Blog of Monica Valentinelli, Writer & Content Consultant

Posted on September 6, 2008 - by Monica Valentinelli

How CNN made me Laugh with Bad Headline Placement

Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent, I had a little chuckle at this headline placement on CNN.com. Sure, CNN.com probably didn’t “plan” to have the headlines show up in that particular order, but it just goes to show you why bland, keyword-rich headlines are not only better for SEO — they’re better for readability and can prevent some interesting headline combinations. This CNET article entitled, “Newspapers search for Web headline magic” is a great one, and goes on to say that keyword-rich headlines make it easier for other writers to find the articles already written, to avoid duplicate efforts.

Of course, I’m sure CNN.com didn’t mean to put “Palin Comes out Throwing Punches” “Just Say it, Please” “Go Ahead and Puke” together, but it made me laugh anyway.