Barbara P.
Barbara P.

Easy Guide on How to Title an Essay Successfully

7 min read

Published on: Sep 20, 2019

Last updated on: Dec 29, 2022

How to Title an Essay

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Coming up with a compelling essay title is the most challenging part of writing academic essays.

It is because good essay titles can make your research paper stand out from a pile. It will help people get a feel of what the essay is about, setting it apart from other papers.

Similarly, it also gives the audience a sense of context and perspective of your essay.

Start reading this blog to learn how to develop a title for an essay with this complete writing guide.

What is an Essay Title?

An essay title is the first thing that the audience reads in your essay. No matter how excellent your essay is, it will not work for you if it does not have an interesting title.

Let’s be honest, have you ever read an academic paper that did not have an eye-catching title? I bet most of us don’t even bother to read further.

Creative titles give readers an idea about your essay. They won’t read the complete essay if it has a dull or plain title. Thus, create a title that is engaging and exciting enough to grab their attention.

Moreover, to write a title, you need to focus on three essential elements.

These points are detailed below:

  • The Hook – It is that one creative element to draw the readers in. It may include focus keywords.
  • The Main Terms – These are specific words or phrases that give a sense of content to the audience.
  • The Topic Keyword – It describes the title in the form of a question to identify the concept under review.

Purpose and Importance of Essay Titles

Just as the wrong headline breaks the news’s quality, the wrong topic of the essay breaks the essay’s quality. A compelling title can make your professor read the whole essay to understand:

A compelling title can make your professor read the whole essay to understand:

  • What have you written in your essay?
  • How did you build your argument?

Thus, the wordings you choose are requisite for the success of your work.

Moreover, you can also craft a title that creates curiosity because it allows you to showcase your knowledge and writing skills simultaneously.

Qualities of A Good Essay Title

Before you decide on the final version of your essay title, it is useful to know its qualities. It will help you complete this part of your essay writing process carefully. Some of the important qualities are given below:

  • Eye-Catching – Would you prefer reading content with boring titles, or will you be more inclined to do something interesting? Think about it.
  • Believable – Writers, when trying to craft an interesting title, stray away from the truth sometimes This is a common mistake most students make. An inaccurate title that doesn't deliver the truth anger the readers.
  • Readable – Audiences do not like complicated titles. Therefore, avoid using strange phrases, inappropriate structures, and uncommon fonts.
  • Active Voice – Make sure that all the verbs in your title are in the active voice rather than passive.
  • Brief and Precise – Draft a precise and to-the-point title because long headlines often sound confusing.
  • Accurate – Always write an accurate title that gives a clear idea of your essay. Avoid misleading as it can only harm the essay's quality.

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How Do You Come up With a Good Essay Title?

You are actually creating an identity of your essay while drafting a title. Readers will remember your writing piece with its title; thus, you should not take it lightly.

Here, we have listed some ways to title an essay effectively.

  • Write Essay First and Title it in the Last

    It is better to write the essay first and title it afterward. It will help you come up with an engaging title. Moreover, you also get a comprehensive idea of what you have written and what sort of title goes with it.

    However, if you find it difficult to start an essay without a title, draft a rough one. Change it with a better one once you finish writing. Make sure it matches your essay's content.

  • Use the Thesis Statement

    The thesis statement of your essay will help you to write a compelling title. It is the core of your essay, and no technique can help you better than this. Therefore, you can take some phrases from this statement and use them in your title.

  • Use Popular Cliché

    You can also make use of popular cliché and phrases to write a great title. It is because they are engaging, and the readers may already know them. Remember to use the relevant ones only.

  • Add a Quotation

    Using relevant quotes is a great way to make your title unique. You can never go wrong with a famous quote from a book, movie, author, or actor.

  • Examine Your Essay’s Tone

    A good title should complement the content of your essay by guiding the target audience. Thus, always examine the tone of your essay while drafting a title.

    For example, if you write an argumentative essay, the title should present your essay’s main claim. On the other hand, the title for a descriptive essay should be descriptive in nature.

  • Try to Keep It Simple

    Try to keep the title simple that is easy to read and understand. Using complex words will damage the essay’s effectiveness and cause confusion. Instead, impress your readers with your knowledge and writing skills.

  • Make it Unique and Original

    Brainstorm and research for unique ideas. If you find good essay titles while researching and want to use them for your essay, customize them according to your essay. Do not use it as it is; just get an idea from it.

  • Use the Right Words

    The title describes your essay. Therefore, it is important to use the right words for it as wrong wordings will give a wrong impression. Use the terms in accordance with your field of study to be on the safer side.

  • Do not Use Jargons or Short Forms

    Do not use jargon or abbreviations. Also, avoid short forms as it is not a standard writing practice. Instead, try to use proper terms in capital letters.

How to Title an Essay - Formatting Styles

There are different ways to format the title of an essay. Here are the two most common formatting styles for the essay title:


MLA FormatAPA Format
Font Size12pt12pt
Font StyleTimes New RomanTimes New Roman
AlignmentCenter aligned in the center of the pageCentered in the upper half of the page
SpacingDouble spacedSingle or double spaced
CapitalizationTitle caseTitle case

Essay Titles Examples

Impressive titles are extremely essential in defining how far your writing piece can go. It is because bad titles are unable to provide a sense of perspective. Now that you get a detailed idea about how to write a good essay title look at the below-given examples.

  • Significance of Family Bond
  • Prostitution Should Never Be Authorized
  • Cosmetic Surgery: A Threat to Teens?
  • Public Cameras: Security or Privacy Violation?
  • Consequences of Same-Sex Couples on The Modern World
  • Instagram: A New Discovery in Social Networking

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Essay Title Mistakes to Avoid

The following mistakes you should avoid while writing a good title for your essay:

  • As you are writing an academic essay, avoid being too personal. Avoid including your own life in it.
  • Avoid negative themes, immoral subjects, unethical and sensitive issues.
    Do not make your negative past public. You might have a negative past, but that is the past, so you don’t have to tell it to your audience.
  • Never ever avoid the teacher’s requirement. Instead, make sure you understand all requirements and include them in your essay.
  • Avoid asking the wrong questions; they make the wrong impression.

We have provided everything in this blog that can help you get started. However, if you are still confused and worried, you can get help from a professional essay writer.

Most of the online companies offer such services to students at affordable rates. However, make sure to choose a reliable and authentic one.

FreeEssayWriter.net is a top-ranked writing service online that makes it the best among all. We have a team of experienced writers that guarantee to produce zero plagiarism content. Moreover, we help students with reasonable pricing plans.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good essay title?

A good essay title of a paper can help people understand what the essay or paper is about. Of course, the title is the first thing a reader reads, and it should contain few words.

How to create a unique essay title?

To get a unique title, make it short and easy to understand. Tell your audience what they will learn from the article. Give them information. If you have exciting news, tell them about it!

Why is it important to write a creative essay title?

A creative title will help people know what the essay is about while keeping it interesting. Include theme in your title. The themes are the subjects of your essay, like love, relationships, or politics.

Barbara P.

WRITTEN BY

Barbara P. (Literature, Marketing)

Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

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