After my post “Three Tips for Killer Web Headlines” Cheril Vernon asked a great question about SEO or search engine optimization in headlines:

I would like to see more suggestions for headlines and making them SEO friendly. Is it better to put your keywords in the first part of the headline or does it make a difference?

SEO writing for headlines isn’t as difficult as many make it out to be, especially traditional media journalists who often deride writing for ‘a machine’ as stifling to creativity. The key to making SEO headlines work is to make SEO a natural part of the headline. Already, the headline is comprised of a description of the article so the important keyword(s) should already be included in it.

Keyword Placement

To answer Cheril’s question, I don’t think keyword place in the headline makes much difference as long as it’s before the natural search engine cut off. Search engines give you anywhere between five to ten words in their listing before they cut of your headline with the lovely period of ellispsis (…), so if you’re title gets a little wordy, be sure to hit that keyword before it wonders off into nothingness.

Read the rest at Freelance Writing Gigs.com – Published March 2010