Headlines are online everywhere – in email subject lines, blog titles, social media posts, meta descriptions and page titles. They powerfully attract a reader’s initial attention and are likely to determine if the reader will continue to read the rest of the content. So what type of online headlines are the most effective? Point-first headlines produce best results. A point-first headline begins with the main point you are trying to make to the reader. The headline frames the rest of the reader experience in reading the piece.
Read moreby Vincent David Is there a point of convergence between public relations and SEO? Long before social media disrupted communication and gave organizations direct access to consumers and their target audiences, PR practitioners played the all-important role of crafting the appropriate message for public consumption on behalf of organizations. This role is still relevant in the modern business environment, and many organizations still rely on in-house and outsourced PR practitioners for their communication. But ...
Read moreIn the past, we were told our Google results page would need to show our site at the top to be effective. These days, we are better off: As long as we appear within the first 5 results, we have around a 10–20% chance of getting a click and a 40–80% chance of getting a look. In a detailed summary of today’s typical search engine results page (SERP), which is mostly about Google results, ...
Read moreBlogging is a key part of our digital environment: more than half of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority. Key blog trends for individual bloggers Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media conducted a survey of 1001 individual bloggers (not companies or brands [groups]) in 2019 to identify blogging trends. Overall view: The average blog post takes 3 hours and 57 minutes to write …up 65% from 2014 The average blog ...
Read moreThis article by Mark Macias explains the options for removing commercially or legally sensitive material from Google and other search engine archives. Out of curiosity, we all like to Google ourselves to see what is said about us in the search engine, but what happens when Google turns up results we don't like? How do we get our name removed from search engines when the material is damaging? A reputable financial consultant discovered one ...
Read moreFor some reason, informational web pages about organizations can be difficult to find or they give only minimal or formal information. It should be easy for visitors to your website to find out the basics of your organization, large or small. But surprisingly often, this important information is hard to find or is even missing. An 'About Us' or 'About [the name of your organization]' page should give concise summary information (but not just ...
Read moreWeb design and writing expert Jakob Nielsen has unearthed many important facts from his research about website visitors. His latest study shows that users hunt for facts online, so factually rich content will attract readers and keep their attention. Here is his summary of findings: Emphasize facts There's so much corporate jargon and waffle in websites that straight talk stands out. Journalists - the ultimate fact seekers When journalists used corporate websites in the ...
Read moreHeadlines are the most important part of any written content. Advertising legend David Ogilvy pointed this out decades ago, and his words are still quoted. Ogilvy said in his classic book Confessions of an Advertising Man in 1963: "On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.” But Ogilvy’s often-quoted comment related only to advertising – and he died in 1999, before the internet really got going. ...
Read moreReflecting today's more complex issues, today’s search engine results pages can have many possible complex layouts, and users don’t always process search results sequentially. Their attention on a page tends to jump around more across the page than in the past, and has been compared to the pattern in a pinball game. A traditional pinball machine arcade game (left in the image) is a glass-covered cabinet using an angled play field with various bumpers, ...
Read more(This article was written in 2013, and therefore some of the digital tools may be out of date.] Mike Lizun of Gregory FCA wrote a good article in PR Daily about some great digital tools that are available to PR practitioners. He showed there are many digital tools and services PR pros use to stay on top of the news, identify trends, research the right media for targeted story ideas, and manage accounts. Mike ...
Read moreThe COVID pandemic has opened up unexpected business opportunities for small PR firms. On one hand, large organizations have laid
Workplace communication has become a real challenge because the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted most workers to their homes in either
Nowadays, many employees feel left out by the changes in their work environment. Around the world, the work environment has
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