common Questions: How do I get a Video I have on Fakebook, err Facebook, onto Steemit? 🎥
❓Answering Common Questions: What's this Promoted tab? Should I use it? ⏫
❓Answering Common Questions: How do I know if I got Flagged? 🚩
❓Answering Common Questions: Can I voice chat with Steemians? Learn how and where to Discord! 🎤
❓Answering Common Questions: What is STP (Steemit Talk Podcast)? 🎧
❓Answering Common Questions: I've heard Steemit is Censorship Resistant, What does that mean? 🚫
❓Answering Common Questions: What is @Randowhale? 🐳
❓Answering Common Questions: How do I spend money from my Steemit wallet? 💲
❓Answering Common Questions: What are flags and downvotes? When should they be used? 🚩
❓Answering Common Questions: How can I see who last Resteemed, Followed me or How much my Pending Payouts are?
❓Answering Common Questions: What is SteemTrail? 🐳
❓Answering Common Questions: What happens when you Vote on a Post that's Past Payout? ☑️
❓SPECIAL Answering Common Questions: How can I get 1 on 1 Mentoring Help?👩🏫
❓Answering Common Questions: How do I use Steemit.Chat? What does it do for me? 💬
❓Answering Common Questions: What's the Difference between Steemit and the Steem Blockchain? ♨️
❓Answering Common Questions: Since I'm making money, What Images can I Safely Use? ©️
❓Answering Common Questions: How do I Visually Spiff up my Steemit Posts? Are there any Templates available? 🎀
❓Answering Common Questions: What are all these keys in my wallet? Why so many? 🔑
❓Answering Common Questions: What should I write about? ✏️
❓Answering Common Questions: I'm getting frustrated...Are my Expectations too high? 🙍
❓Answering Common Questions: Why am I not getting votes? What can I do about it? 📷
❓Answering Common Questions: Where does the money come from? 💵
❓Answering Common Questions: Should I use 100% Steem Power or 50%/50% Payouts for my Post❓
❓Answering Common Questions: Reputation and Flags! What's this Number by my Name? #️⃣️
❓Answering Common Questions: Steem, Steem Power, Steem Dollars and What Should I do with them? 💲
What's this Slider Bar and Vote Power Percentage? What's the Difference?
Why Newbies Should be Excited about the next Hardfork
Answering Common Questions about Voting and Curation
Don't Miss the Show! Follow the Steemit Talk Podcast (STP) Account
New STP Website!!
Are you new to Steemit and Looking for Answers? - Try https://www.steemithelp.net.
Image Sources:
Teddy Bears
Eye
Very good tips ! It's not easy for new users especially if they never tried any kind of blogging before. These tips can help a lot for many users.
@sykochica - This is exactly what I was thinking about when I just made my post. I prepared a nice collage thumbnail image and a catchy title (at least I think it is catchy). It is amazing to see how, new bloggers like me put in a lot of effort in getting good original content ready and then spend almost no effort on making the post interesting to click. The problem of the post getting buried under a flood of new posts will go on increasing in future with more and more Steemian accounts opening. Therefore, your tips are very very timely and important. Thanks for sharing your insights. Upvoted.
As I have mentioned, today I posted a blog titled on 'How EYE see it: Animal vs. Human eyes' just now. I would be honored if you can take a look an provide your comments. It will help me improve my blogs further. Thanks
Great post very informative and most helpful , thank you !!!
Useful tips man really need of this tips thanks man keep sharing :)
Dam, I didn't know you had this many help links...geeesh... :)
Yet another good article about blogging!
Thank you very much! I've read it very carefully.
Thank you for posting im still tryin to improve my posting skills and this would be agreat help
Very informative, but when you are new on platform it's very hard to get attention, you seriously have to get lucky to be spotted. You are right, title has to somehow catch eyes and incorporate heart of the blog or post.
thank you, here I can find so many asnwers I need to get better on steem it , because I'm just came here yesterday
Good Morning @sykochica. Another great addition to your ACQ posts.
This one is definitely great advice for even helping people understand how to organize the content in their posts. Title, Intro Text, Photo of Importance, Body Text and Other Content. @merej99 is also trying to pass these kind of post formatting tips to people with her community building challenge. In the end it will help us all find the content we are looking for much easier.
I am so happy I found you early on here on Steemit. You are appreciated!