https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushton/mark-speakman-bettina-arndt-order-australia-review
Is the headline SEO-friendly?
The article currently appears at the end of the second page of a Google search. With generic keywords like ‘men’s rights activist’ and ‘prestigious honour’, you can see why. Maybe Buzzfeed hoped to appeal to a larger audience rather than localising the news by using ‘Bettina Arndt’ or ‘Order of Australia’.
They are best known for its catchy headlines; unfortunately, the article is left neither here nor there.
How’s the reading experience?
As a digital-born platform, Buzzfeed is no stranger to friendly interfaces, chunking their copy for easy scannability, and hyperlinking sources. Here, hyperlinks redirect to other established platforms like The Guardian in separate pages.
After the headline, you first see the image of a woman, a cheeky way to question why readers automatically assume that said activist would be a man.
The article also ends with hotline numbers for domestic violence, recognising its possible triggers.
But…
There’s room for improvement. There aren’t direct quotes until the fifth paragraph and there’s almost too much context provided. We’re thrown a barrage of names, designations, and quotes that becomes a lot to swallow.
Moreover, their hyperlinking is excessive.
The link you provide to the story should be embedded in text or a phrase that both indicates to the reader where they are going, and uses key words for SEO purposes. The link should also open in a new tab. I had to copy and paste the story link, which is not user-friendly. Your images are captioned (only just) but should also include attribution for the copyright holder or source of the image, even if as a screenshot it seems obvious to readers.
While we should acknowledge that Google search is personalised (so if you and I search for the same keywords or term, we’ll get different results based on our search and browsing habits) I agree that Buzzfeed may have been looking for an audience wider than the one that is searching for “Bettina Arndt” (please!) or “Order of Australia”. You apparently made the same decision with your post title
I really enjoyed your subheadings – they were entertaining and kept me wanting to read. Good use of the techniques of online writing including shorter paragraphs, images, and lots of white space.
You don’t mention the inclusion of the letters – do they add credibility to the story?
Good key word tags.
An entertaining and readable analysis.