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Those who read of Mayfield, KY, via Instagram there is a thought experiment being done where longform.org will be given a send-off as Roxanne Aalders will be working with Blurb via blurb.com/bookstore/c-blogs where examining where science and social studies education is often scarce. I have been a vendor with Barnes & Noble now off-n-on going on 11 years one of the places I do graphic design work with ended up getting Smashwords so those who are wanting to test the idea of being #published in print..
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Right now I'm focusing on writing what performs so I can build up a name for myself and eventually write what I believe in. Unfortunately, there just isn't the appetite right now for a ton of meaningful, interesting journalism. So I'm doing what pays the bills but one day I hope to write what I truly care about.
I don’t think what “gets clicks“ and “what you believe in” have to be at odds — IMO, search helps us identify the vocabulary people most commonly use and the topics they’re most interested in. But search engines are incredibly intelligent and do understand wit and nuance at this point.
Every webpage also has two titles: on page (display) and SEO (aka the title tag). Reserve the straightforward writing for the title tag and personality for the on page.
Especially if you’re mostly getting clicks from so called “discovery” feeds (Google Discover, Social Media, etc.) personality mixed with a bit of clarity is impactful.
Of course, the 2-3 word headlines we use in print just don’t give enough context in a digital ecosystem where everyone has ADD to capture attention.
Headline writing is still an art form. Personality matters. And in case you hadn’t guessed yet, I’m an SEO specialist with 12+ years in the field.
A soulless headline is not a good SEO headline. You write an SEO headline for humans, not for machines - it just needs to contain the relevant keywords. The headline still needs to "sell" the story and entice people to read it when they see it in search results or Google Discover. Writing a good one is still an art, but it's a different art to writing a print headline. Witty or pun headlines don't work online because they make no sense out of the context of a print page and often don't contain words that people are searching for. It's nothing to do with algorithms.
You are right. It is still storytelling, just with new rules. The best writers find ways to make those keywords sing.
Before SEO, headlines were a real art form. And they go back a long way, Pulitzer had people on his staff at the NY World in the 1890s who specialized in only writing headlines. The tradition of brilliant and witty headlines has largely faded out as Google's crawlers can't comprehend them and they won't rank well on a SERP. I'd rather write what I believe in, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't matter what I think. We have to work aligned with current realities.
Well said. Headlines used to have personality, now they sound like search terms with punctuation. Progress, apparently.
I like to think there is room for both. Best SEO practices combined with a title that also makes sense. We are kind of at a crossroads of optimal optimization and sounding like a real human person.
Exactly. The sweet spot is when you can please both the algorithm and the reader. It is rare, but it feels good when you pull it off.
I'd rather write what I believe in. Unfortunately, that usually isn't an option. Fewer clicks = less money.
Completely agree. The dream is balance, but the budget is built on clicks. The struggle is real.
Write what the audience needs. If they need the information that's in your story, they need a headline that tells them whether the story will be worth their time. That should really be the only guiding factor.
Write what performs, cry later. SEO is basically creative writing with shackles and a Google-approved muzzle.
if It feels that way, you (or your boss) are/is not “doing SEO” right. Look at the guidelines for EEAT, a lot of it is the same as the journalist code.