<h1>Writing good titles</h1>
<p><a href="https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/10647/writing-a-good-title">Mark Harrison's CW answer</a> on Meta Stack Exchange brings a list of useful hints for writing meaningful Stack Exchange titles.  These are an expanded version of that guidance.</p>
<p><strong>1. Make the topic stand out.</strong></p>
<p>This is the most important filter on a question. People scan content in the front page very fast. Users need to know what the question is about just by looking at the title. Make sure the necessary keywords are included in it.</p>
<p>For example, let's take a look at the following title:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/2691/making-sense-of-principal-component-analysis-eigenvectors-eigenvalues">Making sense of principal component analysis, eigenvectors &amp; eigenvalues</a></p>
<p>The OP (&quot;original proposer&quot;) wants to understand better what is PCA, eigenvectors and eigenvalues. Very simple. In the body he provides more details and arguments about the way he wishes to understand such subjects.</p>
<p><strong>2. Keep it short.</strong></p>
<p>It's not necessary to explain the question in the title, but what it is about without being too broad.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/20523/difference-between-logit-and-probit-models">Difference between logit and probit models</a></p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/13314/is-r2-useful-or-dangerous">Is $R^2$ useful or dangerous?</a></p>
<p><strong>3. Lead with the most important words.</strong></p>
<p>Avoid general openings. For example:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/79602/i-want-to-show-ebt-bs4-3t-s2">I want to show $E(B(t)-B(s))^4=3(t-s)^2$</a> could be just:</p>
<p>Show that <span class="math-container">$E(B(t)-B(s))^4=3(t-s)^2$</span> (tagged with <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/proof" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;proof&#39;" rel="tag">proof</a>)</p>
<p><strong>4. Make those words useful for searching.</strong></p>
<p>Formulas and generic words add little information. Compare the previous example to:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/79602">How to compute moments of Brownian motion?</a></p>
<p><strong>5. Be specific.</strong></p>
<p>For example, instead of:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/21940">Business Forecasting</a></p>
<p>write:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/21940">How to incorporate seasonal patterns in forecasts?</a></p>
<p><strong>6. Don't start with &quot;How do I...&quot;</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Writing in that style ensures that your title will fail criteria 1-3, and get less attention than it deserves.<br />
This is a question site, and people will understand your titles are questions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>7. Don't sweat replicating a tag keyword.</strong></p>
<p>Don't use <strong>loose</strong> tags in titles, unless they are substantial for its comprehension.</p>
<p>Example of a title where two tags are substantial:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/577/is-there-any-reason-to-prefer-the-aic-or-bic-over-the-other">Is there any reason to prefer the AIC or BIC over the other?</a></p>
<p>In this case <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/aic" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;aic&#39;" rel="tag">aic</a> and <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/bic" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;bic&#39;" rel="tag">bic</a> are essential for the title to be understood. Without them, we'd have:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/577">Is there any reason to prefer AIC?</a></p>
<p>Although this title is useful, it begs the question &quot;prefer it to what?&quot;.  Both AIC and BIC appear to be important aspects of the question.</p>
<p>Example of a title where the tag is <strong>not</strong> substantial:</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/93326/regression-volatility-vs-return">Regression - volatility vs return</a></p>
<p>The word &quot;regression&quot; seems to be loose (better use it only as a tag). A better title could be</p>
<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/93326/regression-volatility-vs-return">Estimating the effect of volatility on losses</a></p>
<p>(tagged with <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/regression" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;regression&#39;" rel="tag">regression</a>, <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/times-series" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;times-series&#39;" rel="tag">times-series</a>, <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/econometrics" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;econometrics&#39;" rel="tag">econometrics</a>, <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/hypothesis-testing" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;hypothesis-testing&#39;" rel="tag">hypothesis-testing</a>, and <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/volatility-forecasting" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;volatility-forecasting&#39;" rel="tag">volatility-forecasting</a>).</p>
<p><strong>8. Don't beg.</strong></p>
<p>The surest way not to get a good or fast answer is to plead that you are desperate or have limited time.  Focus on asking a clear, interesting question: the answers will come flying in.</p>
<p><strong>9. Use good English.</strong></p>
<p>Misspellings, poor grammar, typographical errors, and inconsistencies all suggest you couldn't be bothered to make your question presentable.  Why should anyone bother to read or answer it, then?  We are considerate of people for whom English is not a first language, so don't let your ignorance of grammar or spelling stop you--but at least do your best to check everything as well as you can and try for consistency (an English-speaking friend could be helpful).  At a minimum, read your entire question (especially the title) after you have posted it and edit any errors immediately.</p>
<p><strong>10. Avoid abbreviations and jargon where possible.</strong></p>
<p>To keep titles brief, you might want to abbreviate (such as &quot;PDF&quot; for &quot;probability density function&quot;).  But <em>please</em> spell out all abbreviations early on in the text of your question.  If the title refers to an arcane term or concept, consider defining, describing or explaining it in the leading lines of the question.  At least provide a link to a definition.</p>
<p>Want a good answer fast?  <em>Make the title interesting to everybody who might be qualified to answer your question.</em>  That alone suggests avoiding jargon and arcane terms.</p>
<hr />
<p>Mark Harrison also says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Finally, be flexible.</p>
<p>Different questions benefit from different styles of titles. Applying any single hard and fast rule is probably a mistake.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p><sub> Suggestions about writing good titles specifics to statistics are also welcome. </sub></p>
