What Whitney Houston Taught Me about SEO

The sad death of Whitney Houston got me thinking. I would never have classed myself as one of her biggest fans but I have plenty of special memories tied in with her astonishingly popular songs.

On the face of it most of Whitney’s songs are of the romantic type but I have always thought that truly great songs can be interpreted in any one of number of ways. To prove it I decided to see what lessons I might have subconsciously picked up from her over the years to help my SEO copywriting career. Hey, it’s late in the evening and I’ve nothing better to do so bear with me folks.

I Will Always Love You

I always found this song a tad too melodramatic for my liking. However, I have just listened to it again and while maybe it is her recent death which has given it an added poignancy I really enjoyed it. What does it tell me about SEO? On the face of it not much as it is about letting someone go without feeling any bitterness, isn’t it? Well, really great writing is designed to work people’s emotions, just like this classic tear jerker. I don’t think any of my articles have ever reduced anyone to tears, although I did write a bit of a sob story about wooden chandeliers a few months back. However, pulling people’s emotional strings and making it believable is an art Whitney mastered brilliantly and which we can all learn from. I remember reading a famous songwriter saying once that by the time of the studio recording the initial raw emotion of the lyrics is gone and the singer is already having to act, which is something Whitney did on this song to memorable effect.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

I reckon this was probably the first Whitney song I ever heard. If you are roughly the same age as me — old enough to know that Chelsea Whopper bars once existed but not quite old enough to remember the taste — then you probably remember the video of her dancing around exuberantly with big hair and a tight dress. I was always intrigued by the vagueness of the desire expressed in the song and I think that I can apply it to SEO copywriting with a bit of lateral thinking. When I write an article ‘I wanna write for somebody’ (who likes my writing). This is important because you need to remember that you are writing for other people instead of for yourself. I love to write about subjects which I am interested in but I can’t lose track of the original purpose of it. Oh, and I might have, ahem, had a small crush on her around this time as well.


I’m Every Woman

The relevant point I see in this Whitney song is that to be a successful copywriter you need to be able to think like every woman (and man). Several times I have written something which I quite liked but then realised or been told that it does not have a universal appeal. Ah, universal appeal that is what Whitney Houston had and it is what I strive for as well, on a different level from the singing legend obviously but we all need to try our best in whatever we do.

By Chris Hoole. For copywriting services which will make your site soar up the rankings like an 80s disco classic up the charts give Apple Copywriting a try and see what difference they can make to your business.