Instigator Blog - Latest Comments in The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

WoW Engineering Guide — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:57:10 -0000

Hey, I think youve made some great points in this post. When people use the headlines they should always make use of the H1 tag - this is one of the most important parts of your on page text regarding what the search engines look for. Also - good titles play a big part in Search Rankings.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

PhilNovara — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:03:06 -0000

Headlines are CRUCIAL in gaining attention. Lets not discredit content though, a headline is just a resume. Bright Vegas flashing lights saying "Look at me Look at me!"

But without great content, you have nothing...

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Ben Yoskovitz — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:21:39 -0000

@Matt Keegan: I agree. The more audacious, bold, polarizing the headline, the better. At least in many cases...you want to grab attention, that to me is the #1 purpose of a headline.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Matt Keegan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:31:34 -0000

Number 4 is my favorite -- be bold. Lots of bloggers settle for mundane, non-descriptive titles -- just the sort of stuff to cause me move on instead of sitting up and taking notice. We have 1, maybe 2 seconds to make a positive impression -- hook 'em while you got 'em!

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

V. Khawani — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:43:57 -0000

Great post. Thanks.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

LeoC — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:20:58 -0000

I agree of course W3C is also important as alomost 80 persent of the population suffer from one form or another of disability.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Ben Yoskovitz — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 01:00:06 -0000

Kenny -- looks pretty good to me - certainly makes me want to click over -- let's see what others thing...

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Kenny Hyder — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:39:40 -0000

How's this title: 10 Reasons Adobe Space Monkey Will Replace CS3

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Moses Francis — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:24:43 -0000

Sweet post!
Thanks

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Bucky — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:01:23 -0000

You have to write titles to grab someones attention...otherwise, they will just click along to the next website.

http://www.bloggingwv.com

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Yu Yu — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:42:50 -0000

Well said Ben. Sometimes people are so hung up on Google, Digg, Technorati etc. that they forget it is the readers that make things happen -- not robots. I know some people who literally just read traffic reports (first thing in the morning!!!) We as blog writers need a balance somewhere in the middle don't you think?

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

DaXtermGuy — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:19:57 -0000

Headlines don't just matter for blogs, it's also extremely important on any page of any websites. I was having a hard time with my company's website until our new web designer rewrote all of our headline on each page.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

lornadoone — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:18:10 -0000

Great post. I used to create headlines that I thought were clever or descriptive, but then I started just making them all straight-forward so they would seem "relevant." Your post makes me think that I should probably come up with some sort of middle ground. I have a specific sort of format for my posts, and I sometimes feel like creating a straight-forward headline gives away the "punchline." I'll have to give this some more brain time.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

live tv — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:33:36 -0000

[â€¦]the purpose of writing better headlines is for search engines or sites like digg. It can be. Thereâ€™s no denying the importance of search engines for long-term traffic growth, or th | [â€¦]

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Brad Isaac — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:08:57 -0000

Thanks for the post. I spend a lot of time on headlines too. Sometimes they hit, othertimes they miss. I guess I haven't discovered the magic headline formula just yet.

This post is a keeper though. :)

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Dave — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:15:55 -0000

Ben, you got that right. The sense of "gaming" or "beating" the system is what really drives me up the wall. If it's for people, then keep the focus there. Digg and Google are only there to help people find what they are really looking for.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Brandon Hopkins — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:10:51 -0000

Ben, at first look at the headline I disagreed, but this line made me see your point, "But great headlines will work for search engines, digg and your audience." And that I agree with!

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Ben Yoskovitz — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:04:33 -0000

Thanks for the comments guys.

Dave - the key point is that it's OK to write headlines that are good for Google and digg because Google and digg are based on people - therefore you're really writing good headlines for people.

You can take it too far focusing on Google and digg, and that's when you lose sight of what you're doing.

But part of my frustration is with people who think that writing great headlines is a form of "gaming" some kind of system - be it Google or digg. It's not about gaming at all - it's about writing for people.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Dave — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:55:39 -0000

Ben, this is one of the best posts I've read on the subject. Finally something that makes sense. I'm really getting tired of the headline for Digg or Google approach. Thanks for putting it all back into proper perspective

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Bret — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:43:05 -0000

Dead on -- headlines are critical. In my attempt to make better headlines, I don't think about search engines (in time I might change that approach) I just think about the reader. Also, I give my posts a simple headline to start, write the post, and then come back and rewrite the headline. Tends to work well for me because once the post is finished the original headline rarely still applies.

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

ploop — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:39:44 -0000

Ben - you are so right. There is, though, a line between wanting to write well and needing to write for search engines and digg etc ...

Having said that, my blog title "9 songs that make murder justifiable â€¦" did generate a lot of hits and when I changed the name of one of my regular posts from "Idiotic business phrases 8 of 100" to "Stupid things your boss says" I got 10 times more hits on reddit. Same post different title

Re: The Best Headlines Are Not Just Written For Google or Digg

Brian Clark — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:13:23 -0000

Amen Brother!