How to Write Great Headlines

Introduction

A great headline is important because people make up their minds within seconds of reading your headline.

Writing great headlines is a true art. Some people I suspect are born with the knack of whipping up drop-dead perfect headlines at the drop of a hat. But then, to some extent, writing good headlines can be taught and learned as well.

It is also good practice to keep your headlines short – 10 words at max, but don’t sacrifice clarity for brevity.

There are two main types of headlines – “inverted pyramid” (the more common, but not the only type) and “upright pyramid.” It is important to know which one is appropriate for what you are writing.

Inverted Pyramid Headline

An inverted pyramid headline starts with the conclusion or most interesting snippet of information. It does not provide much detail or context about the topic, but it does provide some necessary background for understanding it.

In this type of headline, the Who, What, When, Why, and Where of the event is offered right away, before anything else.

This is the most commonly used headline type in the press and the advertisement sectors today.

Example

“J. Smith Building in Bloomingdale, IL Burned Down Last Night Due to Electrical Shortcircuit.”

Upright Pyramid Headline

An upright pyramid headline starts with context and expands out to include details about the topic. This type of headline provides all the needed information in order for someone to comprehend your content without reading anything else below it on the page.

Example

“A Day of Loss for the Royal Family is Observed by the Least Likely Group in the UK”

Here the context is the loss the Royal family has suffered even though we don’t know yet what the loss is. The “least likely group” observed the loss even though, again, we don’t know who this group is.

This kind of headline builds up suspense and interest without giving away Who, What, When, Why, and Where of the event.

Different Context for a Great Headline

Here is one time-tested venerable principle for writing a great headline: make sure that your verb is somehow organically related to the core character, the main characteristics of the subject of the sentence, but it should be used in a DIFFERENT context.

Example

Take for example this great headline by the New York Times (June 13, 2007):

“Casinos Go All In To Draw Asians” … Perfect!

“Going all in” is a poker term and represents a situation in which a player risks everything. The writer could have said “Casinos Pull All Stops To Draw Asians”… or “Casinos Risk It All To Draw Asians” but it would not be the same. It would not have the same punch and the same juice.

Here the action phrase “going all in” is perfectly related to the “casinos.” It is also used not in its traditional context of poker but in a new context of marketing. That unexpected cognitive shift injects power to the expression while still closely keeping our attention riveted to the gambling framework.

Contrast this power headline with a very weak one used by the Wall Street Journal again (by sheer coincidence?) to open a gambling story in its June 13, 2007 issue:

“What Happens in Vegas, Goes to China” (hello?)

We of course know where this headline is coming from — it’s a cutesy word play on the Vegas marketing slogan “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.”

But to be aware of this trick is not enough to understand what the story is really about. What does it mean something “Going to China”? What is it that goes to China? It’s not immediately clear.

For example, this lazy echo of a well-known slogan justifies us to wonder if “extramarital affairs” started in Vegas end up “in China” somehow? It misdirects our attention.

Then we read the accompanying subheader: “$2.2 Billion Casino Resort Is Part of New Push in Cotai To Lure Gamblers, Travelers”
O-kay… now we see what the header was talking about.

But if a header needs a subheader to be understood, then it is failing in its primary function of immediately communicating the core summary of the news story. Otherwise why open a story with a header at all?

Conclusion

A great headline is important in professional writing. It should be catchy, scannable and most importantly, relevant to what you’re trying to say.

Whether you’re writing a blog post or a press release, it is crucial that your headline is catchy and grabs the attention of readers. That’s because like we mentioned earlier, people make up their minds within seconds of reading your headline.

There are no tricks or hacks for writing great headlines.