As discussed in class, why do you feel Headlines are so important in web content? Please provide me with another headline you clicked on recently (submit the exact headline including a screenshot) and outline in detail why you clicked it. In question #2, I asked why it resonated with you. For this question, I am asking why you actually clicked on it. This cannot be the same headline as question #2 (8 Marks)
Based on what we discussed in class, I feel that headlines are so important in web content.
One reason why I think that headlines are so important in web content is because it is the first point of contact in all of our digital content. It is an impression of the content in the headline. It will be the first aspect of the content the user will see in our emails, social media ads, landing page, etc. Therefore, crafting effective headlines should be a priority because, even if the content is engaging and relevant to the user, if the headline is bad the whole content is pointless because the user won’t click on the content due to a badly crafted headline. As a matter of fact, it was mentioned that the importance of headlines is clear as out of 8 out of 10 people will click on your headline, only 2 will click through.
Secondly, headlines are so important in web content because they have the potential to be seen by many different people. This can happen because an effective headline can be shared across social media, read aloud, and e-mailed to by a person to many of their friends. This is a benefit to the company because it gives them more visibility and clicks for the article. Amidst the countless amount of articles users will see on social media, an effective article that grabs their attention and is shared by their friends will be more likely to be clicked on.
Thirdly, crafting a good headline also positively affects your SEO. An optimized headline for SEO not only contributes to visibility when it is seen by people on social media but can also be seen on search engines as well. This is because, in headlines, you’re able to inject specific keywords. Moreover, if the article is compelling for users to click on it can increase organic traffic to your website which is another component of SEO Google looks at when search engine ranking. By creating a headline that both pleases the user and search engines, you maximize the chances of your content being shown by a variety of people because it can be shared across many sites by users and can help carry your site to the top of search engine results.
Finally, headlines are important since effective headlines help us stand out amidst the many amounts of content the user will see. According to Diggy Marketing, there are over 600 million blogs online and counting. This doesn’t take into account the amount of posts posted on social media and emails being emailed. The digital user of today is being shown countless amounts of headlines each day. Therefore, with a compelling headline that attracts the user, it will help us stand out and fight against the endless swamp the user gets exposed to on a daily basis.
The headline above is another headline I came across on social media that I clicked on. The headline is, “Burger King counters Wendy’s ‘dynamic pricing’ plan by offering free Whoppers.” I think it was an effective headline and there are a couple of reasons why I clicked on it.
The first reason why I clicked on the headline is because I immediately noticed the first and last three words in the headline. In this case, “Burger King Counters” and “Offering free Whoppers”. This fact is relevant to what we discussed in class about the first and last three words in a headline. It was that we tended to more easily absorb the first and last three words in the headline. I clicked on this headline because immediately glancing at this article gave me the impression that I could potentially get free whoppers from Burger King.
Secondly, I clicked on the headline because I felt that it did not waste my time. I think this is the case because out of context this article told me the information about the content and I was able to understand it. The content of the article is about Burger King’s response to Wendy’s proposed AI-based pricing. They said they would increase the price of their food during peak hours in their business and the response from Burger King was free whoppers. Upon reading the headline without any context, I still found valuable information from it and was still able to grasp what the idea was about. I found it compelling which made me want to click on the headline to find more details about the content in the article.
Thirdly, reflecting back on why I clicked on the article, I think I clicked on the article because the solution in this headline piqued my interest. The Problem poised in this headline is the increased pricing of food Wendy’s will soon implement based on AI. The solution Burger King proposes to save the consumer more money is offering Free Whoppers. As discussed in class, a technique that you can use to craft compelling and engaging headlines is promising a solution to a problem. As someone who likes to save money on fast food, I think the solution to Wendy’s potentially AI-based pricing of Free Whoppers is a compelling reason for me to click on the headline and read the article.
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