Why your technology title matters: data-backed tips for success

The title is the first point of contact for potential research partners, and it must be both engaging and informative to encourage clicks.

In previous advice articles on writing summaries for Inpart Connect, we've explored how to present your research, source key information from journal articles and patents, and address sector-specific feedback on what information is often missing. While following that advice can result in a strong technology summary, all that effort is wasted if your title doesn't draw readers in.

To help you craft the best possible title for your technology, we've analyzed top-performing technologies on the Inpart Connect platform to identify common trends.

Title length matters

We examined 8,500 technologies from 250+ global research institutes and created a combined score based on views, industry connections, and feedback. We then plotted this score against the word count of each title (Figure 1).

The data revealed that interest spikes between 1-word titles and 4-word titles, suggesting that more descriptive titles attract higher engagement. However, beyond 10 words, the benefits of added detail diminish, and overly long titles tend to discourage potential partners. In short, concise titles that still provide enough information to be compelling perform best.

To validate the 4-to-10-word title optimal range, we isolated the top 30 technologies in both life sciences and physical sciences.

In life sciences, most of the best-performing titles clustered between 6 and 9 words, while in physical sciences, they ranged from 4 to 10 words. These results confirm that you have a narrow window to be descriptive — without overloading the reader with unnecessary details.

Additional tips for writing strong technology titles

Beyond length, we identified additional patterns that can help refine your technology title:

Elaborate on acronyms and trade names

Technologies with acronyms or trade names performed best when the title provided context, rather than being just a single word. For example:

• LiONSKIN - A 3D-Printed Lithium-ion Battery in Any Shape
• SHARP: Novel Super Hydrophobic Polymers
• HyEdit - A Tool for Precision Genome Editing

Highlight key benefits or features

Incorporating unique benefits or features of your technology makes it clear why your research stands out. Common keywords in top-performing titles include biodegradable, biocompatible, novel, efficient, improve, universal, compatible. For example:

• Disposable, Antimicrobial Non-Woven Materials
• More Efficient Method for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) of CO2 Gas
• Biodegradable Polymeric Vectors for RNA Delivery

Be descriptive in short titles

If your title is three words or fewer, consider adding more information about the technology's function and application. A more descriptive title helps industry users quickly assess relevance and improves your ranking in search results. For example, if your technology is a surface treatment for the automotive industry, make sure this application is mentioned in the title.

A brief tutorial: naming your technology

Let's consider a top-performing physical science technology, LiONSKIN, which is a customizable 3D-printed battery cell for lithium-ion batteries. Possible titles for this technology could be:

• 1LiONSKIN
• 2LiONSKIN - A 3D Printed, Light, Safe, and Customizable Shape Battery Cell with a Long Cycle Life
• 3LiONSKIN - A 3D-Printed Lithium-ion Battery in Any Shape

We advise against using the first title—it's too vague and doesn't explain what LiONSKIN is. The second title, while informative, is too long at 16 words. The third option is ideal as it succinctly explains the product's uniqueness while keeping within the optimal title length.

• 1LiONSKIN
• 2LiONSKIN - A 3D Printed, Light, Safe, and Customizable Shape Battery Cell with a Long Cycle Life
• 3LiONSKIN - A 3D-Printed Lithium-ion Battery in Any Shape