The importance of a GOOD TITLE

[Davidovic]

Hi all,

About an hour ago I posted the following photo in the "share your shots" section, because I really liked it.

Unfortunately the photo quickly disappeared from the first page of the thread, almost unseen...

First I thought "well, the photo is obviously not that much interesting", but then I realised, that I must have chosen a bad title for my post, because nobody even decided to take a look at it. (No worries, I won't cry We're all here to learn, right?)

I gave my post the title "Concrete and windows", which sounds pretty boring to me too now Clearly my mistake

Now the questions:

1. What title would you have given to my photo?
2. Do you think very well about your titles or do you take the first idea that comes to your mind?
3. Do you think it would be good to have a thumbnail of the first photo of each thread, to be included in the list? That way people would decide to open the thread based on the thumbnail they see, not the title. That would make the forum more "photo-orientated" I believe.

Having thumbnails in the thread-lists would make those lists a bit longer (and perhaps messier), which might be the main disadvantage. Besides that, I am aware that choosing a good title could also be considered part of the "creative process" and "selling yourself" (when thinking about professional photographers for example).

Please share your thoughts on this!
Thanks!!

Oops, almost forgot the photo Here it is:

[wulf]

A good title will probably get more views than a bad title. On the other hand, an accurate title will probably get more respect than a sensational but misleading one. I'm particularly unfond of risque ones, that all need checking to ensure that they don't actually show what they suggest they might!

Wulf

[DogHeadGod]

I like your idea of having a small thumbnail, but it still may lead to your images not being looked at if the thumbnail doesn't "pop".

[candidrachel]

I like to use a Caption as a title. My last Share Your Shots title was "Even Nurses Get the Blues!". It was a pic of my daughter bawling and my son looking all "innocent"

With your photo I would have put:

For Sale I parachute
Used only once
Small stain

By the way there are so many folks posting on the SYS thats its easy for your pic to get onto the next page. Its nothing personal.

[Davidovic]

Originally Posted by candidrachel

...With your photo I would have put:

For Sale I parachute
Used only once
Small stain
.....

Thanks for the tip! Next time I'll try it with that

[ressalg]

My most viewed thread has an honest title/subject line (How To Make A Four and Half Year Old Creepy) but it's also a title which "grabs" a person's attention.

I too have had some posts in the Share Your Shots section where they died before they even got started. Title/Subject line is part of it but I also think that time of day is a factor, too. As in, it depends on how many others are making posts at the same time.

Keep trying... you'll get a good one eventually.

On a side note: Although your building photo is technically proficient, it's kind of boring. (No offence.) It's just a building... and a kind of drab looking one at that. And I don't know that it's a subject that a lot of people would be interested in. Perhaps if you were to go out and look for unique structures to take pictures of you might get a better response, too.

[Photoboothguy]

Not only is it important here, it's really important on Flickr.

A lot of my photos show up in google searches, depending on what I put as the title. If I have a good photo that I think has commercial value, I really think about the title now and how it might found via search engine. One of my photos was recently purchased by BFG Communications for an ad, and I'm pretty sure that's how they found it.

Today, the following google searches led people to my flickr site:
1 black and white with a splash of color
2 water balloon popping
3 when food goes bad
4 rainbow spray

Usually have a lot more from "bullet water", "bullet through water", etc.

[dakwegmo]

Titles are important for web use, but in general I usually find them more distracting than helpful. I'd rather not see a title on a photo than have one that confuses me, or leaves me thinking more about the artist's choice of title than the image itself.

As for the share your shots section, not only are there a lot of people posting in there, but a lot of us don't even bother commenting in that section because of the restrictions on feedback. It's rare that I even look there, and rarer still that I leave a comment.

[waffles]

Also keep in mind that SYS can be like a giant vat of quicksand at times. If you're posting at a time when a lot of other people are posting...

[AndCity]

I definitely think it depends on the time of day you are posting. Maybe when someone comments on your picture say thank you for the comment at a different time when people in a different time zone are viewing? You could also vary the times you post for the same reason.

Alternatively if you get no comments post it in General Chit Chat and ask why?