While I was still a student we were instructed that the headline is the most important part of an article. Without a good headline the message will not reach as many readers as it should. One could say that the headline is  “a gate” to your article which will either help to bring people inside or leave them out.

Even a very well written article by a tested formula, providing important information to some readers will fail to reach majority of targeted audience if an adequate entree is not used.

Example of not so good headlines

We won’t mention the source 😉

“Schoolgirl crushed by tree ‘made everyone feel happy ‘”

“Amphibious pitcher makes debut”

“New TV channel available across Europe, now in our country too”

“Son of a high police officer killed a girl who came from Ukraine after they broke up”

“Empowering the Family creates a stimulating environment for children”

If we would analyze each one of them, we would see, for example, that first one has an abominable order of words, while the second one has the obvious mistake. Let’s try to make the other three a bit more interesting.

“From now on” Game of Thrones “without downloading, in real time”

“Another murder because of a broken heart”

“Do you want a happy child? Do not take your family for granted”

In this first headline, I took “Game of Thrones” just like an example.

If this is text that I have to write, I would see what this new channel is really offering and I would put in the headline that catchy movie, or series or reality show, get the picture?

Essentials of a good headline

 First of all, a headline should be consistent with the text that follows.

Second, in general a headline should not be too long but there are many long and good headlines that are effective in passing a special message to interested audience, for example:

“People Discuss Why Nothing, Including Veganism, is 100 Percent Cruelty-Free”

“Mom Writes Open Letter to Husband About Why He Needs to Help More With Their Kids”

Understanding is one of the essentials of a good headline, as it is

making a headline interesting.

If you want to make it even more interesting, you can put:

  • Listings (“Ten Reasons Why You Should Stay Home”, “Five Easy Making Jobs”)
  • How to headlines (“How to become Rich?”)
  • Why like (“Why are we getting lucky?”)
  • A statistic, tables (“40% of the population may die after the next flu epidemic”)

Forced humor is not welcomed, as is with a measure, like:

“Three Englishmen Saved From Boiling Pot by Cannibal Chief, Who Was Friend at Oxford University”

or

“Five stabbed at ‘welcome home from jail’ party”

Testimonial headlines could be very helpful especially if a famous people are used because most people like to be identified with celebrities. Example:

“‘How Kosmodisk changed my life for better’ – said our famous actress N.A.”

Intrigue headlines are also interesting too. Mysteries, secrets, not so understandable at first, but still, calling you to continue reading, like:

“Do you want to live happy and without worries?”

“For those who want to travel throughout the year.”

or

“Secret Life of Buddhist Monks”

There are different types of headlines that are not mentioned so far, for example:

  • Direct
  • Indirect
  • News headlines
  • Headlines that imply advice and many more.

What is it most important?

The most important goal to achieve in an article should be to keep targeted audience interested in the subject to read the entire material presented in an article.

Practice makes perfect. If you want to know how to write a dissent headline, you should practice it every day.

Read, view, notice, look for a poor headline and then make your version and try to make it better one.

It will not be easy, especially at first, but with time, and with practice, you will become an expert, you will know how to write an interesting “gate” to your text.

If you need help, contact me.