March 15, 2024

This Week's Top Marketing News

How to Write a Headline That Drives More Clicks

Copywriters always preach about how crucial it is to nail your headlines. That's because the headline is the make-or-break moment for whether someone clicks on your content.

Writing a killer headline is no walk in the park.

There's no one-size-fits-all formula for it, and while there are many tips out there – like using power words or teasing the benefits – it's hard to know which ones to go with. Even if you use all these bulletproof tips on a weak headline, it won't magically attract clicks.

Instead of just offering generic advice, this article provides a simple three-step framework for crafting headlines that truly grab attention.

Step 1: What Does The Content Deliver?

Make sure your headline accurately reflects what your content is about to avoid misleading readers and negative feedback.

Step 2: What Is The Goal Of Someone Consuming This Content?

Identify the primary goal of your audience when searching for content on your topic to tailor your headline accordingly.

Step 3: What Is The Element Of Intrigue?

While clarity is key, adding intrigue can enhance your headline's appeal; consider mentioning benefits, addressing pain points, answering objections, or providing proof.

Fish Food: Crafting a compelling headline involves understanding what your content delivers, aligning with your audience's goals, and adding a touch of intrigue. By following these steps, you can create headlines that attract clicks and deliver on expectations, fostering positive engagement and enhancing your content's overall impact.

Instead of researching one-size-fits-all examples of great headlines for your next blog post, try following this simple yet comprehensive 3-step formula for creating the perfect headline for your niche that will entice readers to click to learn more.

House Passes Bill That Could Ban TikTok

The House has passed a bill to ban TikTok in the US. The bill requires ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to sell its ownership stakes to avoid a ban on app stores like Google and Apple. If implemented, the ban would prevent users from updating or downloading the TikTok app. The legislation will now move to the US Senate and possibly President Biden's desk for approval, despite his reelection campaign recently joining and maintaining a TikTok account.

Edited Princess Kate Photo Probably Wasn't Made With AI

We don’t usually discuss celebrities in Fishbowl Friday. We only talk about Elon, Zuck, Miley…well ok, we talk about a few. Talking about the King of England’s family isn’t usually high on the list, but here we are. A photo of Kate, Princess of Wales, with her children on Sunday was released. But internet sleuths agree - it’s a fake, with many media outlets pulling the photo after it was released. Experts say it was not an AI generated image but a heavy hand with editing. The Princess apologized via X, saying she “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.” Suuuuure.

Why Did Red Bull Build a 185+ MPH Drone?

Red Bull has developed a groundbreaking solution to capture high-speed footage of Formula One racing cars. Racing at speeds exceeding 185 mph, Max Verstappen's car proved challenging to film until Red Bull introduced a custom-built drone. Tested for the first time on February 13 at Silverstone's Grand Prix Circuit, the drone successfully tracked Verstappen's car, achieving an unprecedented feat in drone technology and Formula One history.

The drone, equipped with two 4 K cameras, matched the car's speed, acceleration, and deceleration. While challenges remain in control and improvement, this innovation could revolutionize Formula One coverage, potentially introducing live streaming from drones and enhancing the viewing experience for audiences worldwide.

The video of the drone racing the F1 car is worth a watch.

Google Updates Its Page Experience Docs To Clarify Ranking Signals

Google has recently updated its page experience documentation to provide clearer insights into how Core Web Vitals metrics factor into ranking signals. Core Web Vitals remain significant for achieving success in Google Search and enhancing user experience but other page experience signals don't directly impact search rankings.

While solid Core Web Vitals scores are important, they're just one piece of the puzzle. Google suggests improving the overall page experience for user satisfaction, even though it may not directly affect search rankings. This clarification addresses confusion regarding the role of ranking systems versus signals within Google's page experience framework.

Fish Food: The items Core Vitals measures are important but refrain from using it as a barometer for the health of your website.

Do you want your website optimized for speed... especially on mobile devices? Yes!

Do you want to appease Google and do everything it says to increase your chance of appearing #1 for all the best keywords related to your business? Yes!

Core Vitals is not the formula used for SERPs rankings but rather a signal of strength that can help improve rankings. If that's all that mattered, we would build websites with white backgrounds, black text, and no images. The moment you add an image or video, your site speed slows down. A great website is a balance of speed, user-friendliness, helpful content, easy-to-understand CTAs, and visual appeal. It doesn't make sense to rank well and never convert your visitors into customers.

Google Business Profiles Tools are Temporarily Unavailable

Google said an outage impacted some of its support tools. The specific tools that were unavailable include checking your verification status, managing appeals for your Google Business Profiles, and managing your Google Business reviews. It appears it’s all been resolved, but if you had an issue earlier this week - check again.

How Do You Increase Conversions On Your Booking Page?

We love this real situation of a demo landing page and “What can be improved?” Thankfully, the article points out many things you can do to improve the conversion rate of your demo or service landing pages. Show a review, make it feel more personal, focus on your customers' needs, and be clear in your language. These can help you put your best foot forward on your landing pages.

6 SEO Content Mistakes, Myths, and Misunderstandings

With SEO constantly changing and competition getting tougher, it's no wonder things can get confusing.

But insights from SEO talks at Content Marketing World 2023, led by folks like Andy Crestodina, can help clarify things. So, let's examine six common mistakes and misunderstandings together and see what these experts say.

Misunderstanding Rankings: Contrary to belief, websites don't rank in search; web pages do. Understanding domain authority metrics like Moz's or Ahrefs' domain rating can provide clues for successful keyword targeting.
Ignoring Competitive Keywords: Even for competitive phrases, SEO isn't futile. Businesses can increase visibility and target more convertible traffic by getting specific or diving deeper into topics.
Overlooking Search Intent: Aligning content with user search intent is paramount for engagement and conversion. Recognizing informational, commercial, and navigational intent helps tailor content accordingly.
Myth of AI-Generated Content: While AI aids efficiency, it can't replace human expertise. Google values expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, qualities that AI-generated content may lack.
Underutilizing AI: AI can enhance content creation workflows but should supplement, not replace human input. Leveraging AI for persona creation and competitive analysis can boost SEO efforts.
Viewing SEO as Static: SEO demands ongoing attention. Algorithms, SERP features, and audience needs evolve, necessitating continual monitoring and adaptation.

Fish Food: Mastering SEO requires debunking myths, effectively leveraging AI, and embracing SEO as an ongoing endeavor. Keeping up with the changes and making sure your content matches what users are looking for is important for long-term SEO success.