Comments on: How Marty Weintraub got me to click

By: Lyndoman

Lyndoman — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:54:56 +0000

Jake, headlines are easily 100% of the first step in the battle. It’s not 50/50 with regards to content as people do not consume the content and the headline at the same time and then decide their view.

The headline is in isolation. It is the only thing people see first. To get to the content the headline must work its magic. Whether or not the content works is another thing. It depends on your goal.

But the headline is everything in that initial contact and if it’s a bad headline, people will not bite. If you have a low readership, headlines could be where you are weak.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:36:37 +0000

i’m thinking that headlines are more than half the battle.

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Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:47:54 +0000

[...] marketing classic, although so often forgotten. The title should offer a compelling benefit and/or promise and be backed up with a short opening [...]

By: Mike Marshall

Mike Marshall — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:05:24 +0000

So the “Today’s Picks” right now are:

Nursing-home cat predicts deaths by cuddling residents

20 ways sharks aid humans

What would Jesus drive?

I can’t make this stuff up.

By: Mike Marshall

Mike Marshall — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:36:20 +0000

Some of the masters of the dark art of headline writing work for MSN. The three news stories they designate for their “Todays Picks” section have got to be some of the most talked about news stories in the country (I know they are in my office). And nine times out of ten, the story is inconsequential or only vaguely related to the headline. I mean, how else does the country know about the “Dog found 2000 miles from Home”?

What is great is that they do it with 4-7 words per headline.

My hometown is blessed to have the greatest BBS you can imagine for a sports team – http://www.clutchfans.net. Diligently moderated, it has definitely helped me hone the art of headline writing. After five years and thousands of posts, you learn what people will read and what they won’t simply by looking at your thread statistics. An awesome education in “How Marty Weintraub got me to click” journalism while chatting about one of your favorite sports teams.

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aimClearBlog | SEO Makes you Wicked Humble. — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:40:15 +0000

[...] can feel like you?re writing for nobody. Late last week a famed UK linkbait blogger posted a ?response? to linkbaiting we sent his way. I questioned whether to publish this graphic but it?s SO DARN FUN. What we love [...]

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Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:57:47 +0000

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By: Yuri

Yuri — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:41:01 +0000

Same thoughts here, Lyndon. First I thought "oh, great, another bait", but then I clicked on it, because I got curious. Paraphrasing, "Curiousity killed a SEO" ;) I am thinking it is not that blogging is hard work, but it takes effort and practice to produce great posts, no matter if you spend 5 or 500 minutes on it. Just recently, I have written a response to Rand's post and it only took an hour or two (not 13 minutes, though).

By: Web Presence

Web Presence — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 03:54:18 +0000

It’s funny how the mind works sometimes. Even if we clearly know its a linkbait we still sorta wanna read what it is all about so that we won’t feel “left out” on information. :)

By: Marty

Marty — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:33:32 +0000

:) Pleased to meet you Mutiny.

By: Mutiny Design

Mutiny Design — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:22:14 +0000

Is that why you keep taking the bait on those ‘Add 3 Inches to Your Manhood Overnight’ emails i’ve been sending you?

Just kidding :P

By: Marty

Marty — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:59:45 +0000

First, thanks for hosting this discussion. Lyndoman is my total headline
writing hero. His post “65 Headlines to Jump Start your Linkbait” really got
to me a few weeks ago. We wrote a somewhat unsuccessful post called “Free
Sex, Viagra, Money, Women, & Beer” right afterwards, which was a cute look
at headline writing. We incorrectly thought ourselves clever. Suffice to
say that the content did not keep the promise of the headline…and bloggers
totally did not care. It got me thinking.

The post is about maximizing the potential for a content to go viral to the
stream-of-consciousness where-the-hell-do-I-find-the-time-to-blog life of
anyone who is NOT Danny, and Barry, and Rand-by using outbound linking as
invitations dance.

We could have called the post “Don’t Waste your Time Blogging if You’re
Stupid” or “3 Critical Techniques to Wring Dollars Out of Blog Posts Now”
and it would have not been arrogant. The reason is that people like us don’t
usually talk in public about exact techniques to contact each other and
communicate with each other (trackbacks, pingbacks, myBlogLog, analytics,
etc.) is because we are all anonymous literary stalkers and voyeurs. It’s
valuable for others to know how we think. We learned from reading you guy
and others.

We were SO careful in writing “Drive 28,402 Extra Visitors by Blogging for
48 Minutes.” The SEM community is comprised of journalist-bloggers who are
absolute masters. The traffic I referenced, while lovely, is insignificant
to the Rand’s, Barry’s, and Danny’s of the world.

Still, 28,402 visitors matters to anybody. The reality is that we keep track
of goals, relating to how long it takes me to blog, as important KPI s for
our business. Time spent in every part of my day has to pay on average no
matter how much I love writing. The reality is that it took 48 minutes.

I was worried that it was flip or arrogant to case study this traffic
events. That much traffic is not a big deal to the big boys. Still, should
someone be ashamed to care about 28,402 visitors? I suppose we could have
included anecdotes about 13 other posts that nobody ever read cared about.
Someone start a meme about of the WORST 5 headlines of our careers with NO
outbound links that drove NO traffic.

I was careful to communicate that blogging is REALLY hard work. In thinking
about it I realized that there was something important afoot: maximizing the
potential for a post to go viral to the stream-of-consciousness
where-the-hell-do-I-find-the-time-to-blog life of anyone who is NOT Danny,
and Barry, and Rand.

By: Utah SEO

Utah SEO — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:41:35 +0000

Headlines can be pretty tricky to write and be effective. Finding a copywriter that has that talent is worth their weight in gold.

By: Maki

Maki — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:34:12 +0000

Headlines definitely take up a fair bit of my time when I’m writing an article. Gotta throw in the right keywords while making sure its enticing enough.

BTW, I’m writing this comment in my Google Reader. How cool is that. :)

By: Lyndoman

Lyndoman — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:47:37 +0000

Marty is worth getting to know.

Glad I got you to think in the AM, quite a feat ;)

By: robwatts

robwatts — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:20:00 +0000

For me Lyndon, that headline in isolation makes me think yeah right whatever! The fact that you referenced it gives it credence, I dont know Marty from adam, but I do know.

The danger in using a headline like that is that if the article is a pile of shit, then I’ll quite possibly remember the url or the brand or the guys name as something to avoid in the future.

IOW – whilst a click is a click is a click, the end result and what people do in their heads once they land on the click target, is far more important.

Chicken and eggish? Yeah a bit, if you dont have the bait, then you wont get hooked,but if the fish grabs the bait and finds it to be distasteful, then it might just spit it out before the hook is lodged

Great headlines are great headlines, yet without a little subtance beneath they aint worth a cold cup of the proverbial.

I guess Im trying to make the point that whilst headlines matter, it also depends on the platform on which they sit. A headline on page 1 of goog Y! or mSn will be far more attractive than one buried on page 5.

Anyhow, thanks for making me think too much ;)