Keep news release headlines short
Hey, PR pros: Would you like to see your story in The New York Times? Then why not write like the Times?
![How long should your PR headline be? How long should your PR headline be?](https://freewritingtips.wyliecomm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pr-headlines.png)
We recently analyzed 100 headlines from PR Newswire and compared them to 100 headlines from a recent issue of The New York Times. (We skipped the sports pages.) Here’s what we found:
- Average headline length. Times: 6 words. PR Newswire: 11.2 — 37% longer than the newspaper of record in the United States.
- Median headline length. Times: 9 words. PR Newswire: 11 — 22% longer than the newspaper of record.
- Longest headline. Times: 14 words. (There were two.) PR Newswire: 33 — 136% longer than the newspaper of record.
- Shortest headline. Times: 4 words. (There were four.) PR Newswire: 4.
How long is too long?
I usually recommend that you keep your news head to eight words max. That’s the number people can easily understand at a glance, according to research by The American Press Institute.
That not only makes your headlines look more inviting, but also allows readers to get your news in a single gulp.
What not to do …
But here’s what PR pros tend to write instead:
Dr. Reed V. Tuckson to Deliver Keynote Address at 2015 Digital Health Summer Summit Co-hosted by Center for Digital Health Innovation at UCSF
Magnetic Materials Market Developing at 8.9% CAGR To 2020 — APAC To Be The Fastest Growing Region Due To High Demand From Electronics & Auto Industry
LIFE TIME FITNESS SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP Announces the Investigation of Life Time Fitness, Inc. Over the Proposed Sale of the Company to Leonard Green & Partners and TPG Capital — LTM
At 23, 26 and 33 words, respectively, these are paragraphs, people!
Solution: If you need all of those details up top, put half your headline in the deck.
Stuffy head?
Instead of stuffing your headline with so many words, why not steal a tip from the Times? Keep release headlines as tight as those in the media vehicle you seek to sway.