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Learn How To Name Your Thread

by oldwarrioruser1
8 replies
THIS BELONGS IN EVERY FORUM

"Use the search function, that's what it's there for"

Well let's get something straight, people need to learn how to name their threads.

When I use the search function, all I'm looking at is thread titles. (Posts would be way too many)

So if I'm looking for ideas on how to drive traffic to my blog, I wouldn't find the latest ideas because the thread is named "something not right".

If I'm curious about "walking sticks" as a niche, I won't find any info because that thread is named "is this niche worth it?"

What if I want to read the latest thread about whether it is worth it to build a page around the "make money online" niche or not.. Well I won't find it in the search function because I doubt "Should i bother" would come up.

I have a few threads of my own with a crappy title but I'm trying to get out of that hole..

About time the rest of us do as well...

End Rant
#learn #thread
  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    I try adding my keywords in the title NOW

    About a month ago, I didn't

    EDIT: But I guess that's the nature of forums
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Well, answer me this. Lets pretend I have a blog and it talks about sex toys.

      Let's pretend I am having issues getting traffic to my blog, and I need some immediate help here on the forum.

      Which post title do you think will get more clicks?

      1. Need help getting traffic to my blog please

      or

      2. Why does no one want sex from me? Could you critique me?


      I know it's a bit "extreme" of an example. But writing an effective thread title can get you more responses sometimes when you are looking for someone to help you.
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      "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
        Jill brings up a good point...do you want people to read your thread now, or at some time in the distant future?

        So this begs the question - Can you add addition tags to your thread over and above the tags that are naturally placed there by the software?

        I don't know the answer to that question as I rarely start a thread. But if you are concerned about folks finding your thread through a search it may be helpful to add additional keyword tags.

        ~Bill
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        • Profile picture of the author jacktackett
          Bill,
          you can control the tags when you start a thread. The software will auto generate some, but you can edit them up to 5 I think.

          I understand the OP emotions well - it would be great if folks would use the search feature more, but its also up to thread starters to create a good subject. I get frustrated too when scanning the forum looking for threads to read. But its not just the WF where stuff like this happens.

          Just this week I had a customer open a support ticket, with no attachments and no screen shots and ONLY this sentence:

          "This is not working."

          weeeellll - what exactly is THIS !!!???? did your Viagra stop working?, was it my program that stop? are you talking about the clean up attempts in the Gulf?

          Guess people keep forgetting at my age I can't read minds like I use to.

          best,
          --Jack
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          Mega Monster WSO for KimW http://ow.ly/4JdHm


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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
        Originally Posted by avenuegirl View Post

        Well, answer me this. Lets pretend I have a blog and it talks about sex toys.

        Let's pretend I am having issues getting traffic to my blog, and I need some immediate help here on the forum.

        Which post title do you think will get more clicks?

        1. Need help getting traffic to my blog please

        or

        2. Why does no one want sex from me? Could you critique me?


        I know it's a bit "extreme" of an example. But writing an effective thread title can get you more responses sometimes when you are looking for someone to help you.
        Jill, LOL... Tell me more!
        Just wondering what type of research you were doing before you made
        that post...lol

        Have a Great Day!
        Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author oldwarrioruser1
    Ok Jill that would be the ONLY exception because it seems that a lot of the guys here are inexperienced or just plain out obsessed with sex (from the way I see them talk to other women) so of course that subject would get a ton more clicks.

    Either way I see your point..
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Originally Posted by korypearman View Post

      Ok Jill that would be the ONLY exception because it seems that a lot of the guys here are inexperienced or just plain out obsessed with sex (from the way I see them talk to other women) so of course that subject would get a ton more clicks.

      Either way I see your point..
      Well, there are other tactics that work as well.

      I have a thread titled something like "If shiny new things distract you, don't open this thread" - which you probably have no idea what product or service it discusses - but it quickly became a hot thread and got a lot of attention.


      I understand your point, but personally if I'm searching in the main forum here I'll have it search thread titles and the entire posts themselves.

      I am more annoyed when I am looking to buy, and I start searching the WSO's, and someone has a silly thread title there with not enough copy in the actual post to pull up the specific type of thing I'm looking for.

      Of course, that is the sellers fault, and their lack of copy has just landed them a lack of sales.

      And we've discussed it before, but that thread title (especially in the WSO's) can really work to your advantage off the forum and out into Google (depending on the topic).
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  • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
    Originally Posted by korypearman View Post

    THIS BELONGS IN EVERY FORUM

    "Use the search function, that's what it's there for"

    Well let's get something straight, people need to learn how to name their threads.

    When I use the search function, all I'm looking at is thread titles. (Posts would be way too many)

    So if I'm looking for ideas on how to drive traffic to my blog, I wouldn't find the latest ideas because the thread is named "something not right".

    If I'm curious about "walking sticks" as a niche, I won't find any info because that thread is named "is this niche worth it?"

    What if I want to read the latest thread about whether it is worth it to build a page around the "make money online" niche or not.. Well I won't find it in the search function because I doubt "Should i bother" would come up.

    I have a few threads of my own with a crappy title but I'm trying to get out of that hole..

    About time the rest of us do as well...

    End Rant

    You realize that if you want to find information on a specific search query, it's often times easier to "view results as posts" instead of threads. This only pulls up the posts that have your search query in them, not all the posts within the thread that the post is in.


    This makes it WAY easier to find good information because you can find a post that is relevant to your search, rather than having to dig through an entire thread for what you're looking for.


    Just my opinion.
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