25 Jan Make SEO work for you: An interactive workshop
Once upon a time — not that long ago — writers wrote articles, photographers took photos, copyeditors wrote headlines and web people did a bunch of complicated stuff most of us didn’t understand.

Casey McNerthney
But a new world of entrepreneurial journalism, blogging and multimedia reporting is here and journalists—whether you’re working in a newsroom, starting your own venture or teaching the next generation of news creators—must be familiar with the basics of web publishing and how to get your work found online.
Join Casey McNerthney, award-winning Seattlepi.com breaking news reporter and Search Engine Optimization whiz, at 7 p.m. Monday at the third session of the 2012 SPJ of Western Washington Continuing Ed Series hosted at Fisher Plaza.
Space is limited and sessions tend to fill up, so RSVP soon!
We’ll be talking about maximizing headlines, photos, keywords and abstracts for SEO, ask all those embarrassing questions you’ve been afraid to ask and even compete in a group headline writing contest.
“You can have the best content in a story, but if people can’t find it you’ll never get the credit you want,†said Casey. “When everything was printed, even an obscure story with a poorly worded headline could be found among other stories in the newspaper.â€
This workshop will also discuss how poor SEO can also leave your work vulnerable to aggregation by other sites that may attach a better headline to your article and make profits off remnant ads — all without doing any reporting themselves.
“Knowing how to write for search engine results is especially important,†he said. “It helps your story be read more, draws more overall traffic to your news outlet and keeps other sites from getting traffic off work you created.â€
The session is free for SPJ members and $10 for non-members. As with all sessions in the Continuing Ed Series, pizza will be served. See the full schedule of remaining sessions here.
Follow Casey, and his work, on his Twitter account and see you Monday (don’t forget your laptops!)
– Sarah Stuteville, SPJ Western Washington board member
David Volk
Posted at 12:54h, 30 Januarywould like to attend but can’t seem to register for this week. Does that mean it’s full?
Monica Guzman
Posted at 23:26h, 31 JanuaryHey David – Sorry I didn’t see this sooner! You were at the event so I know you were good. The spots do fill up fast so it’s possible you loaded the site just as we hit the cap. Glad you could make it!