{"id":5049,"date":"2014-01-28T10:48:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T15:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=5049"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:26:24","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:26:24","slug":"introducing-content-page-titles-headings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/introducing-content-page-titles-headings\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing Your Content: Page Titles and Headings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An
There’s a lot riding on page titles and headers to attract, inform, and guide web users. Are you being understood?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week, Georgy talked about the importance of headlines<\/a> for introducing stories and enticing readers. But how do these lessons learned for headlines in news and featured content translate to other forms of content \u2014 such as admissions and academic webpages? Page titles and headings also play an important role for all content on our websites.<\/p>\n

Readers rely on page titles and headings to navigate websites and understand what is relevant and valuable \u2014 they look to these important page elements to help define the topic, establish context and relevance, and make content meaningful.<\/p>\n

There is a lot riding on page titles and headings to attract, inform and guide our web users. Yet, content creators often overlook these elements and treat them as supplemental rather than essential. If you want to step-up your web writing skills, learn to create effective page titles and headings. Everything else comes next.<\/p>\n

So, what does it take to write quality titles and headings? While there are many things to consider, the following are three guidelines that will help you create titles and headings that rock: 1) describe, 2) contextualize and 3) simplify and clarify.<\/p>\n

1. Describe the Topic<\/h2>\n

As introductory content, the single most important quality of a title or heading is that it accurately describes the topic.<\/p>\n

Page titles answer, What is this page about?<\/em><\/h3>\n

For readers, a page title is the first clue about the purpose of a page. Readers rely on the title to answer, What is this page about?<\/em> If it doesn\u2019t answer this question, it doesn\u2019t serve its primary purpose.<\/p>\n

While some page titles are clearly non-descriptive, other ineffective page titles may not be as easy to spot.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n
Non-descriptive page titles<\/th>\nDescriptive page titles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Additional Links | University of Hartford<\/a><\/td>\nStudent Disability Resources – Swarthmore College<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Student | Department of Philosophy | NYU<\/a><\/td>\nPhD Student Directory | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Clearly, \u201cAdditional Links | University of Hartford\u201d is not descriptive. Additional links about what<\/em>? <\/p>\n

But not all examples appear vague to readers and content creators alike. Naming your page \u201cStudent | Department of Philosophy | NYU\u201d may appear straightforward and adequately descriptive, but is this page a student profile, a description of student life, or information for prospective students? <\/p>\n

In contrast, \u201cPhD Student Directory | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy\u201d clearly describes the topic of the page. Readers know that the page will include a list of PhD students attending the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. <\/p>\n

Headings answer, What will I learn here?<\/em><\/h3>\n

Like page titles, headings are unsung heroes of readability and usability. <\/p>\n

Once readers land on your webpage, they rely on headings to understand what they will learn on the page. Headings enable readers to scan the contents of a page to see what sub-topics it covers and whether it contains the information they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

\"Webpages:
Academics at the School of Communication at Texas Southern University<\/a> and English Program at Furman University<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Without a descriptive page title to define the purpose of the page and applicable headings to outline the contents of the page, you force readers to do extra work. They must click on the page link and read the entire page to learn if it\u2019s useful and valuable. If we want happy, loyal web users, we have to aim higher.<\/p>\n

2. Contextualize for Your Audience<\/h2>\n

Just because a title or heading is descriptive doesn\u2019t mean it appears relevant to visitors. Being relevant means providing adequate context to answer the question, Is this content for me?<\/em><\/p>\n

Page titles stand alone<\/em><\/h3>\n

To be effective in all contexts, page titles must make sense on their own. In the following example, \u201cApplication Form\u201d may describe the purpose of the page, but it doesn\u2019t say who it\u2019s for. Is it an application for admissions? An administrative job? A faculty position? A work-study position?<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
Does your page title answer, Is this content for me?<\/em><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1.<\/span><\/td>\nApplication Form | Lawrence University<\/a><\/td>\n2.<\/span><\/td>\nAdmission Application | Hanover College<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The first page title doesn\u2019t help readers understand if the application is relevant to them. The second page title provides helpful context by including \u201cAdmissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating relevant titles means planning for context. In other words, consider how, when and where people will see your text. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to assume that a page title will be seen as you intend: on your webpage. With this assumption, you might rely on visual cues web visitors commonly use to contextualize the topic of the page, such as the navigation menu or a breadcrumb trail<\/a>. But what if readers see your page title in unexpected places that don\u2019t include those contextual clues? <\/p>\n

What if people are reading your page title in a list of search results or on Facebook or Twitter? Will readers still have adequate context to understand if your content is relevant? Let\u2019s look at a couple examples.<\/p>\n

If I go to the SUNY Cortland website today and search for \u201ccourses,\u201d three of the first four results listed are "Courses – SUNY Cortland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web
Web search results for \u201ccourses\u201d at SUNY Cortland<\/a> and SUNY Potsdam<\/a> in New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because the page titles don’t provide adequate context \u2014 and because the page titles are not unique \u2014 it’s not immediately clear which page is relevant for me. I have to work to figure it out.<\/p>\n

In comparison, if I go to the SUNY Potsdam website today and search for "courses," top search results include "Honors Program – Courses – SUNY Potsdam" and "SUNY Potsdam Non-Credit Courses."<\/p>\n

The page titles for SUNY Potsdam don\u2019t just describe the topic of the page but also provide context to better help readers understand if it\u2019s relevant for them.<\/p>\n

Do your headings make sense? Test them.<\/h3>\n

Context is also important for headings. While we can generally assume that headings will be seen within the context of the intended webpage, this context is still important for relating headings to each other, to the page title and to other on-page content. <\/p>\n

A quick way to test the efficacy of your headings is to step away from your computer so that you can see the headings but not the smaller paragraphs of text. Now, by just reading the headings on the webpage, answer the following questions on behalf of your readers<\/strong>:<\/p>\n