Using voice, headlines, structure to help readers find you

Bleacher Report writers should know that what they’re encouraged to produce is content with a voice. What we hope to give our readers is entertaining writing: opinions, rankings, lists, engaging arguments and analysis.

B/R is probably not going to be the one to break the news of a big NFL free agent signing, such as Ronnie Brown signing with the Eagles this week. We’re looking for an analysis of the signing, an opinion on whether it was a smart investment by the Eagles, a list ranking Brown among the most prominent free agents Philadelphia has ever signed or maybe a column lamenting “Dream Team” overload.

Once you are sure your article idea is something B/R would want to  promote, something with a voice, you should begin thinking about how you want to structure the article.  Is it an opinionated column?  Use standard article format.  Is it a list or ranking, or otherwise something that must be broken down into subheads?  A slideshow is likely going to be the most effective format.

Will you be utilizing any of our several options to include interactive media content in the article?  Make sure you plan ahead for the structure of the piece, and ensure you are using relevant media items at appropriate points in the article body.

The final step before you actually begin writing any article, whether it’s assigned or a piece you decide for yourself to write, is considering a headline.  Joel Cordes wrote a wonderful post a few days ago highlighting some helpful tips for headlines.

It is important to remember that choosing an appropriate headline is one of the most important steps toward achieving a high read count for any article.  I feel the process is entirely under-appreciated, both in terms of importance and difficulty.

Remember, the goal for headline generation is for your article to be appealing to users who are increasingly looking for and finding content in many places across the landscape of browsers, smartphones, tablets and connected TVs.

You want folks searching for “Ronnie Brown” and “Eagles” to find your article, and of course if you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know you want a strong lede to keep them there.

But the headline comes first.  You do want to make it search-friendly, but you do not want to spam keywords for the sake of creating a search-friendly headline, a practice that has gained some sites a certain level of disrepute.  All headlines should be intelligible phrases that aptly describe the article’s purpose.

I realize that the dos-and-don’ts of headline creation can be a bit confusing to folks unfamiliar with search functionality, so here is a quick guide for your reference.

DO:  Include relevant team and player names where possible (“Ronnie Brown to Eagles: Why Philadelphia Scored Big With Former Dolphins RB”) and make sure the aim of your article is clear in the headline.  Get to the point and do not leave readers guessing what your article is about, unless your headline serves a purpose when designed as intentionally mysterious (“Philadelphia Eagles: Who Will Be the Starting RB in 2011?”)  Follow all editor instructions and headline edits; we are here to help your articles gain reads, not put them in a position to embrace obscurity.

DO NOT:  Do not spam keywords (“Ronnie Brown Miami Dolphins Philadelphia Eagles”) or otherwise try to cheaply game the search system.  Do not use cheesy puns or obnoxiously silly wordplay.  As a further note on that last point, it is far better to go with a bland headline that gets to the point than a “clever” headline that readers likely view as annoying and unprofessional.  Do not have any typos in your headline, as the easiest way to ensure a reader skips your article is to misspell a word in the headline.

When you have decided on the article’s organization and the headline, it is time to generate the guts of your work.  Write a draft.  Read through it.  Find what works versus what does not.  Write it again.  Make sure your argument is clear and well-supported.  Make sure your article engages readers.  Make sure you have something substantive written.

That last point may seem basic, but you would not believe how many writers come to me reporting low read counts on certain articles that — upon a read-through — are not really about anything in particular, but instead are just meandering thoughts strung alongside each other without any central argument or idea to pull them all together.

Collin McCollough is an associate NFL editor at Bleacher Report. This post is adapted from the writing tips he sends via email to B/R’s NFL writers.