18 tips for writing engaging headlines + 27 makeovers that saved stories from extinction
By: Kurt Gessler
Tags: Content Strategy, SEO, Headlines, Content Marketing, Blogging

1. Be clear and focused, first and foremost. Directly tell the reader why they should care or how this affects his or her life. There is nothing more important than clarity. Nothing. Straight headlines aren’t dull — they are lean and effective, elegant in their own right.

Part of being clear, at times, is stating what the writer and editor believe to be obvious. “Homeowners face tax hike under mayor’s budget plan” makes sense if your readers come from a single town. But how likely is that? “Chicago homeowners face tax hike under Mayor Emanuel’s budget plan” is not only more clear, but also better for SEO. And considering nearly of third of Americans couldn’t name the vice president, don’t assume they know their mayor or wouldn’t benefit from knowing exactly what city we’re talking about.

2. Don’t get too cute or punny. Let me underscore that: Most pun headlines suck. Why? You assume the reader gets the joke. You assume there are no language barriers. You assume originality, that your pun hasn’t been used dozens of times already. And worst, you assume there’s nothing more interesting in the story.

Here’s a few examples of pun headlines where the joke is the focus rather than the story. And when your story centers around child molestation, like the Hastert piece, an attempt at clever wordplay only trivializes a serious matter.

What does an officer being “bullish” have to do with an arrest? And Pleez, sadly, has already closed. I blame the imperceptible headline.

3. Write it so it reads fast. The first few words are critical; don’t make a reader hunt to find key points. Front-load them into your headline. This also helps with SEO.

“Billy Bush, embroiled in Trump tape scandal, is suspended from ‘Today’ show” — Los Angeles Times. “Florence Henderson, TV’s Carol Brady, dies at 82” — CNN.

Don’t start with “‘Brady Bunch’ star” or “TV’s Carol Brady.” Start with the name of the recognizable actress or disgraced celebrity.

For the same reasons, unless it’s absolutely critical, don’t start a headline with the attribution. “Police confirm serial killer escaped from jail” is less effective than “Serial killer escaped from jail, police confirm.” Key details come first.

4. If the deadline isn’t now, write multiple headlines. Challenge yourself. Upworthy espouses 25 discrete headlines per story. That feels excessive, but it does suggest you shouldn’t stop after your first headline. I find writing at least three to be extremely helpful.

5. Write with an active voice.

6. Favor proper nouns (names, teams, locations). This also helps with SEO. But also realize that sometimes being vague may be beneficial. Is the incident more important than the locale? Is the law more important than who proposed it? Both approaches have their place. Know when to use them.

7. Is the writer important? Consider including her or him.

8. Headlines with eight words or more perform best, says Outbrain. Now here you may be at odds with SEO best practices. We’ve also seen SEO benefit to keeping headlines generally between 40 characters and 77 characters. And Moz recommends headlines of around 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results pages. Others say 70 characters. The answer, in my mind, is to just write your best headline being mindful of where readers may not see the rest. A great headline that goes a little long is better than an SEO perfect headline that’s revolting.

9. Ask a critical question in your headline.

10. Use descriptive and evocative words, terms that inspire or amuse or anger. A University of Pennsylvania study suggests eliciting an emotional response is the critical reason content goes viral. Chose words with power.

11. Pique a reader’s curiosity — but don’t be click-baity. Again, clarity first. You erode brand trust and confidence if you’re just teasing and never delivering. Don’t play the guess-what-band-is-coming-to-town game. Be a compelling and reliable source of information.

12. How-to’s, lists and tips can make compelling number-based headlines (“8 headline mistakes you can avoid” or “How you can avoid these 8 headline mistakes”). But the content must support the headline. You can’t use this list-style of headline on a narrative story. Headline and story must be in concert not conflict.

13. Have a great quote? Use it. If you’re stuck, this is usually the shortest path to a unique headline.

14. Don’t limit yourself to the story’s lede (beginning). The headline has to promote the most-engaging element, whether that’s a number, quote, fact, thought, topic, opinion etc. Maybe that’s 10 paragraphs in.

15. Only use the most common acronyms. FBI? sure. SA’s office? Probably not. However, you should use abbreviations like “feds”. Headlines should be approachable and conversational.

16. Some words just suck. Don’t use those. Here’s a few weak headline words I hate. All of them are hard to read, weak, vague or jargony. Post more in the comments and I’ll add them.

Parcel

Zoning

Ordinance

Figure, as a noun for an individual

Individual

Incident

Issue, as a noun

Protocol

Flap, as a noun

Fans, as a verb

TIF

Announce (this is almost always extraneous)

Welcomes

Spat

formally/officially

Fiscal

Appropriate (verb)

Bolsters

Spate

Decry

Nigh, as in “the time is …”

Incentive, where “taxpayer money/funds” would be more clear

Bemoan

17. Focus on impact and implications. Why is this story important to people? I like a quote from co-worker Mark Jacob, metro editor at the Chicago Tribune: “Tell people why the story is about them.”

Structures like the ones below are becoming a little threadbare, but at their core they aim to be direct and useful, albeit with a touch of drama.

Here’s the truth about XXX

This is what XXX means to you

Experts offer advice on XXX

XXX things you need to know about YYY

This is the true story of XXX

XXX is a problem. This is the solution

XXX happened. Then YYY did.

She called the man who sexually assaulted her a rapist. Then he sued her for defamation. — Washington Post Looks like the 2nd debate had about 20% fewer viewers than the 1st. Here are the reasons why. — CNN

Hard to argue those aren’t compelling reads.

18. But the most important tip isn’t arcane or gimmicky. It’s obvious, but it’s often ignored. Make absolutely sure the most interesting, most important part of the story is conveyed in your headline. And that usually takes time and effort. There’s no way to write a great headline by just skimming the story.

This project with amazing visuals went live on the Tribune with this headline: “Returning to the prairie.”

It doesn’t get much more vague than that. I knew it would do poorly, and in fact Chartbeat showed that it was being ignored by most of our readers. Realtime audience metrics helps a lot to identify weak headlines. So right away I knew it needed an intervention. It took me 10+ minutes, but I settled on “Man sold home, spent last decade to create 60-acre prairie garden.” And I played up the geography, Chicago’s affluent North Shore, in the readout. I probably should have put North Shore in the headline anyway.

A sense of scale. Hint of commitment through time. Clarity. The change had immediate impact and became the second-most read story of the day.

I didn’t change a photo or re-write the piece. I simply adjusted how it was being marketed to the audience. That’s the power of the headline.

Here’s 26 more before-and-after examples, all with lessons based on those tips.