Photo credit: (Mick Baker)rooster
Writing headlines that attract attention is one of the most valued skills in both journalism and public relations. Proven formulas to create compelling headlines prompt readers to click through blog articles, social media posts and other types of content. Eye-catching headlines on press releases win more and better media placements.
Headline-writing tends to follow trends and fashions. In vogue recently were intentionally shocking, bait-and-switch headlines. That style has now fallen out of favor because of its basis dishonesty.
Web publications have their own preferences for headline styles — certain words or phrases or tricks they use recurrently. Some seem to follow formulas for creating their headlines. They’ve turn to them repeatedly to attract readers.
Digiday takes a look at the headlines formulas publishers love. PR and marketing pros can examine these tactics for ideas when writing headlines for their own blog posts, social media content, and news releases.
Winning Headline Formulas
• This just in. Place the word “just” before a verb to add a sense of immediacy to an otherwise bland headline as in: “Copper just spiked” or “Oil just spiked.” Business Insider loves this tactic.
• “In one tweet.” Publishers attempt to summarize an issue or event in one tweet. Mic.com loves the “one tweet” trick. Some of its headlines: “In One Tweet, the Government Insulted College Students Everywhere.” Another was “In One Tweet, Jason Collins Nails the Ridiculousness of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Bill
• I can’t stop looking at … Gawker loves this headline as in “I can’t stop looking at this weird Chinese boat” and a couple days later: “I can’t stop looking at this weird Chinese goat.”
• Odd numbered lists. Top 10 lists were a favorite of web copy writers and still retain at least some popularity. Websites like Buzzfeed employ odd numbered lists: “29 Fierce Dating Tips from Classic Hollywood Women” or “172 Thoughts I Had Watching the First Eight ‘Outlander’ Episodes”
• Everything you need to know about … Many publishers, including Vox, Mashable, Huffington Post and even The Wall Street Journal tell readers their article provides everything they need to know about the subject.
• Create curiosity. Create curiosity by not revealing something – probably the story’s main point. Phrases like “You’d never guess” or “Something (fill in the blank) happened” mark this tactic. Headlines like “His First 4 Sentences Are Interesting. The 5th Blew My Mind. And Made Me A Little Sick.” helped Upworthy attract readers and become a popular website.
Other websites imitated the sensational and sometimes bombastic headlines following Upworthy’s early success. Upworthy now disavows the tactic.
“We sort of unleashed a monster. Sorry for that. Sorry we kind of broke the internet last year,” said Upworthy co-founder Peter Koechley. “I’m excited going forward to say goodbye to clickbait.”
Clicks vs. Accuracy
PR and marketing writers must balance the desire to attract clicks with the need to remain accurate. If the headline promises something the content fails deliver, you may lose the reader’s trust. Consider erring on the side of accuracy and composing headlines that underpromise and content that overdelivers.
As Corey Eridon at Hubspot says, “The most important rule of titles is to respect the reader experience.”
That doesn’t mean headlines need to be boring. Eridon suggests:
• Alliteration. Alliteration — such as “Foolproof Formula” — can be fun to write and subtly enjoying to read.
• Strong language. Strong words or phrases can draw attention. Try words like kick-ass or brilliant. Use them in moderation, however. If used too often, they lose their impact.
• Identify content format. Indicate the nature of the content. A simple technique is to use brackets like [infographic] or [free ebook]. Hubspot found that [Template] in headlines significantly increased page views.
More Headline Formulas
Kevan Lee at Buffer writes that the most clickable headlines tap people’s emotions with aspirational themes or say they can learn to work smarter and with less.
Some of the headline writing formulas are:
• (Blank) for Beginners
• Everything I Wish I Knew About (Blank) When I Started
• The Origin of the …
• How to Get Your First …
Little-Known Secrets of …
Whatever headline-writing style PR and marketing teams adopt, it’s imperative to track and measure results to determine what headlines and content are most successful.
It’s crucial to decide what kind of headline style is appropriate based on the brand and audiences.
Bottom Line: These headline writing practices can spark ideas for headlines for your own blogs, social media posts and other content. Taking into account the brand’s identity and its targeted persona is critical when composing headlines. While sensational click-bait headlines garnered success for some websites in the past, businesses must be careful not to lose their readers’ trust with headlines that fail to deliver what the headlines promise.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
