Write Headlines for Today's Readers
Posted: August 13, 2014
If you're still writing clever headlines that make a play on words to entice readers to your articles, stop. Don't be a dinosaur. It's time to change. The days of craftily pulling in readers are gone. Thank the Internet and search engines. The best headlines, the ones that pull in readers and get clicks, are those that get to the point, and stay on point. They follow search engine optimization rules, include keywords and are thought through carefully. Here's a good article from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) on writing compelling headlines along with an informative infographic on the subject.
If you're still writing clever headlines that make a play on words to entice readers to your articles, stop. Don't be a dinosaur. It's time to change. The days of craftily pulling in readers are gone. Thank the Internet and search engines. The best headlines, the ones that pull in readers and get clicks, are those that get to the point, and stay on point. They follow search engine optimization rules, include keywords and are thought through carefully. Here's a good article from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) on writing compelling headlines along with an informative infographic on the subject.
Click me: Writing compelling headlines
Learn what attracts clicks
By Lynn Walsh, RTDNA Contributor
It’s probably one of the last things you write, but headlines are and always have been an important part of the writing process.
Writing funny and ironic headlines were all the rage for reporters in the old days (think 1990s, pre-web explosion). Headlines would be written as a play on words with the focus being more on being creative and witty than telling the reader what the story was about.
But the internet and Google have changed that. Think about how you use the internet and search online.
You are solution hunting; going to a place to get something done. You are looking for coverage that is comprehensive but specific. And most of us are scanners. It is estimated we read, on average, about 25 percent of the words on a website. We are looking for brevity and so are our readers.
So with search engines, we need to be thinking about optimizing our stories, especially our headlines for the search engines. You have to think, SEO (search engine optimization) writing or “Google” writing.
Give it to the reader straight. Be descriptive and not cute and clever; with the web, it’s not a tease.
The web is different: Read more
What Makes a Good Headline: Infographic from quicksprout.com
