Truth 48. Good headlines help your writing work—a lot

Writing really good headlines that attract, entice, and even charm us into reading something is thought of as an art by many writers. In fact, top publications have headline specialists on call. To see just how good headlines can be, take a look at The Wall Street Journal.

However, even if you don’t aspire to write headlines of that caliber, you definitely can learn to craft good headlines that work for your purpose. You need these for a wide range of media, including reports, proposals, blogs, press releases, and promotion pieces. Where to start?

Look to your content first. Good headlines grow from what is most relevant or interesting in your material. While using a preliminary headline can help focus your thinking and enable you to write better, it’s easiest to come up with the best headline when your piece is basically complete.

Goal and audience—Just as for your “body copy,” think headlines through in terms of goal and audience. The goal, whatever the subject and medium, is generally to grab readers’ attention and pull them into reading the material. So, consider whom you want to reach, and then figure out what will appeal to those readers and make them want to know or provoke their curiosity.

Think of headlines as flags you’re waving to draw people’s attention. But you need to play fair: You don’t want to disappoint readers once they’re hooked. Headlines must deliver what’s promised and represent the content accurately.

However, it’s true that a little exaggeration can be effective. A reader is more likely to be attracted to “The most amazing character I ever met” than “The somewhat interesting person I talked to at the grocery checkout.” “New cell phone features longest-lasting battery yet” works better than “New cell phone’s battery lasts an extra three minutes.” Just don’t stray so far from the truth that you ultimately undermine your message.

What’s in it for me?—In many cases, the WIIFM principle will give you a solid clue. The more directly you can offer a benefit to your target readers, the simpler and more straightforward a headline can be. Try to be as specific as you can:

$50 off to first 50 Ajax swing-set buyers

Free corkscrew with every bottle of wine

Wash your windows with Superfab once, and they’ll sparkle for a year.

If you’re offering useful information, summarizing can be enough to pull in your audience. With slight variations, the following examples would work for a news release or article:

How to use the new tax law to your advantage

10 surprising ways to use your cell phone

Did you read the tiny type in your cell phone contract?

For a blog, it’s better to put the subject up front for scanner-appeal, as in, “New tax law: How to use it to your advantage.”

WIIFM can be applied to provoke interest on the part of a broad audience, as well:

Shuttered gas stations: a brownfields crisis for the community

Or, WIIFM can be audience specific. The following would work only if the intended audience consisted of heart specialists, and the article was in fact written for them:

Drug-eluting stents—more good than harm for heart patients?

In general, headlines should be both self-explanatory and cut to the heart of the subject. Traditional guidelines say to include a subject and action verb, similar to the following sentence:

Johnson wins major defense contract

While active verbs are good for headlines, as they are for all writing, you don’t really need to worry about incorporating verbs. Here are some useful approaches.

The rhetorical questions headline—These work in many situations:

We’re ready to walk. But where are the sidewalks?

Why craft better news releases? Because the payoff can be really big.

Two-part headlines—You’ll see these everywhere because they’re effective:

When you hire writers: How to get results that make you look good

Good corporate writing: Why it matters, and what to do

Using decks—Decks are additional lines above or below the main head, which can be used to expand or explain:

GREAT BUSINESS WRITING 1-2-3

A 3-Workshop Series for EAF Program Managers

Not a Joke

THE IMPORTANCE OF SEWERS TO LONG ISLAND’S FUTURE

Headlines that intrigue—You can play with the piece’s content to come up with something that (you hope) will pique readers’ curiosity:

To do or not to do…What soccer tells us about our “action bias” TINY PLANTS, BIG POTENTIAL

Q: What kind of plant life only grows in water, but flourishes in the desert? A: Micro algae

Headlines to personalize—If there’s a solid human element to your message, when you’re writing an article, for example, build on that to create an interesting headline. For example, a newspaper article might build downward from the general to specific:

New Tax Law Changes Savings Strategy for Millions

Middle class likely to lose loopholes, analysts say, while lower-income earners benefit

How can Jenny Barlow plan for six college tuitions?

About Web site headlines—These must be especially concise and informative. When writing them, consider search engines as an audience in addition to the site visitors you want to reach. Build around your chosen keywords and phrases and try to lead with them. Specialists recommend keeping Web site heads under 65 characters.

E-mail subject lines—Use a must-read subject line. For example, if you change a conference site, don’t say “News about Dec. 10 meeting,” but “Location change, Dec. 10 ASC conference.”

What case?—Whether you use upper- and lowercase for headlines or just an initial capital is a matter of style. In some circles, capitalizing only the first word is seen as a more “modern” look. Don’t use all-uppercase headlines, which tend to “scream” at the readers, unless you have something truly cosmic to announce: for example, “WAR BREAKS OUT!”