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Fishin' for tips: SEO and general Web site optimization
If there are any Web developers on the network willing to drop me their two cents, I swear I'll give that person's site a few hits. Not because I'm desperate; because I find myself hungry for input on the issues of SEO and Web site optimization (re: getting tons of hits) on a daily basis.
I started a new job about a month ago as a kind of Web developer/manager. In a nutshell, the company I work for owns about 30 newspapers, each of which has its own Web site, each of which feeds content into an aggregate site. I manage content on everything, meaning I try to make things look good and increase our Web traffic.
Like I said, I crave input on a daily basis and I regularly tear up the Internet in search of it.
I've yet to discuss this on Wired Journalists, though, so I thought I'd throw out a few topic headings that most relate to what I'm doing:
• Headline writing: I was a reporter prior to this gig and was educated as one in college, but I realize that headline writing on the Web is a different beast. I found copyblogger to be a handy resource; is anyone willing to share any little tricks they use for Web headlines?
• Stuff people hate: Our sites are pretty new and we haven't added things like blogs or reader comment sections yet (soon). As such, we don't have a ton of feedback on what people do/don't like. Anyone encounter anything in particular that people seem to love/hate?
• Outside help: Another thing I'm working on is how to best use the Web to promote our sites. I recently re-activated my Facebook account, signed up for Twitter and would like to see our paper join Facebook, much like the New York Times. Admittedly, past what the Times has done, I'm a little puzzled over how best to proceed here.
I'm sure I could think of a thousand other things to fit into bullet points, but I'll keep it short. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I started a new job about a month ago as a kind of Web developer/manager. In a nutshell, the company I work for owns about 30 newspapers, each of which has its own Web site, each of which feeds content into an aggregate site. I manage content on everything, meaning I try to make things look good and increase our Web traffic.
Like I said, I crave input on a daily basis and I regularly tear up the Internet in search of it.
I've yet to discuss this on Wired Journalists, though, so I thought I'd throw out a few topic headings that most relate to what I'm doing:
• Headline writing: I was a reporter prior to this gig and was educated as one in college, but I realize that headline writing on the Web is a different beast. I found copyblogger to be a handy resource; is anyone willing to share any little tricks they use for Web headlines?
• Stuff people hate: Our sites are pretty new and we haven't added things like blogs or reader comment sections yet (soon). As such, we don't have a ton of feedback on what people do/don't like. Anyone encounter anything in particular that people seem to love/hate?
• Outside help: Another thing I'm working on is how to best use the Web to promote our sites. I recently re-activated my Facebook account, signed up for Twitter and would like to see our paper join Facebook, much like the New York Times. Admittedly, past what the Times has done, I'm a little puzzled over how best to proceed here.
I'm sure I could think of a thousand other things to fit into bullet points, but I'll keep it short. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Tags: online journalism, seo
12 Comments
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Comment by amy.nickelson on July 9, 2008 at 12:08pm -
I think I'm your online twin. I'm in the exact same boat. Our company recently revamped our Web site designs on 30+ papers in our group. As the Online Community Manager, I'm also being tasked with this and would like to learn more as well.
Our sites do have comment features, blogs, photo and video postings and even a small "networking" aspect, where our site users can hook up with each other. Now, the question: how to market ourselves to search engines and users.
Few tips I've learned so far:
• Headline writing: Include names in headline (totally contrary to print, but Google loves it), put your most important words at the front of your headline (Google searches by a hierarchy system and gives more credit to words at front of headline rather than the back).
• People hate: Bugs. the creepy, gooey kind that bring up page errors and strange displays. When you are adding features to your site, test them, test them again before you go live. Put out quality widgets from the start, cause users will give you one shot before they decide they aren't coming back.
• People love: Comments. It's probably the simplest and stickiest form of UGC you can have. We use a backend system (Pluck) that lets users self-police. Comments go live automatically and users can report abuse that will flag a comment so editors can review it and either take it down or leave it. Simple and effective. Yes, there are trolls, but it's funny how other users jump all over em.
• Outside help. I'm currently working on our paper's Facebook page as well. (Maybe we can poke each other.) Seems like a decent marketing tool. How about news aggregators? Do you submit stories to fark, digg, reddit, etc?
Will keep an eye on this thread for more clues. Thanks for posting.
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Comment by Jonathan Weiss on July 9, 2008 at 6:35pm -
As a web developer, I find myself asking the same questions.
• Headline writing: If your target is SEO then your best bet is to use your 4 or 5 desired key words. Generally it doesn't make sense to use more than that because google will not read past 4 or 5 (as far as i know). I normally use something like: New York Magazine, NY Magazine, NY Entertainment, NY Mag - www.whatever.com
That seems to be the best method from an SEO stand point.
• Stuff people hate: Stay away from cluttering your site with adverts. End users hate that. I'd also say to keep the sites navigation clean and simple and also keep many images on the front page to grab the users attention.
• Outside help: You may want to build an RSS type of widget for your paper to put on Facebook that will allow users to get the latest stories right on their profile - this is becoming very popular. You can check out an example at http://apps.facebook.com/buildnclickrss
Feel free to send me a message or email me anytime if you have any web questions - I'll do my best to help out!
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Comment by Jason Molinet on July 10, 2008 at 8:31am
- Hire an SEO consultant...
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Comment by Jonathan Weiss on July 10, 2008 at 1:22pm
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@Jason
Hiring an SEO consultant may not be a bad idea, but these days its not hard to do the majority of the work yourself. I would first give it a shot on your own and then result to a consultant if you do not see results within the first 2 months.
It may even pay to pick up an "SEO For Dummies" type of book.
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Comment by Paul Balcerak on July 10, 2008 at 4:43pm -
Thanks for commenting, everyone.
Just in time to answer my Facebook queries, The Editor's Weblog hooks me up with this tasty tidbit from CQ about how to use it to drive Web traffic. Just thought I'd pass that along.
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Comment by John Paul on July 15, 2008 at 8:49am -
Hire an SEO consultant, sure. But do this first:
1) Pick an afternoon when you have little else to do (weekend or otherwise)
2) Read this blog: http://www.conversationmarketing.com/
Lots of free tips and insight into Internet Marketing & SEO (including what to look for when hiring a professional).
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Comment by Will Sommer on July 17, 2008 at 2:37pm -
You should look into restructuring your site's URLs formation. To use an example, your SEO will be better if instead of a URL being http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/news/25575689.html, it's www.pnwlocalnews.com/news/south_whidbey_crime_spree.html.
Depending on your content management that change could mean pressing a button or something a lot more complicated, but if it's easy I thought you should do it.
Thanks for the Facebook article link, Paul. I've been wondering how to promote my paper's blog through Facebook.
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Comment by Patrick Thornton on July 29, 2008 at 8:37pm -
Here is a post I would recommend checking out about headline writing.
SEO is the name of the game for headline writing on the Web. Headline writing is an art form in print, but on the Web it is firmly a science. Don't try to be cute. Be specific and mention keywords in your headlines.
Direct traffic (where people type in a Web address or click a bookmark) is often less than 20% of the traffic that a Web site gets. Google and other search engines provide a lot of traffic. Make sure you have rock-solid SEO.
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Comment by timothycrew on November 9, 2008 at 8:43pm -
I agree with the Will Sommer.
Depending on your content management that change could mean pressing a button or something a lot more complicated, but if it's easy I thought you should do it.
____________________________________
timothycrew
[url=http://www.widecircles.com]SEO[/url]
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Stuff people hate: Ads that cover the copy. Fight these tooth and nail. If you have to implement annoying ads (for whatever reason), I'd suggest using something like a sliding billboard, which pushes content down rather than sits on top of it.
Stuff people love: Article comments. You would be surprised how popular these things are. But they're also a minor (but consistent) headache for management. I have yet to figure out how to implement comments without these annoyances. Part of it, I think, is lack of community building on the part of the papers. Participate in the comments and you might fend off some of the trolls.
Promoting your site is important, but you don't want to come off as desperate or look like you're in any way gaming the sites. Don't only feed content into the services. Participate with the users. It's a time consuming process, but you'll build a stronger network that way, I think.