Let us start with What is a course title? 

When a student searches for your course in google let’s say “guitar classes online”, these are the results that show up. 

These blue Headings that you see? Those are the course titles. 

If you closely look at the titles, it will contain words of the student search query and will also contain some special characters like hyphens or pipe or question mark or colon

Basically, a title is your course name, That tells your students exactly what they will learn from the course. 

So, now that we have covered what a course title is, let us see what elements are needed in a course title. 

To know that, Let us hear what experts around the world tell about course titles. 

Here is what udemy says ( zoom in on the 1st line) https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229232467-Course-Title-Quality-Standards

“Focus the title on what students will learn and how they can apply the skill instead of making salesy, big promises that sounds scammy” 

They also mention to make titles specific and within 60 characters (highlight that number in the video screen ) 

Another site Proof Mango interviewed top teachers in the edtech market on what they thought about course titles. 

And according to these experts, 

course title must be clear, 

must tell how you will solve student problem in your unique way, 

be able to evoke emotions of positivity or hope in students. 

I recently enquired with a few accomplished teachers groups on facebook. And according to them, a clear title with an interesting student benefit is the key. 

So, now you understand what the course title is and what experts think about the course title. Now, let us see how to create a course title and what are the best practices followed. 

Every course title contains two key elements. 

Words – A mix of your Subject+ solution your students looks for.   

And 

Special Characters  – like +, |, -, [ etc to space the words

Now, let us see how to write a good title by mixing the words and special characters together. 

The 1st step to writing a good title is to keep it simple. Start by asking yourself. 

What do you teach in your course? And Whom do you teach? 

For ex: If you are teaching Java Programming, 

Are you teaching Java programming for junior software engineers? 

Or Are you teaching Java programming for class 9th students

Based on what you teach and for whom, you can create your course title in simple language. 

Write it in a very direct way using the words you know. 

For ex: Java programming for Class 9 students. 

Now, in this sentence try and remove any unwanted words. 

For ex: students can be removed, as Class 9 will imply students anyway.

You can even remove programming as the word Java itself will clarify that it is a programming course.

The new title will become something like Java For Class 9. 

Follow the above steps and come up with a very simple course title. 

The 2nd step will be to add in the student solution or query in your title. 

And the best way to do that is to type in your query in google and see what students ask. 

For ex: Let us say you are teaching Java programming for class 9 students, just type in Java for class 9 in google. 

It will return you all the listings. You can see what ideas other teachers are using in their titles. 

Like for ex: Java Programming Examples with Output or 

Java Programs: Best Java Programs for Beginners. 

You can also see what students ask in google. If you can answer those questions through your course, then add those words in your title. For ex: If you have a section teaching students how to write codes in Java and then convert it into PDF format, you can mention, ‘Includes Word to PDF converter technique’ in your course title.

Think for a moment. Students are always looking for a solution in google. Google already curates popular questions in the search page. 

Now, what happens when your course title includes the solution the student is looking for? The student will click it and purchase your course. 

As you scroll down further you can still find more related queries like 

simple java programs for beginners, 

or java programming exercises with solutions pdf. 

So, now in addition to a simple title: Java For Class 9, you can make it more crisp and clear with something like 

Java For Class 9 With 15 Programming Exercises With PDF Solutions

Apart from google suggestions, you can add queries students personally come to you for help. 

Don’t try to stuff in all the queries in your title. You can include these queries in your course description (which we will see later). 

Right now, just make sure your title summarizes what the course is all about by analysing student queries.  

The 3rd Step, would be to make the title  a little more elegant. 

So far, you identified your course title, and added student words. Now, how can you make it more elegant?  

Use special characters and arrange the words so that it is readable. 

For Example, my title can be changed to 

Java For Class 9 – With 15 Programming Exercises With Solutions PDF or even something like 

Java For Class 9 | With 15 Programming Exercises With Solutions PDF

I can further simplify this title. For ex:
Java For Class 9 – With 15  Programming Worksheets or 

Java For Class 9 – With 15  Programming Exercises

The best way to make an elegant title is to keep it within 10-12 words or within 60 character limit.

Most of the best selling course creators use around 35-40 characters in their title and use around 8-10 words. 

Don’t worry, if your title is longer than 10 words. You can use the remaining words in the title descriptions. 

In the 4th and last step, let’s make your title more energetic. 

Use words that trigger emotions in the student. Use words like comprehensive, ultimate, complete, secret, inspiring, hacks etc. 

Suppose, if you know that students want to learn programming to get a 100% marks in programming exam, you can modify your title to something like 

Java For Class 9 –  Get 15 Programming Hacks And Score 100% Marks Every Time  

Or you can highlight how fast students can learn Java programming. With this your title would look like

Java For Class 9 –  Create your own apps in 10 days

As always, don’t bluff it if your course isn’t going to help the student get 100% marks or if you are not teaching them how to create their own apps.