Headlines

How long should a press release headline be?

Keep headlines short, like The New York Times

Hey, PR pros: Would you like to see your story in The New York Times? Then why not write like the Times?… Read the full article

Best press release headlines focus on readers

Put audience members first

Front-loading your headlines with your topic word just makes sense if your readers are going to encounter those headlines in online lists — a search engine results page, for instance, or your online newsroom.… Read the full article

Use the active voice in writing

Write about people doing things

Which of these headlines is most likely to spur you to sign up for a webinar?

New webinar helps managers improve productivity

Or:

Get all your work done in half the time, be the office hero and go home early

The first focuses on the webinar.… Read the full article

How to write an extended metaphor

The gift that keeps on giving

Quick! Which is more effective?

A simple metaphor?

Bobby Holloway says my imagination is a three-hundred-ring circus.

— Dean Koontz in Seize the Night

Or an extended metaphor?… Read the full article

Tips for writing email subject lines

Make them clear, easy to understand

What makes one email campaign generate an amazing 93% open rate, while another languishes at a dismal 0.5%?

Ask the researchers at MailChimp, an email service provider.… Read the full article

Why write a multi-deck headline?

Because it’s the best-read element on the page

Decks — those one-sentence summaries under the headline — do the heavy lifting on webpages.

Indeed, according to The Poynter Institute’s Eyetrack III study of reader behavior:

95% of webpage visitors read all or part of the deck.

… Read the full article

Examples of puns in headlines

4 ways to write plays-on-words headlines

When edible marijuana consumption spiked, the Omaha World Herald came up with this headline and deck:

Baking Bad

Police say edible forms of pot hit new high

List, rhyme and twist is just one way to come up with a stellar twist-of-phrase headline.… Read the full article

Avoid writing label headlines (Examples!)

Don’t just slap the topic on top of the story

Note to self: “Label headline” is not a headline.

Label headlines like Label headlines carry a double problem.… Read the full article

Stop it with the ing-ing headlines (Examples!)

Present participle heads may be worse than labels

Barney Kilgore, the legendary editor of The Wall Street Journal, once wrote: “If I see ‘upcoming’ slip in[to] the paper again, I’ll be downcoming and someone will be outgoing.”… Read the full article