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Search engine optimisation and journalism

Learn how to optimize your headlines and introductions for search engines while keeping your readers engaged. Discover effective headline formulas and strategies to attract and retain your target audience.

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Search engine optimisation and journalism

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  1. Ian Reeves Search engine optimisation and journalism

  2. How do I find an audience? • Who are you writing for? Readers? Or search engine computers? • The answer is both • The readers might not see you if the computers don’t notice you • So balance is required • Some of the print-based rules, particularly headline writing, need to be rethought

  3. Search Engine Optimisation • A way of ensuring that internet search engines (Google, Bing) etc, will list your content as prominently as possible if a user types in certain key words • Key words used in headline and intro are particularly important • Think about the terms a reader would use for their search

  4. SEO headlines • Headline accounts for 30% of decision to click through • Headline has big impact on search ranking • Headline also important for RSS feeds • Mobile devices are changing headlines – e.g BBC headlines max 33 characters • NCTJ recommends 65 characters max

  5. SEO versus usability • … but • Usability studies suggest that people focus on first three words and last three words of a headline • Meaning that a 6-word headline is the sweet spot for getting a user’s full attention

  6. Classic headlines... • Gotcha! • Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster • Headless Body in Topless Bar • Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious • Zip Me Up Before You Go-Go • Churchill Flies Back To Front • Dr Fuchs off to Antarctic

  7. ...given the SEO treatment • Argentine warship Belgrano sunk by British forces in Falklands War • Comedian Freddie Starr ate my pet hamster, claims blonde model • New York police search for killer of headless victim in topless bar • Inverness Caledonian Thistle beat Glasgow Celtic in Scottish Cup • George Michael arrested for lewd conduct in public toilet by Los Angeles police • Winston Churchill returns to rally British troops in France • Polar adventurer Doctor Vivian Fuchs explores Antarctic

  8. SEO intros • Intro par accounts for 43% of decision to click through • Include the key words you imagine people will search for, and tell the story concisely and compellingly. • Include geographical locations if appropriate, and full names of key players/institutions in the story • Think: who do I want to read this, and what Google alerts will they have set?

  9. A/B testing • Sites with high traffic use A/B testing to find the most effective headlines • When a story is published, readers are randomly shown one of two headlines (A and B) when they open it • After 5 minutes, the headline with the least clicks is removed

  10. Crowdsourcing better headlines • Huffington Post has also experimented with asking its Twitter audience to come up with better headlines

  11. Headline formulae • "Everything You Need to Know about [A]" • "What [B] Tells Us About [C]" • "The Amazing Truth About [D] in 1 (or 100) Graph(s)" • "A Celebrity You Already Like Had the Perfect Response to [E]" • "One Tweet Explains [F]" • "[G] Occurred. You Won't Believe What Happened Next"

  12. Headline formulae • Listicles – pioneered by Buzzfeed, now used widely • But often derided as ‘clickbait’ • Bloggers, consultants and content marketers have proposed dozens of headline formulae that can lead to successful click through rates

  13. Headline formulae examples • Numbers + Adjective + Target Keyword + Rationale + Promise(E.g: 10 simple steps you can take today that will make you happier) • SHINE: Specificity + Helfpulness + Immediacy + Newsworthyness + Entertainment value(E.g: The Best Five Minutes (immediacy) You’ll Spend Today (entertainment): The Latest Tips (newsworthy) From Centre for Journalism (specificity) on Getting More Readers (helpfulness))

  14. Headline formulae examples • [Adjective] & [Adjective] [What You Are / SEO Keyword Phrase] That Will [Highly Desirable Promise of Results](E.g: New and Useful Contact Marketing Trends That Will Drive You More Traffic) • Avoid questions to which the answer is ‘no’, such as: Can a photograph truly capture love?(E.g: The impossible task of capturing true love in a picture: how these photographers pulled it off)

  15. All-in-one news formulae • Old style headline: SEO headline(E.g: Brainwashed in their bedrooms: British schoolgirl 'jihadi brides who fled to Syria to join ISIS' were following SEVENTY extremists on Twitter accounts that the internet giant had refused to axe )

  16. SEO sources • Newspapers search for web headline magic • Newspaper headline lost in web translation • This boring headline is written for Google • Can SEOs and journalists really be friends? • 10 ways journalists can conquer SEO • 5 tools for keyword brainstorming • Huffington Post and A/B testing • Headline formulas • Why Internet Headline Writers hate themselves

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