Newspapers: Headline writing, use search engine optimization (SEO)
Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on February 7, 2007 at 11:26 AM
Online editions are as important as ever, and getting your online story to show up on search engines is just as essential: it’s a measure of potential web traffic. Here are practical tips, to learn how to top search results.
Online headline efficiency has become so important that it got its own name, SEO, search engine optimization, and has led newspapers and independent companies to research on the subject.
"We're regularly beating the bigger boys, like the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal...and part of the reason is SEO," said David Beard, editor of Boston.com.
"We have Web 'heds.' We go into the newspaper (production) system to create a more literal Web headline," said Beard. "We've had training sessions with copy editors and the night desk for the newspaper. It's been a big education initiative."
British newspapers explained recently that they were teaching their reporters specifically how to write headlines that could be prioritized on search engines. They also buy specific search words from search engines so that their stories rank high.
A few tips to do good SEO:
_Use program specifically designed to help you! Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool, WordTracker.com or Keyword Discovery.com.
_Use popular search words, and include them all in your title. Makes for an obtuse and awkward headline, but it shows up more.
_An even more descriptive headline in the title tag, which appears at the top of browser window.
_Keywords in the anchor text, the underlined text in a hyperlink.
_Keywords are ranked by appearance; put the most important ones first.
_Massive interlinking between related stories and articles and tag content accurately.
On the other hand, these new practices do strip headlines from their charm, both for readers and editors.
“Pithy, witty and provocative headlines--the pride of many an editor--are often useless and even counterproductive in getting the Web page ranked high in search engines,” wrote Elinor Mills, for CNET News.
That will be the real trouble, being relevant for automated search engines while appealing to humans…
"How do you get eye-catching, interesting headlines that make people want to click, but at the same time are relevant to search engines, which are nothing but dumb robots going around looking for keywords?" said Howard Finberg, director of interactive learning at The Poynter Institute.
For other tips, check the comments here.
Source: CNET News.com
"We're regularly beating the bigger boys, like the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal...and part of the reason is SEO," said David Beard, editor of Boston.com.
"We have Web 'heds.' We go into the newspaper (production) system to create a more literal Web headline," said Beard. "We've had training sessions with copy editors and the night desk for the newspaper. It's been a big education initiative."
British newspapers explained recently that they were teaching their reporters specifically how to write headlines that could be prioritized on search engines. They also buy specific search words from search engines so that their stories rank high.
A few tips to do good SEO:
_Use program specifically designed to help you! Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool, WordTracker.com or Keyword Discovery.com.
_Use popular search words, and include them all in your title. Makes for an obtuse and awkward headline, but it shows up more.
_An even more descriptive headline in the title tag, which appears at the top of browser window.
_Keywords in the anchor text, the underlined text in a hyperlink.
_Keywords are ranked by appearance; put the most important ones first.
_Massive interlinking between related stories and articles and tag content accurately.
On the other hand, these new practices do strip headlines from their charm, both for readers and editors.
“Pithy, witty and provocative headlines--the pride of many an editor--are often useless and even counterproductive in getting the Web page ranked high in search engines,” wrote Elinor Mills, for CNET News.
That will be the real trouble, being relevant for automated search engines while appealing to humans…
"How do you get eye-catching, interesting headlines that make people want to click, but at the same time are relevant to search engines, which are nothing but dumb robots going around looking for keywords?" said Howard Finberg, director of interactive learning at The Poynter Institute.
For other tips, check the comments here.
Source: CNET News.com
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