ESL Blogs

The MyEC blog feed is full of interesting blog posts! You will find:

What you won't find, unfortunately, is a bunch of well-written blog titles. In a recent comment on my No Blog Left Behind post, one of our long-term bloggers mentioned that she typically reads blogs that have good titles. This got me thinking about what makes a good blog title.

Blog Title Checklist

A good blog title should: 

• be short and to the point (You don't need to write complete sentences in a title.)
• have proper capitalization (Not all caps. Just caps on all initial letters, or caps on important words. eg How to Sing Beautifully OR How To Sing Beautifully)
• have proper spelling
• have proper (or no) punctuation (This is very important. Most titles do not need a period/full stop. I sometimes use a "colon" or "dash". A "question mark" may also be necessary in some titles.)
• be catchy (A title should make a person curious. Readers will want to click on the post.)
• descriptive (A good title usually says a bit about what the post will be about. It does this in as few words as possible.)

For this month's writing challenge we are going to work on writing good blog titles. I think it will help you increase your readership! 

Your Task  

1) Look through the MyEC blog list (Wow 14,000+ posts). You can go way, way back! Don't just look at recent blogs.

2) Find three blog post titles that meet the requirements of the blog title checklist above. (Please pick members' posts, not posts by admin/founder.) 

3) Create a new blog post. Use the title: Writing Challenge: Catchy Blog Titles

4) Provide the three titles that meet the requirements. (Include links to the posts if you know how.) Add a note about why you think each one is a good title. You can choose more than three if you want.

5) Now, write three future blog titles that YOU plan to write on MyEC in 2014. You don't have to write the posts now, but you can get started on one if you want. 

6) *Optional. Look at the titles of YOUR previous blog posts. Find one or two that could have been better and rewrite the title(s). Share the old and new version(s). 

7) Leave a comment below with a link to your post.

My Example 

A) Three Good MyEC Blog Titles

1) Did You Know? - It's a Horsey Year by Noaspls

I think this is a good title because people love to learn interesting facts. I like that this title didn't just say "Did you know?". The extra information about the "horse" was a key fact. Also, it showed some creativity. Instead of "The Year of the Horse", it said "a Horsey Year". Cute! 

2) What did we do before My English Club? by Shah

This is a catchy title because it is in the form of a question. MyEC can be addicting, and this is a question I think many MyEC members have! The capital letters are in the correct places, and the question is formatted perfectly.

3) Studying Grammar vs Using Grammar by Dayne

This title is formatted and worded perfectly. I know exactly what the post will be about, and it's a topic that learners and teachers will be interested in. The title is short and to the point! 

B) My 3 Future Blog Titles 

TESOL Portland - Guess The Memory Game

Writing Challenge: Indirect Questions

Motivational Secrets For English Learners

C) A Blog Title of Mine That Could be Better

Original Title: Voices Only 

This title was so short that it didn't give enough information. It met some of the requirements, but not all of them.

Improved Title: A NEW Blog Challenge: Voices Only