Before you go on to read, just pause for a while and think what this post is all about just by reading the title.
Chances are:
- If you are a techie, thoughts like SEO, page rank etc. will come to your mind.
- If you are a business guy and all that stuff, chances are that catchy, positioning etc. come to your mind.
- And if you are somewhere in between (probably like me), then a mix of above would flash across.
Opps! nothing came to your mind? Go and relax! Probably you are quite tired.
So how important is the title anyway? I won’t write all about the catchy stuff, SEO and all that. It is pretty well covered on the web. Instead, I would like to share my own experience on this subject.
Almost two years ago, I wrote a post on getting Reebok and similar watches being offered as freebies, out of sheer frustration. While I chose the title carefully, little did I know that it would become the most read and most commented article on my blog. “free reebok watch” would show my article as the top result on Google search. You can read the post here. Go read some of the comments.
Before we move on, I would like to post some of my favorite comments on the post:
- “hey I read this.
Plz Please Plz….
I also want watch, Plz give….
I never won any gift from internet or any other way.
So I request you please arrange only 1 watch for me….
Thanku very much.”- “from reading your offer i think that this is a very nice service than any other else,so plz consider my coment and snd me instruction on my mobile from where i have to get my prize.
Thank You!!!”
- “send we 500 rupees i will send u 5 Rebook watches. i bought them in 80 rupees”
- “hiii this is harsha i watch this and i want 2 won this rebook wrish watch and i didnot get any thing from u plzzzzzzzzz plzzzzzzzz plzzz offer this watch to me plzzz”
- Thanks 4 a very fruitful advice …..n do cooperate me to have this damn bold n beautiful watch as soon as possible
- Dear Sir I like this watch please sir send me this watch at my postle address Mian Ijaz Tahir C/o Al-habib Super Store College road Burewala District Vehari Punjab Pakistan I will wait for it thanks.
There are many, you could read on if you have time.
Now my most favorite ones from two gentlemen Nithul and Naveen:
- “nithul the way u r wasting the money of public is horrible. if u donot have the capabilities to beat a company then dont blaff that they take the help of reebok. u know u are a stupid creature who are promoting this stupid blog with reebok”
- “Saalo comment marne par tumhe kon watch dega ,
ye sab sab ko pagal bana rahe hai…
apni website ko advertise krna chate hai..
and now finally i want to buy a reebok watch upto rs 200 ,,
(reebok square model)..
hai koi maai ka lal jo dila de..
hai toh mail me at
naveenyadav929@gmail.com
i m waiting….”
Once in a while, I get these really funny comments, it just makes my day! That is the thrill of blogging.
Now coming back to our topic on the importance of title, I can’t emphasize on it more. The title is damn important! I think my post was really crisp to have people miss the following:
Update
hi everyone, thanks for your comments. This post was just meant to express how companies are attracting customers. I of course do not have these many watches to spare! I never expected so many people to comment !!!!!
Note that all comments posted above were received after posting the update. But I hardly think anyone read it (even though it is highlighted), else I shouldn’t have received the first set of comments. Keep in mind that commenting on a blog post is really rare! Those who blog (and track) would know. Probably out of 250 people reading an article, one would comment. Given the fact that so many people have commented on this post asking for the watch, I can confidently say that they would have just read the title and possibly the first couple of lines.
In principle, it is just the title which motivated the people to respond to my post. If they really read the entire post, the comments would have been different.
So next time when you write that blog post, remember that it is worth spending that extra minute to think about the title 
Tim Berners-Lee, founder WWW
I am in Riyadh to attend the 2nd ELI Conference on eLearning, which is the largest conference of its kind in Saudi Arabia. I was particular excited to listen to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, founder WWW and Jimmy Wales, founder Wikipedia. We all watch so many speakers on video sites like you-tube, TED etc. I was particularly interested to see if it is a different experience to listen to them live.
And there is a huge difference. You suddenly feel more connected. Even though I was just one of the crowd, there was a shuttle connection. The motivation multiplies. And suddenly the mind starts thinking a lot of new stuff. It was an a great experience.
So what does the founder of the World Wide Web (WWW) have to say about the web at this point in time. Well nothing new that we are not aware of. But still, it is different when you listen such things from legends . He emphasized on the following:
HTML5: Tim is bullish on HTML5 and sees the web driven by it in the times to come.
Learning on the Web: Tim believes that a lot of learning will happen on the web. It is already happening, but it would expand tremendously. (I guess he had to say this because of the theme of the conference was eLearning
)
Data on the web: He particularly emphasized this point. These days, when more and more data is being pushed on the web, there’s a need of an ecosystem which can address:
- Privacy
- Anonymity of data (if required)
- Security
- Transparency
The above would be the biggest challenges as we move ahead.
He also mentioned about web 3.0 which will largely we driven by the semantic web. Not to forget, the social and collaborative approach would be of significant to whatever is done on the web.
I would again say, listening to such people live is very different from watching some videos and stuff. So whenever you get an opportunity, just do not miss it. It does motivate.
I end this post with a brilliantly done image by one of the guys from ImageThink (more about the image in another post)
ImageThink - Tim Berners-Lee on the Web
- Google Voice Dialer (courtesy TechCrunch)
Google and Apple certainly fall on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the business philosophies.
Google is more of an open book while Apple is a closed one.
With ‘Google Voice‘ being released last year, Google had created an iphone app for the same. However, Apple hadrejected it citing direct business conflicts with iphone’s core voice and messaging features (it could have been more of an AT&T decision):
Apple Is Growing Rotten To The Core: Official Google Voice App Blocked From App Store
Now Google responds with this:
Google Voice Does An End Run Around Apple And Shows Up In The iPhone’s Browser
Google voice can now be accessed on iPhone’s native browser! It is an all new HTML-5 application.
Now that’s something from Google. What could Apple do to take this on?
Note that I’ve been Apple’s fan ever since I got an iPod touch a year ago. No one can match (or is even close) to the user experience one get’s on these Apple devices. Plus the entire ecosystem including the hardware, the app store, the iTunes client software just rocks!
I was wondering how a strong product line (and services of course) like the iPhone and the iTouch are good enough to cover up for some of the not-so-good decisions by a company.
Interesting times to be in. I am early waiting for tomorrow’s press conference where Apple is expected to release the tablet/iSlate or whatever.
- Google Voice Inbox (courtesy TechCrunch)
If you go through the archives on my blog, you will notice that there are a couple of instances where I haven’t written for an entire month or so. I thought that I am one of the *few* turning sluggish at times. However, I was shocked to know that 95% of the blogs which are tracked on technorati, a blog search engine, have not been updated in the last 120 days!
So what is the reason? Well primarily it is the same old human tendency I guess. We start a lot of things enthusiastically but do not take them forward with the same passion. It dies out with time. However, Facebook and Twitter too seem to be eating away into the blogging space.
Wanna read more about this? Read this:
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