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All articles and/or advertisements should begin with an attention-grabbing headline.
This headline will tell the person whether or not he or she is interested enough to learn more about the subject.
Headlines are effective tools in grabbing someone's attention or directing it somewhere else immediately.
This form of advertising is generally used in print media, and can be good or bad for the article or product itself.
A good headline is interesting and tells the person what they have to look forward to. A bad headline may be confusing, or alert the reader to move on. Of course everyone wants to write good headlines, and here's how. Make it simple
When writing headlines the simpler the better. A good headline will be easy to read, and the information easy to gather from one or two lines. Being clever, or using puns should only be used on especially smart or clever stories and/or products.
You also want to be certain that it is obvious to the customer what they are going to be looking at. The product should be prominently displayed and the benefits should be recognizable through the headline. People are not very interested in products if they aren't sure what they get in return.
Always use bright and clear headings. Use fonts that are simple and easy to read. Avoid using curly fonts that may be difficult for some consumers to read. Fonts such as Arial and Verdana are the best, especially for the Internet copy.
Other ideas
Use the active voice when writing headlines, you should use good verbs, and logical sentence structure. This will ensure the headline is easy to comprehend, and fun to read. Headlines should be fun, because you are advertising for more attention. People generally pay attention to something fun to look at, learn from, and hear about.
This is a basic rule of thumb when doing any form of writing, but most important with headlines. You should also pay attention to your capitalization. The first word should always be capitalized, as with any sentence.
Some publications and products will ask for this, however, when in doubt follow the basic rule that was stated earlier. Start every headline flush left unless told otherwise, and you do not need to spell out numbers.
Things to avoid
Avoid using incorrect punctuation. Your word processing program should help you out with this. Avoid exaggerating stories, and using he said/she said attribution. Of course, you will have to use your judgment in most cases, and that will work most of the time. If in doubt, do some research and find what works best.
Action Steps For Creating Effective Headlines
1. Create a headline that will draw in your audience and catch their eye.
2. Edit, and revise your headline, being careful to correctly capitalize, punctuate, and your tone, all of which are important when setting the mood for the article and/or product
3. Research anything you are not sure about before you print
Important Points About Creating Effective Headlines
- Headlines should catch the person's attention and make them want to know more about the product and or article. This is very important when trying to get more customers. The better the headline, the more attention paid to your article and or product.
- Use the correct tone. Do not be over funny, overly cute, or use too many puns. •Edit for punctuation, capitalization, and exaggeration. All of these can make a good article look bad.
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