13 Ways to Improve Your White Paper Titles

13 Ways to Improve Your White Paper Titles:from White Paper Pundit by Jonathan Kantor

I recently recorded an online webinar along with sponsor emedia.com that will be aired on June 21st at 3:30 ET as part of B-to-B Magazine’s annual webinar event, “Leading Edge Virtual Tradeshow“.

My session is called “The Best I.D.E.A. for Generating Leads Using your B2B Content”, and if you would like to attend, please register via this link.

During the webinar, I suggest 13 highly effective white paper title ideas based on emedia’s decade-long experience as a white paper syndicator:

Title Idea #1: Numbered Lists:
Examples: “The 9 FAQs About Employee Benefits You Must Know”, “The 7 Biggest Challenges for CIOs in 2012″, “The Top 5 HR Compliance Concerns: Must Read Guide”
(Note: emedia has found that odd numbers resonate better than even numbers…don’t know why)

Title Idea #2: Using the term “FAQ” in your Title
Example: “The Definitive FAQ for Conducting Online Payments”
Title Idea #3: Adding the Term “101″
Examples: “4 Basics Everyone Should Know: Requirements Mgmt. 101″, “Cloud 101: 6 Secrets for Success”
Title Idea #4: The “hot”: technology of the day
Example: Anything with “iPad” or “cloud” in the title (Personally, I think the term “cloud-computing” is a little overused)
TItle Idea #5: Adding “hot” brands of the day to your title
Example: Facebook or SalesForce.com
(Note: emedia suggests that if your solution involves or helps with these platforms, add it to the subject and/or title of your offer)
Title Idea #6: Using the term “Questions to Ask”
Example: “6 Questions to Ask When Finding the Right Crane”
Title Idea #7: Capitalizing on the new year
Example: “IT Manager’s Guidebook: Top Cloud Options for 2012”
Title Idea #8: Adding the term “… for Dummies”
(Note: emedia points out that this title is trademarked by John Wiley & Sons, and you must sign a licensing agreement if you use it in your title)
Title Idea #9: Using the term “How To…”
Examples: “How to Test & Secure Embedded Software”, “How to Transform your Data into Dollars”
Title Idea #10: Adding the Words: Posters, Tools, Calculators, or Cheat Sheets
Example: “The Enterprise Social Media Cheat Sheet”
Title Idea #11: Using Provocative Subject Matter
Examples: “Anatomy of a Fraudulent Expense Report”, “How Hackers Find Your Weakest Spots ”
Title Idea #12: Adding the Term “Insider Secrets”
Example: “5 Insider Secrets Every Purchasing Manager Should Know”
Title Idea #13: The Negative Sale: Creating A Sense of Risk Aversion
Example: “7 Fatal Risks of Cloud Computing”, “Did You Hire A Criminal? Must Read Guide”
Will these titles guarantee massive white paper downloads? Probably not, but at least they’re a heck of a lot better than the overly used “Best Practices”! In the next segment I’ll explain why subtitles are a requirement to compliment your white paper title.