Dull Title

October 24, 2007 11:16 AM

I need a good, catchy title for my utterly dry and boring Tech Writing paper!

I'm taking a technical writing class, which culminates in a 10 page paper. I've got a topic I love, research information, and lots of other stuff... but my title is the driest thing imaginable: "The Benefits of Web Standards in Corporate Web Sites". Though descriptive, as the paper is about the benefits of using Web Standards in a redesign of a corporate web site, it's just DULL.

Any suggestions for a replacement title would be greatly appreciated.

posted by SansPoint to Writing & Language (17 answers total)

How about putting some of the benefits in the title?

Like "Using Web Standards Shaves Costs by 40%". More catchy if I were a CEO.
posted by fings at 11:21 AM on October 24, 2007

In my personal experience, when I look back at my "clever" or "cute" college paper titles, I cringe. I've found that all that is important is that the title gets across the point, because 90% of people won't read past the title.
posted by smackfu at 11:23 AM on October 24, 2007

I always thought that long, archaic-sounding titles - done well - are hilarious. Things along the line of:

"SITES on the WEB, and the STANDARDS Thereon, including a digression upon their varied BENEFITS, which may prove useful to a discerning Merchant or Enterprise"

...and suchlike.
posted by jquinby at 11:24 AM on October 24, 2007 [2 favorites]

You can use that title, but preface it with a catchy made-up quotation that someone opposed to your thesis might utter:

"...and make the logo blink"
The Benefits of Web Standards in Corporate Web Sites

or maybe

"...and a blinking logo, and a gray background, and the mission statement right there on the homepage, and..."
The Benefits of Web Standards in Corporate Web Sites
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:27 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

How about 'Why Your Company Should Care About Web Standards' ? Or something along those lines. I guess it depends who your audience is supposed to be.

Altho (on preview) damn... i like MoonPie's better.
posted by cgg at 11:28 AM on October 24, 2007

Return on Consistency: The Benefits of Web Standards

A Solid Plan of Attack – Web Standards in Corporate Web Sites

Digital Guardrails/Guideposts for Corporation 2.0

Eliminating Corporate World Wide Worries Through Standards

Standards. The Foundation for Corporate Web Success.
posted by Gucky at 11:31 AM on October 24, 2007

Though descriptive, as the paper is about the benefits of using Web Standards in a redesign of a corporate web site, it's just DULL.

Speaking as someone with some insight into the field, the decision to go with a dull as dishwater yet informative title will only serve to show your instructor that you "get" tech writing. 'Cause, really, that's how it rolls. Go with what you got.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:32 AM on October 24, 2007

This question is a textbook case of premature optimization.
posted by rhizome at 11:51 AM on October 24, 2007 [1 favorite]

I second kittens for breakfast. This is professional writing, to be read by others in your field. Without a clear, descriptive title the only way to find your paper is through keywords, which not all search engines use well. And I, or one always read the papers with the most obvious titles first when researching a subject.

Having said that, you could consider a cute-sy subtitle, but these are rarely as clever as students think. There's a reason lame humor is called 'sophomoric'.
posted by OlderThanTOS at 11:53 AM on October 24, 2007

How about 'Tangled Webs: Corporate Sites without Web Standards'

or 'Untangling the Web: the Benefits of Web Standards in Corporate Web Sites.'

Sir Walter Scott is my source:

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
posted by jamjam at 12:22 PM on October 24, 2007

Finding Validation: The Business Case for Web Standards
posted by anildash at 12:25 PM on October 24, 2007

I am taking a technical writing course this semester as well, and if I haven't gotten the whole point of it misinterpreted, it is essentially the use of dry, boring, understandable words to carry your exact meaning across without loss of meaning. And in my experience, the use of catchy, interesting titles, while certainly effective, also introduces some ambiguity into its meaning, which is not what you want to achieve in "good" technical writing.

In the report you need to be exactly clear since whoever's grading your paper isn't going to call you up to clarify points you made in the paper while he/she's grading it. And an interesting title is going to be pointless if the rest of the paper is, well, "exemplary" technical writing.

If you want to use an interesting title, save it for the report presentation (if you have one), because that's where you have a little freedom to let loose since you're there for the Q&A anyway.

Were such a presentation to occur, I'd probably find something along the lines of "Why Web Standards Matter (to businesses, anyway)". Sorry, 10-sec title at 3.40am... ><
posted by kureshii at 12:42 PM on October 24, 2007

KfB is right in that most tech writing is dry as toast. I'm of the opinion that it need not be a somnifacient though, and if you can come up with a smart title that hooks into your main point, you're better off (whether your prof will agree is another question).

For this, perhaps something like "Why Structure and Standards Are Better Than Tag Soup." I'd keep your existing title text in there, but make one or the other the tag-line to the title.
posted by adamrice at 12:47 PM on October 24, 2007

Do you mean Web Standards (i.e. W3C Doctypes and such) or do you mean "web standards" (i.e. making pages from different departments conform to a corporate communications standards document.)

See? Even the two-word phrase can be misinterpreted!

What you're looking for is a headline, and if you want to see good headlines, they're all over the place, consider popurls.com
posted by Wild_Eep at 1:17 PM on October 24, 2007

Freedom from Vendor Lock-in through Standards
or less hippy / more scary,
The Economic Dangers of Vendor Lock-in When Building Websites

We've upped our standards, so up yours

<center> the center tag isn't a good idea for headings</center>
posted by holloway at 2:10 PM on October 24, 2007

Tech writer here.

I agree with those who say a boring title isn't necessarily a bad thing. Being descriptive and asserting exactly what your article will contain is far more important than cleverness, and 95% of humorous titles just look cheesy and immature to me.

I vote for Anil Dash's suggestion:

Finding Validation: The Business Case for Web Standards

It's clear, concise, and squeezes a bit of humor in without turning the whole thing into a joke. Excellent. That's a good pattern - two or three words of subtle humor and the rest gets to the point.
posted by mmoncur at 2:25 PM on October 24, 2007

Using Web Standards for Corporate Web Sites: When and Where to Use Them, How and Why to Choose Them.
posted by flutable at 4:20 AM on October 25, 2007