Can I use the same title as someone else in my blog post?

Question

I want to use the title "What Is React Native" for my a blog next week as I think my type of customer might want to know. However when I did a Google search for it, I found that this title was already being used. So can I still use it? Or would it be better to make a different title?

I was thinking "A Simple Explanation Of What React Native Is" or "What Is React Native [A Simple Explanation]".

I think my rationale on re-using it is that position 2 is still pretty powerful when someone searches for this expression. And if I change it then it might be less likely to come up in a search since the words don't match as closely.

Answer 1

Of course you can use the same title if you like, there is no copyright on titles, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you meant.

I suppose a lot depends on how likely you are to beat the other company for spot #1 regardless of the title.

• How is your site's link profile compared to theirs?
• How many links does their specific article have (and from what sources), compared to what you're likely to get?
• How long has their article been online already?

If you're likely to flat-out beat them over them, then just use the short 'perfect' title. If, however, it's likely that you'll never rank at that number one spot, I would seriously consider the different title to get more clicks at the #2 spot like you mentioned yourself.

Answer 2

If it is safe to assume that people will find your site via Google search then you don't want to re-use a title that is already coming up in search results. At best, you look to potential readers like a clone of the other site (or they look like a clone of you if your site appears higher in the search results).

Best not to get hung up on the title and find a unique handle for your blog post. An easy way to do that is to write the post, then ask a friend who hasn't seen the other title to help you think of a title (your own subconscious is likely to obsess about the title you wanted and get in the way--but once you are responding to a friend's suggestions, your own imagination will loosen up) based on the actual content of your post.

Answer 3

If you are looking to get traffic to your blog, try having a unique title for your blog post. Having the same title as someone else's blog post might be seemed as being unoriginal and might diter users to click on your site.

Overall, create a blog that has original content and gives the user what they are looking for.