Category: Tools

Generate Eye-Catching Titles for Content Using This Free Tool

The most important component of any written content is the title, whether it’s an ad or an article. If the title doesn’t spark interest, the reader will move on and the content probably won’t be read. For some, writing titles is an innate skill. For the rest of us, there are tools that can help.

The website I am highlighting today is Headline Analyzer from Monster Insights, but it is far from the only free tool on offer. Coschedule has one, as does Sharethrough. If you are creating content for a WordPress blog, some search engine optimization plugins, like All in One SEO, have a similar feature built-in. Keep in mind, though, that they may not all have the criteria for what makes a great headline. I used Monster Insights to create the headline for this article (of “perfect” length), only to have All in One SEO tell me it was too long by a single character.

Another caveat about these tools is that you can create a high-scoring title that makes no sense, just by using desirable keywords and staying within a certain number of characters. You can also accidentally create a title that people think is simply clickbait (named so because it goes overboard on keywords to generate clicks that lead people to unsatisfying, ad-loaded pages). These days, most people just skip clicking on over-the-top titles, so you’ll want to avoid that.

Analyzing a Headline

When you have a draft headline that you would like to test, type or paste it into the box at https://www.monsterinsights.com/headline-analyzer and click “Analyze.” The score will pop up below the box.

Screenshot showing an overall score of 73, noting a good score is between 40 and 60.
The score for the current title of this article is 73

According to their parameters, this title is good to go. But this wasn’t the first title I tried. This tool tracks your tries to help you remember what configurations you have already used.

Screenshot showing previous draft titles and their subpar scores.
A few earlier draft titles

As the screenshot demonstrates, even the order of the words in the title can make a big difference in the score.

Improving a Headline

If your first draft isn’t getting the score you hoped for, the tool will give several suggestions on how to improve the title.

First, the “word balance” area will show you how many words you are using from each category, and how many you should shoot for.

Screenshot showing the balance of common words, uncommon words, emotional words, and power words used in the title.

Scrolling farther down, word banks are provided to give you suggestions for words in each category:

Screenshot showing columns of power words, emotion words, and uncommon words.
Word banks to help you fine-tune your title

Another area points out the tone and type of your headline and offers suggestions.

Screenshot showing the sentiment is positive and that positive headlines get better engagement. The type is "general", and lists and how-to headlines get more engagement.

I could have added “How to” at the beginning of the title, but then it would have been too long. The word I choose to cut may then affect the word balance negatively. Ultimately, the final title is up to what sounds good to you and what fits in with the writing style of your content.

Summary

Creating a great headline is a balance of several factors, and there is no one perfect title for any piece of content. Hopefully, a headline analyzer can provide you with enough guidance to tweak your titles to improve engagement, regardless of which suggestions you take and which you ignore. Do you have a favorite tool to help you write your headlines? Let us know in the comments.

Have You Tried our Technology Help Site Yet?

One of the most common requests we get from patrons, aside from book recommendations, is for technology help. Gone are the days when you could avoid using computers, as technology has crept into every corner of our daily lives. Our librarians are very helpful, but it’s just not possible for them to stay updated on all things about all tech and still have time left over to do the rest of their jobs.

We have created services and acquired resources to get you the help you need, and we have a landing page where we have gathered them all. To get there without a direct link, go to https://eglibrary.org and use the menu to choose: what we offer>services>technology help.

At the top of the page, you will find links to our digital literacy classes. We have recently partnered with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County to provide our in-person classes. This area also contains information about our appointment-based individual help service – Book a Librarian. As you scroll down you will see online resources by subject. Click on the subject title to see the resources.

One service we offer, Tech-Talk, is actually several services in one. It is a collection of articles, short videos, and webinars about a wide variety of tech topics. We have featured them in several of our posts. They also offer a subscription newsletter that drops a tech tip in your inbox once a week. We’ve made a video to show you how to use Tech-Talk and embedded it here.

If you have used some of the resources on our technology help site, let us know what you think! Is there any subject or information you would like to see added? Let us know in the comments.

How to Spot a Fake Review on Amazon

Have you ever been researching a purchase and found a product whose reviews are too good to be true? Or read a review that was so general it could have been anything? Chances are, you’ve seen some fake reviews in your time. How can you tell if a review is real?

The folks at Wired have already written a great article on this subject, and I’d encourage you to read it. They have done a fantastic job of listing possible red flags and showing you how to get the most recent reviews for a product.

Use Fakespot to Automate Checks

If you would rather not pick through reviews manually, there is a service called Fakespot that can help. You can open the Fakespot analyzer page and copy/paste the URL for each item you’d like to check, or you can install an extension in Chrome or Firefox from the Fakespot home page (scroll halfway down for the link).

Screen shot showing a button to add the Fakespot extension to Firefox, as well as a dropdown menu that shows other platforms for using Fakespot.
I was using Firefox, so the middle of the home page offered the Firefox extension.

If you are using a mobile device, you can download the app version for iOS or Android.

How Does Fakespot Work?

Fakespot uses artificial intelligence (AI) to spot red flags and suspicious patterns that may or may not be obvious to human observers.

To test it, I pasted a link for an automatic cat feeder I found on Amazon into the Fakespot analyzer page. Not only did it give me an overall grade for the review quality, but it also picked out some of the most helpful information that was buried in all those reviews. Here are some screen shots from the results page:

Screen shot showing the overall review grade of "B", along with the Amazon rating and adjusted Fakespot rating.
Under the “B”, notice that Fakespot adjusts the Amazon rating based on how reliable the reviews are.
Screen shot showing a few review excerpts in groups of pros and cons.
Some pros and cons culled from the reviews
Screen shot of review excerpts pertaining to the quality or competitiveness of the product
Some more tidbits are found in the “highlights” section

Other available information includes an overview of how reliable the reviews are, the most positive and negative reviews, seller warnings, and other helpful insights.

If you decide to install the browser extension, using Fakespot is even easier. It automatically adds insights on the selling page itself:

Screen shot of Amazon price area with added Fakespot information
Fakespot’s grade is above the price
Screen shot of item title with the link "7 highlights found by Fakespot" under the title
Link to highlights below item title

Note: When installing the app or extension, you may be prompted to give permission for app to know your email. This allows you to save settings without an account. You may be prompted for permission to read or change data on sites you visit. This is so Fakespot info can be added to a site that isn’t already supported (see below).

Limitations

Keeping in mind that AI technology is not infallible, Fakespot can be a great tool to help you spot dodgy sellers and items using fake reviews to boost sales. While the tool is not compatible with all e-commerce sites, it does automatically cover:

  • Amazon™
  • BestBuy™
  • Sephora™
  • Steam™
  • TripAdvisor™
  • Yelp™
  • Walmart™

To use the browser extension on sites other than these, you will need to give your browser permission to edit the page, as mentioned above.

Summary

Fakespot is an awesome free tool for automating the vetting of online reviews. With Black Friday coming up in a couple of months, would you be inclined to use this tool?

How To Manipulate Images In Pixlr X

You may remember the free browser image tool PixlrX from my post about using it to resize images easily. I have used it to create images from scratch, but I find it very similar to the free version of Canva. Because the library has a Pro subscription to Canva, I tend to use that platform for the additional features.

If you do not have a pro subscription to Canva, you may want to consider Pixlr X as your main image creator and editor. In addition to all of the typical features you would expect, it also has some pretty great effects available. Check out these TechConnect videos created by New York Public Library that demonstrate how to use some of these enhancements.

Because these processes are not always intuitive, here is a site that demonstrates to how save Pixlr images to your device. If you’re looking for more tips and tutorials for working with Pixlr, the Pixlr blog is a wealth of information.

Have you tried Pixlr X, or do you have another favorite image editor? Let us know about it in the comments.

Learn More About Your Unique Family History with Ancestry

Ancestry is one of the big names in genealogy research. Their database contains thousands of records including US Census Records, Birth, Marriage, Death, Military records, and more. During the pandemic, Ancestry offered home access to its library database with your library card. Now that most libraries are open to the public, ProQuest has once again required Ancestry Library to be accessed within the library by either using a library computer or with a device connected to the library’s WiFi network.

You can search for a specific person by entering the first and last name and other optional information such as places they have lived or the year they were born. You can also add optional information such a particular family member, occupation, and their race/nationality.

In addition to searching, you can also explore record collections of Census and Voter Lists, Birth, Marriage and Death Records, and Military Records.

If you would like to learn more about how to Ancestry Library Edition, check out our YouTube video tutorial:

Have you tried out the Ancestry Library edition? Let us know in the comments.