When Leapfrogging in Helium to Get a Better Ranking: Leapfrogging a 'One Liner'

Beginning an article with a ‘one liner’ often attracts the attention of readers. Many professional writers regard this as an effective writing technique, but because of transitions at helium.com, the use of a ‘one liner’ will not be an effective writing technique, in the near future. In fact, Helium writers will need to leapfrog articles that have a ‘one liner’ to improve their ratings and earnings.   

This recent comment in an e-mail from helium.com, offers a suggestion as to what to look at when leapfrogging at Helium.

“If you can edit your articles to get rid of a ‘one liner’ at the top of an article, this will help the presentation of your work.”

Ideally, the best possible presentation of your work is what you want to accomplish because it will draw your readership, as well as increase your ratings and potential earnings. It should also make your writing more marketable.   

The reason for this change is that when the Helium transition is complete, a ‘one liner’ may appear to make the original title, the headline and a first liner appear to be three titles. This could be confusing for readers. It may make it difficult to locate articles on the website.

How can a Helium writer improve upon a ‘one liner’ writing technique?

Shifting the writing focus from a ‘one liner’ to real life knowledge at the beginning of an article, does have merit. While a ‘one liner’ may appear profound, inspirational, thought provoking, proverbial or even comedic in nature, the inclusion of actual knowledge instead of a ‘one liner’ at the beginning of an article will make the freelance writer’s article more marketable, as it will draw the reader to the real life topic under discussion, immediately.  

Search engine optimization (SEO) emphasis at the beginning of an article makes it more accessible on search engines. Someone searching for a particular topic can find it more easily when key words and key phrases are located right at the beginning of an article.  Placing them in the content or body of the article again later, may also prove to be of benefit.  

Is there an appropriate time and place for a ‘one liner’?

A 'one liner' can have its time and place. The initial statement in a helium.com article should not be a ‘one liner’. Appropriate placement later in the article does make sense.