Titles

1. 76

   janiek13posted 14 years ago

   I apologize if this topic has already been started, but there are a lot of topics, I didn't know how to check, and it is 4:00am. Anyway, I have though about this for some time and writing a title first seems "bass ackwards". In the past, I have always written the the majority of the text first, and the title then writes itself. Maybe I am being a little anal, but it bothers me when my titles don't match my urls. I have changed many of my titles because they just didn't seem to fit the article or I didn't like them. Is there a way that we can reserve the title subject matter without writing the title (or url) in stone? Failing that, how a bout a working title?  Any thoughts?
   Thanks,
   Janie

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Janie, I've had the same thought many times - not about the title, but about the URL. 
      
      Maybe you can switch your thinking around if you realise that having the title and the URL different is actually a GOOD thing.  It gives the search engines more keywords to look at. 
      
      So I don't worry too much about changing my title once I've finished the article, and in fact I can have fun finding a title that still reflects the subject but isn't the same as the URL. However, if I've finished and find the URL isn't relevant - now that really annoys me!

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   2. 73

      Quilligrapherposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, Janie.  I did have one thought.  The title can be changed even after publication and the URL can be anything you want it to be.  Personally, I don't like urls that read http:\\hubpages.com\hubs\This_is_the_longest_hub_title_I_have_ever_written. That's why I just shorten them to something like http:\\hubpages.com\hubs\shorttitle.
      
      This seems to work for me.

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      1. 76

         janiek13posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Actually, I have done a couple that way and it is sort of a compromise. I hate long URLs, also.

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         1. 76

            janiek13posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for all the replies.

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2. 90

   RedElfposted 14 years ago

   You can always do it in a different order:
   First, figure out your topic, keywords,etc., and then write the article in another word processing program. Once you are done, you can open Hub Pages, create the title, URL, set up your article, and copy paste the text in.
   
   

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   1. 63

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's how I do it most of the time.
      
      Otherwise I try and get the simplest shortest keyword possible (so it's easy to remember or tell someone else) and then I can let loose on the title, if I wish.

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   2. 74

      Mikel G Robertsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's the way I do it...

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3. 76

   janiek13posted 14 years ago

   All good ideas, I guess I better start using my word processor first, then cut and paste. I really hate doing it that way.

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   1. 63

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It's the safest way to do it. If your browser crashes, or something goes buggy, you've got it saved on your hard drive.
      
      I also save the Amazon ASIN's, Ebay search words in the document. and images to my hard drive. All too often I've saved an Amazon capsule and it disappears when I publish. It's saved me plenty of time and annoyance to have it ready to copy and paste again.
      
      It's a good habit to get into.

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      1. 72

         livewithrichardposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         A very good habit which I do regularly.  Plus, typing it into your own word processor first allows you to save your work outside of HP. This becomes a good source to do some rewrites and post elsewhere to get backlinks.

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         1. 61

            The Ropeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I do so as well and it also means that I retain my working notes should there ever be problems later - crashing, property rights, etc..

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         2. 63

            darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I also save other information in my text document. Such as my tags, where I sourced the image from, the name of the photographer. And what other hubs or articles I'm linking to.
            
            I also update the text document when I publish other hubs/articles that have linked to that hub.

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      2. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I know, I know, that's how I should do it.  I can't explain why, but I feel more creative when I create the Hub directly into the text capsules.  No logical reason.

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         1. 63

            darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            In a way, I feel the same as you. I much prefer to use Notepad to write and save as opposed to a Word Processor. I don't know why, I just do.
            
            My spelling is good, but I'll spell check online prior to hitting the empty hub.

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