Sarah Perez, among others, has a great review of the updates, so I’m going to look at how I use toluu, and how I don’t.

First off, whenever I add a feed I do it through toluu.  Why?  Because I see toluu as one of those “you get back what you give in” kinds of services.  If you want to find good feeds you have to add good feeds.

Next is skimming, and granted I don’t do this all the time, what people have added.  Not contacts as much as the feeds.  Have I seen that one before, would it interest me.  I am an RSS junkie after all.

Next question is…what’s next for toluu.  Lot’s of data.  Lots of content.  Lots of info on what feeds are popular.

Image por moi

Post from: EveryJoe

Toluu cranks up the speed and let’s you check if that feed is fresh

Louis Gray feels the same way, and he points out that it isn’t just getting our attention via RSS, but Digg, Reddit, Techmeme, FriendFeed focus on headlines so a poorly written headline won’t get play there either:

Contributing factors to whether I share a post on my link blog include the newness and uniqueness of the information, the quality or brand of the source and conversely if it’s a new and emerging blogger, the amount of interest I have in the topic, that I perceive my readers to have in that topic, and the quality or content of the post itself.
But also a factor? The headline. If I happen upon two stories on the same topic, of interest to me and my readers, where the source is equal, it can be the headline and first paragraph that make one item shared over another. And as it is only the headline that is displayed in my Google Reader shared items on my blog or on FriendFeed, that’s sometimes all the consumers see as well.
The issue of headlines becomes especially important for sites like Digg, Reddit and the like. Reddit, in fact, shows only headlines, begging for an up or down arrow. Digg shows a headline, and a submitter’s authored one paragraph description. When you see stories that have hundreds or thousands of Diggs, do you really think all of those folks clicked out to the story, read it, and returned to Digg it? I doubt it.
Outside of social news submission sites, you can also see the importance of the headline on places like TechMeme. Items in the TechMeme discussion links show only a headline, and the story’s source. Often, there can be 5-20 different stories from different sources on the same topic, making the headline, or the brand of the source, be the deciding factor for which post to click. Source: louisgray.com: In Blogging and RSS, Headlines Can be Make or Break: Silicon Valley Blog

Louis shares his Google Reader attention data…here is my latest slice from FeedDemon:

Notice that the top feed is my meta feed from aideRSS.  Why is that?  Because it is distilled.  And that information comes from other sources like links, comments, and sharing on Google Reader–all places where headlines are key.

I found Louis’ article on Techmeme…just from the headline.

Tips for a great headline
I might not be the best person to ask (I’d defer to Darren of ProBlogger or Brian of Copyblogger), but I’ll give it my best shot.  My tips are both for SEO and attention (please feel free to add to the list in the comments):

• be descriptive. Use the product or company name in the headline. Give some idea of what the article is about (like are you challenging the status quo)
• be cheeky. Given above, a little controversy or humour goes a long way to get attention and readers.
• write the headline, write the post, check the headline.  I always write my headline first, but sometimes when I’ve finished the post, the headline doesn’t hit the key idea I’ve written about.  Go back and check the headline.  Does it match?
• Look at the top headlines on Reddit, Techmeme, Digg, etc.  What gets your attention?  There is a good reason for that–so why don’t you use those as examples?
• Do not just copy someone else’s headline or something similar.  Again, Techmeme is a great place to see this in action.  When there are hundreds of post about a topic, how many just seem like a rehash?  A lot, correct.  Why? Because the titles are just a minor rehash of what everyone else is saying.

That’s all I have.  I know, pretty thin, but I think there are just a few rules to look at and you’re on your way.

Just for comparison, I just took this screenshot of Techmeme … what headlines catch your eye (click for full screen)?

Post from: EveryJoe

Want my attention? It’s the headlines stupid–Write good headlines for more readers.