Cory Doctorow is one of the few bloggers on the hugely popular BoingBoing.net and was recently asked in a video “How do I make my blog into a top blog?”

The advice wasn’t your typical “try and get people to visit your site at all costs” or “write headlines that attract readers with these surefire hooks or bait”, instead it was advice that showed respect for your readers (and potential readers) and was refreshing to listen to.

The single best advice he says is “Write headlines as if you were a wire service writer.”

What does that mean? My interpretation:

1. When you see the headline, do you know what the article is about? You should! (you will be seeing more on this philosophy integrated into 45n5.com real soon, aside, many of you violate this pretty badly, including me)

2. The first sentence should explain all the things you need to know to SKIP the article. This is brilliant in my opinion, and by “first sentence” I assume he means the headline (if not it’s still great advice).

Basically your readers will forgive you if they aren’t interested in a post or two IF they can tell by the title that they should skip it. Great titles tell your readers what posts they can SKIP.

You show respect for your readers attention and time plus build trust by making titles that explain clearly what the article is about and letting them easily decided when to skip your posts.

But that’s just my interpretation, here it is directly from Cory: