A headline is the first thing a reader sees when he or she clicks into your story. It can compel or deter him or her from reading your article. That’s why it’s important to spend time crafting a strong headline that makes readers want to click.
Some writers compare writing a headline to wrapping a present. You can have a perfect gift, but if you don’t wrap it with a good headline, it won’t get read.
Whether it’s for the NPR homepage, social media or Apple News, a top headline needs to stand out. It should be clear and compelling, with key benefits highlighted and a promise to reward the reader for clicking through. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. NPR journalists are a bit like the rest of us, they struggle with creating great headlines and don’t always know what works best.
It all starts with knowing your audience. What kinds of topics are they interested in and what keywords do they use to find content? This can help you decide which words or phrases to focus on. Then you can write lots of headlines and choose the one that’s best.
NPR reporters often work with two headlines on the same piece of content, Wood said. The original headline, for example, appears atop an All Things Considered rundown, while the second headline shows up when a radio story gets a fuller digital buildout with photos and other visual elements. That second headline is more likely to get promoted on the NPR homepage or in aggregators such as Facebook.