In the mind of Copyblogger there’s a great HTML blog

You know Copyblogger, right? Copyblogger is Brian Clark, the genius writer with a kajillion followers who gives good advice to bloggers about how to get traffic and keep readers coming back.

I was playing a game in my head with some of the Copyblogger headlines, thinking that if people who wrote about HTML and CSS and stuff like web education used his headline techniques, there would be a lot more traffic to web dev blogs.

Here are some examples of how the game goes. Feel free to suggest more.

Copyblogger said: How to Find Thousands More Prospects for Your Business
I said: How to Find Thousands of Web Standards Tips

Copyblogger said: How to Develop an Endless Source of Ideas that Sell
I said: How to Develop an Endless Source of HTML Tutorials that Deliver

Copyblogger said: Want More Readers: Try Expanding Your Internet Universe
I said: Want More Semantic HTML? Try Developing Your List Elements

Copyblogger said: 7 Essential Steps to Creating Your Content Masterpiece
I said: 7 Essential Steps to Optimizing Your CSS

Copyblogger said: The Grateful Dead 4-Step Guide to the Magical Influence of Content Marketing
I said: The Grateful Dead 4-Step Guide to the Magical Influence of Accessible Forms

Copyblogger said: Improve Your Writing Overnight with the Rule of 24: Guaranteed
I said: Improve Your Code Overnight with the Rule of 24: Guaranteed

I need to start playing this game in real life.

7 thoughts on “In the mind of Copyblogger there’s a great HTML blog”

  1. He-he. I hear what you’re saying. BUT (I’m sorry, there’s got to a “but”) most people do not care about CSS or geeky things. Please don’t get me wrong, I want my pages to LOOK good (therefore, my page needs CSS). Instead of thinking compelling headlines need to include “css” for instance, think headlines that SOLVE my problem: e.g. “5 Simple Tweaks To Flood Visitors To Your Cool-Looking Website!”

    I know, kinda cheesy title but the point is, you can get my attention with CSS stuff by talking to me about the benefit.

    I know enough about CSS, etc to be dangerous. AND I learn when I need the result. 🙂

    Just my .03 cents worth.

    Mike

  2. I hope you didn’t misconstrue my comment.

    That is, if using the word “salesmen” conjures up negative thoughts. 🙂

    What I meant was that (we) are tasked with infusing some “wow” into the mundane or esoteric (such as CSS, web standards & accessibility for instance).

    For 16 years, I taught high school English & business. What % of students (do you think) are excited to read, write & think…on a daily basis? 🙂

    Daily, I was forced to try to “entertain” or risk losing my students. Should we entertain or craft attention-getting headlines?

    It depends on our audience and whether we want to connect with them.

    Nothing “salesy” here – just a desire to get them to give us a chance.

    I hope my experiences reflect a minority. However, people appear to “check out” earlier when it comes to technical issues.

    In no way am I suggesting we “dumb down.” On the contrary, we use the interests and language of our audience to prove why we might just have something of value to them.

    I too follow Brian Clark – Copyblogger. Indeed, he’s a brilliant teacher.

    Sorry if I didn’t clarify well enough. I hope this explains my reason for commenting in the first place.

    Mike

    1. No, I did not mean for salesmen to be a negative. On the contrary, I was trying to say that “selling” web standards and modern HTML and CSS to people would be more effective if we all thought like salesmen (or, like Copyblogger.)

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