Painful Blogging Lesson: Crappy Blog Titles Get You Nowhere with LinkedIn Pulse

As a newbie blogger, I’m still learning about blog optimization and syndication. I understand the basics but must admit I am stumped when it comes to LinkedIn Pulse. When I was notified that I could blog on LinkedIn, I read the “Seven Secrets to Writing Killer Content on LinkedIn,” and did my best to apply them to my first blog post, “My Wounded Pride: Confessions of a Gen X’er.”

I only have a few hundred LinkedIn connections, so when the views and comments came pouring in, I was astounded and elated. Wow, I thought, why haven’t I been blogging all along? I have no idea how or why, but that post got picked up by LinkedIn Pulse, hence the increased visibility.

After posting a second blog with dismal views and no comments, I did some digging to find out why. Was the second blog that crappy? Well, the title certainly was. I had failed to apply Tip 4 (Clear Beats Clever when it comes to headlines). My cheeky title, “Normally You Don’t Hang Out with Strangers in Ball Pits” did nothing to attract busy readers.

I asked @LindseyLaManna and @DesireeLDaniels to give me suggestions to improve the post, and they both agreed the title was terrible and in no way SEO-friendly. The post itself might have been fine, but with a terrible title I wasn’t going to interest potential readers. I changed the title to “Here’s One Creative Way to Socialize without Social Media,” but the damage was done. Needless to say, LinkedIn Pulse had no interest in that second post.

Actually, my third and fourth posts have fallen flat on LinkedIn as well, even though I have been much more careful in crafting post titles. I clearly have much to learn about Pulse and the LinkedIn community and what content resonates with them.  The comments I got on my first post are so helpful and I want to continue to engage with readers. Have any other bloggers out there experienced a boost with LinkedIn Pulse? Do you have any advice for a newbie blogger to more effectively serve the LinkedIn community?

(Image source: flickr.com)

(Originally posted on The XM Files)