From TopRank: How To Write Compelling Social News Headlines

Posted by Adam Singer on Jan 11th, 2010 on Online Marketing Blog.

Crafting unmissable headlines which resonate with social web users is something which appears deceptively simple. Yet it’s an art form requiring writers, bloggers and marketers to craft thousands of headlines to perfect.

As someone who has been successful with creating content that goes hot across social channels I’ve come to appreciate the art and challenge of crafting sticky headlines. In fact, crafting headlines is equally if not more challenging than leads and even content itself.

Something many bloggers have down, but communications professionals aren’t always fluent in, is the art of crafting headlines specifically for social news sites/users. While there is no one formula for success, I’m going to share 5 things I’ve learned from experience as a blogger, social news user, PR pro and marketer.

1. Work backwards - content first, then headline

If you’ve got an idea for a piece of content you think will be popular or if you’v done your homework and researched the types of content that resonate on social channels, great – the hardest part is done. Now jot down a title as a work in progress and create your content. After completion, bearing you know you’ve knocked out a winner, challenge yourself to re-create the headline specifically to resonate with your key audience. You’d be surprised at how much easier this is than working on the perfect headline up front. Having great content in front of you, then selling it through a sticky headline is always easier than writing it staring at a blank screen.

2. Leverage archetypes/formulas which work for others (especially outside your niche)

Smashing Magazine has made page one of Digg more than 200 times, frequently using the same headline formula (number + adjective + design-related item + sticky message – i.e. 83 Beautiful Wordpress Themes You (Probably) Haven’t Seen). Why would they change something which is causing users to instinctively share posts like crazy? Also, don’t be afraid to use archetypes that work in categories external of yours – especially if no one in your niche is using them.

3. Headlines should be outrageous, engaging, emotional, useful, counter-intuitive or remarkable – not to the world, but to your community

Your headline doesn’t have to make sense to everyone. There isn’t enough space to do that and still fit within something like a Tweet (only 140 characters + 20 character tiny URL) or Digg headline (60 characters). What it should do is conjure one or more of the adjectives listed above to the influencers – or 1%’ers as Jackie Huba calls them – of your community. To achieve this you must first understand your community – ideally by being a member yourself and able to empathize with them.

4. Don’t just create content, actually use social news sites

You can’t understand social communities at the level necessary to permeate them consistently with your content/headlines without being a member of those communities. This is not optional, and if you’re a blogger or marketer who merely creates content but doesn’t participate you’re missing half the picture. Learn the hot buttons of the popular, macro communities and you’ll get a general sense of how to craft headlines for social news. Then, drill down and become a member of more targeted communities relevant to your niche to learn what resonates with specific groups.

5. SEO intersection – frequently forgotten, always vital

A by-product of news stories which go popular on the social web is links. Content created goes popular, gets a ton of links up front and as a by-product the engine juice delivered helps create authority for that page. If the content is really good, it will continue to receive organic links months or years after it’s been posted due to visibility from search engines (and create a ranking that’s self-reinforcing). In other words, social news success can be long term: a story that’s successful has the potential to be a high visibility entry point to your site for years to come even after the initial wave of buzz. Craft two headlines for your stories to help achieve this: 1 for search engines (title tag) and one for users (page title).

Conclusion

As social Diva Liz Strauss has pointed out, it’s not just about the headlines – you also need equally remarkable content to back it up in order to achieve any kind of worthwhile goal such as attracting subscribers or sales leads. But the importance of using clever headlines to help your content stand out in the first place is vital.

As the firehose of real-time social content speeds up, the value of well-crafted headlines will increase. And the truth is, tips can only help so much. Writing headlines is more art than science. The best path is to consider it an iterative process, experiment with different structures, study your analytics and find what works for you.

Copywriting for the Web: Move Over Ad copywriter!

One of the things I'm tasked to do in the agency is to help steer our creative teams in doing digital work. Not easy. One of the hardest is educating creatives. I'm still seen as a "suit" in the agency and helping creatives do better work usually does not sit with some of them. Not all, but some.

Digital copywriting is a lot about SEO, as much as it is communicating to your desired audience. And it's definitely different from ad copywriting. It's an uphill climb. And I'm still waiting for someone to own this skill in the agency. Crossing my fingers.

Here's a good list of tips for copywriters. Original article post from toprankblog.com by Mike Yanke here.

---------------------------------------------

SEO Copywriting: Lure The ‘Bots - Don’t Become One

17 Comments | Posted by Mike Yanke on Mar 27th, 2009 in Online Marketing, SEO, SEO Tips

Harrison Ford may have been a robot. SEO copywriters are not.

Copywriting, and all of marketing really, represent that beautiful intersection between business and creativity.  Those of us lucky enough to find our way into this niche find that, amazingly, we can actually make a living being creative.

Granted, the work we create may not always grab the attention of our hipster friends, but it will put food on our clients’ tables (most important), put food on our own tables (second most important), and put food on our aforementioned hipster friends’ tables (if they’re lucky).

Perhaps the biggest mistake we can make as copywriters when we find ourselves writing specifically for a search engine optimization initiative is becoming untrue to our own creative personalities.

Being a copywriter means adapting your voice to become the voice of your target audience, whether that means writing like an accountant, a technology provider, or even a business analyst.  When writing content for SEO, you add the additional layer of complexity of expanding your audience to include the search engine ‘bots.

This can frustrate the creative ogre that lies within us on a few levels:

• We work in marketing – the greatest industry forever and ever.
  Why can’t everyone, including the ‘bots, just speak like we do?
• Writing for robots is making us feel like robots, with the rules and what not.
  We’re not robots – we’re writers!

These may seem like good points when echoed in our own heads, but truly, they are misguided.  SEO copywriting when done correctly - is an enhancement to our creativity - not a limiter.

Take the creative approach towards the following SEO guidelines:

• Title tags must include the most important keyword related to the page
  This is great!  Think of it this way – if a title tag is limited to 10 words, and you are working with a keyword like “Accounting Software” you’re 1/5th of the way done!  Add in the client name, and you’re 1/3rd of the way there.

  Now, you just need those seven final words to make this a compelling bit of copy – compelling enough to get your target to click through.

  Finding the right creative mix of seven words is a challenge that should be received as a gift by any skilled writer.  Remember, Hemingway only needed six.

• Keywords must appear up and to the left
  How dare someone tell you what words should go where, right?

  Granted, the reasoning for keyword placement can feel robotic – after all – the search engine ‘bots scan for keywords that appear up and to the left.

  Want to know a secret, though?  So does everyone in the entire world who ever lived and took the time to learn how to read and scan something for their name.  (Note From Editor Dana Larson:  Except in certain cultures where they write right-to-left, not left-to-right…something to think about, Mike  ) People are notorious scanners.  Humans created the ‘bots to take after their masters, and their masters do not have time to read anything unless hooked by a strong opening, ie, some compelling bit of copy they’ve spied “up and to the left.”

• The same keyword(s) must be used so many times
  This is an easy one.  You only have to use a keyword as much as it makes sense to use it.  Typically, 3-4 instances on webpage will suffice, although you could potentially include it more if in reference to a branded company or product name.

  Remember – we’re writing for humans, here.  Use your keyword just enough that a human will know what it is you are talking about.  The ‘bots we create will follow-suit.

• Internal links should be implemented within your web copy
  Gee whiz, I just wrote all this great stuff and now I have to worry about linking it to something else?  Think of it this way.  Some of the best jokes told by stand-ups comedians reference another joke recently told.  For the uninitiated, this is a “callback” – and it helps add a new level of fullness to the bit.

  Links in your copy are the same idea.  By linking to additional, relatable contentyour copy expands to feel fuller with very little extra effort on your part.

The best thing about taking a creative angle when approaching the rules of SEO copywriting?

Ensuring a successful website for your client (most important) and gaining recognition as a skilled and creative copywriter (a close second).