Analogies in Blog Titles are Like Dirty Underwear
Posted on October 31st, 2008by Michael Gray in Blogging
As I cruise thru my SEO folder in my feedreader every day I’m filled with a sense of dismay and utter dissapointment with most of what I see. More often than not I see titles like:
How My Step Dad Taught Me The Ethics of Burnt Sienna Hat SEO
93 Ways Your Shopping Cart Software is Like Progresso Chunky Chicken Soup
How Personal Branding On Your Blog Is Like Paris Hilton’s Mink Coat
Ok so maybe I changed the titles a little to protect the uncreative, but I think you get my point. Using the same formulaic approach over and over, or doing the same thing everyone else is, is just like wearing the same underwear everyday, eventually you really start to stink.
Do you want to hang out with the guy who hasn’t changed his underwear in a week? Do you want to read the same kind of blog posts someone has been writting all week, all month or all year? Use anologies when they make sense, use them when they help you tell a story, use them when they help you make a point, but my god man for the love all all that is good an holy in the universe don’t use them everyday, it just makes you boring. Of course someone will chime in “I don’t blog for you I blog to show clients we understand the blogging medium” well good for you sparky I hope your clients don’t want more than one style of writing from you because if they do you’re in trouble.
Why is it important you get this? Because no matter what vertical you are in, blogging is a from of entertainment. Sure sometimes it’s also news and information but the more entertaining and interesting you make it the more people are going to want to read it. The more you differentiate yourself and make your posts filled with a uniqueness and style that only you can deliver the more people will subscribe and keep coming back.
So please change your underwear and stop with the analogies.
PS: yes this post title itself is an analogy, but in this case it’s really irony and satire cause that’s just how I roll…
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October 31st, 2008 at 5:09 am
hah! So true. I’ve seen way too many blogs do this. The sad thing is, a small part of social media still eats these types up. Bloggers see that, then reproduce it. It is like an endless cycle of pooping, eating, then taking laxatives.
October 31st, 2008 at 5:11 am
So true. Oh the irony
Then again, if you can’t beat them, join them?
October 31st, 2008 at 5:13 am
I really hope that’s not YOUR dirty laundry, or your wife is gonna kick your ass.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Do you feel this is really only something you see in the make money online niche or do you feel that you see this in all blogs and niches out there? If only in the MMO niche, do you think that the reason it’s done is simply because it works?
Alot of people forget that things that may not normally be good for blogs and such works really well in the MMO niche. Not saying you didn’t think like that…just saying…that’s just how I roll
October 31st, 2008 at 2:37 pm
@Derek Salyers: stealing little kids lunch money works too … for a while at least
October 31st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Satire is like a flat tire, and when the handbrake goes up, the earthquake goes down, and all your left with are dark skid marks ;).
Seriously though, I wonder how many people would be more likely to click on a listing that rhymes (no matter how cheesy), just because it’s out of the ordinary.
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Well in the end what it comes down to as always: create unique, great content. Make it worthwile reading and don’t copy! It’s like reading Google’s TOS but it’s as cliché as it’s true
November 5th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
so there real title for this post should be this one, huh? lol
“Everydays’ Analogies in Blog Titles are Like Dirty Underwear”
November 5th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
[...] Michael Gray says we should stop using analogies in our blog headlines. Well, Michael, feel free to skip this entry so that your head doesn’t explode. Also, if you [...]
November 5th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Michael, I was playing around with my new laptop (lost all my internet explorer, firefox, and chrome settings) and in chrome, I typed wolf, meaning to come here, but unfortunately google’s autosuggest as we type feature wanted to pull up your wikipedia page first. Sorry man, it’s just not right. heeh
November 7th, 2008 at 7:45 am
yeah! Blogging is an entertainment and at the same time a mean for a big potential business. So blogging does not anymore different with “serious articles”, it is the lifeblood of your online campaign. In this sense, blogging may not be so restricted but the pressure lies on how it could convert to profit.