Headlines

But what’s the topic?

Silver Anvil winners show it's not 'us and our stuff' Front-loading your headlines with your topic word just makes sense if your readers are going to encounter those headlines in online lists — a search engine results page, for instance, or your online newsroom. That's because readers look at only the first two or three words of the headline when scanning lists … [Read more...] about But what’s the topic?

What would Google do?

Steal 4 tips from the search giant's own releases Google issues few press releases: 13 in 2013, 17 in 2014 and just 10 in the first eight months of 2015. Most of them are earnings releases. So when Google announced that it had acquired Nest, the release itself gave some insights into what Google rewards in releases. Here are four techniques to steal from … [Read more...] about What would Google do?

Stop it with the ing-ing

Present participle heads may be worse than labels Barney Kilgore, the legendary editor of The Wall Street Journal, once wrote: "If I see 'upcoming' slip in[to] the paper again, I'll be downcoming and someone will be outgoing." I'm with Barney: Stop ing-ing. Especially in headlines. Now, to be fair, Kilgore's comment refers to gerunds: verbs that get turned into … [Read more...] about Stop it with the ing-ing

Numbers count

Numerals in headlines quantify value, draw readers Next time you hit the Safeway, take a look at the magazines displayed at the checkout counter. Chances are, you'll find that they're packed with numerals. There's a good reason for that: Headlines with numerals, like Top 10, promise quantifiable value. And that draws readers. "Numbers sell," writes Richard … [Read more...] about Numbers count

So to speak

Colloquialisms make great headlines When copyeditors at The Oregonian needed a headline for a piece on car seat safety, they wrote: NO, YOU'RE NOT THERE YET New pediatric guidelines call for the little ones to stay in their safety seats a lot longer Searching for a good headline? Use a quote, colloquialism or sound bite. That's what these winners of the American Copy … [Read more...] about So to speak