The Mashable Rule of Blog Headline Writing

Paul Carr on the unsubtle art of Tech Blog headline writing:

Next comes the important task of picking a title. Remember, a good title serves two important functions: 1) to attract comment trolls, and 2) to amuse Gabe Rivera from Techmeme. One tried and tested format is the “Why X will be the Y killer” construction, or the even more popular “Five tips for…” meme. The latter is especially recommended for authors who are working against a tight deadline: readers will tolerate any shit as long as it’s in a numbered list (the so-called ‘Mashable Rule’). Note: there is no need for the title to actually relate to the body of your Guest Post: the two are quite separate entities.

He's right of course.

I don't know how much SEO Goodness has leaked from this blog due to a near ban on the Mashable Rule here, and we never use the "killer" one. But its a sad indictment of Teh Internetz As They Is Today that a witty headline is deemed bad SEO and a Mashable Rule one is good.

Sadder still is his next point, which is once you have got your SEO friendly title, and the reader has clicked through, they are of little further value to you, hence his sanguine advice on the content:

Write any old crap

Is that the Mashable 2nd rule?

Update - useful comment from Mat Morrison that I've republished up here:

Saw an excellent presentation on how SEO had changed headline-writing at The Times by Tom Whitwell at Social Media Camp London a couple of years ago. Argues that witty headlines have been dropped in favour of clarity and impact - not just because of Google's content analysis engine, but also because of feed readers.