Tutorial:How to create an article - choosing a title
This tutorial is part of How to create an article step by step and provides information on how to choose a title for a new article.
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Criteria for a title
An article title is intended for search engines like Google and the title has to ensure that the article is ranked on top for anyone searching for this particular information. It also has to be distinctive in the Statistics Explained environment where similar articles co-exist.
Consequently, it must meet the following criteria:
- Short and descriptive, label-like rather than journalistic ('High-tech statistics' rather than 'In 2012 two thirds of enterprises ...'), without non-informative descriptive terms ('detailed', 'comprehensive', 'analysis', 'focus', ...);
- Easy findable through Google search - using user friendly words rather tahn technical terms;
- Contain the term 'statistics' if at all possible, since the article has to be able to stand on its own and be self-explanatory (usually appearing in a web search result instead of as a chapter in a statistical book);
- Start with the basic topic, further specified if necessary (e.g 'Freight transport statistics - cabotage');
- Without 'European', 'Europe', 'European Union', 'EU', since 'European Union' should be mentioned in the first line of the introduction, which facilitates the search;
- Without time period: articles should in principle present the latest data situation and should be continuously updated;
- Large-cap only at the beginning, small-caps for the rest of the page name;
- Characters to be avoided in titles' names: To avoid syntax problems it is recommended not to use / (slash), \ (backslash), ? (question mark), * (asterisk), + (plus) : (colon), | (vertical bar), " (quotation mark), long dash — or ' (apostrophe);
- No confusion with existing page names (check relevant theme entry page).
If you wish, a more journalist-oriented subtitle can be added.
Once you have decided on the title of the article you are planning to write, please send an e-mail to the Statistics Explained team at ESTAT-STATISTICS-EXPLAINED@ec.europa.eu and a link to a created page will be sent to you as soon as possible.
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