If you've already decided not to click, here's the lede:
JOURNALISTS over the years have assumed they were writing their headlines and articles for two audiences — fickle readers and nitpicking editors. Today, there is a third important arbiter of their work: the software programs that scour the Web, analyzing and ranking online news articles on behalf of Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
I did a Google Adwords Keyword Tool search on which words I should include in this blog entry's title by copying the URL into the Tool's search function, here are the results:
- "search engine optimization,"
- "seo search engine optimization,"
- "search engine optimization software,"
- "search engine optimization tips."
(But obviously I went with the NYT's catchier title, as I'm a sucker at heart for quirky print headlines.)
It should be mentioned that these were the only search terms that exceeded 10,000 in the Global Monthly Search Volume.
The NYT said it best. No longer can journalists writing for the Web formulate headlines with only their generally above-average educated readers in mind.
Oh, and by the way (forgive the shameless self-promotion), if you're reading this - friend me on Twitter!
Very interesting! Just shows you how much more the journalists of today have to keep up with technological features like SEO. I agree, their headlines now have to be more than average headlines.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real trick to make a headline attractive to the human and the search engine.
ReplyDeleteAll this headline writing is giving me headaches, in another class we are working on headline writing and its amazing how hard it is to capture the essence of a story in such few words and still make it interesting.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the comment about how journalists can't only cater to the well-educated on the web. I agree that this is true to an extent, and I think it's excellent that the internet is making more information more available and contributing to some class consciousness!
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