In a time when people scan headlines before they decide to read, your headlines are the most important part of your article. Writing a catchy headline can be difficult, especially for new journalists, but learning how to craft effective headlines can help you attract and engage more readers.
Top Headlines
There are many headline formulas to choose from, but you want to make sure yours is clear and informative enough to stand alone: Avoid using interrogatives (how, what, who) and adverbs (like, sadly, finally, only, guarantee). Instead, focus on verbs that convey the gist of the story, like report, announce, uncover, etc. Use a clear subject line to grab attention, and try to be as concise as possible; people have short attention spans online, so you need to hook them quickly.
Try to find a human angle even in wonky news stories; this will help readers feel connected and invested in the topic. Beware of trite or overused cliches: relics of print journalism’s brutal character-count constraints, they can turn off your audience.
Consider the inverted pyramid structure when drafting your headline. This formula is helpful because it lays out the most important information at the top of your article, so readers can glean the key points even if they only read the headlines and nut grafs. It also helps to keep readers’ attention because it offers a clear path forward. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, look at the headlines of other popular articles in your niche and model them.