I’ve worked with some amazing headline-writers in my career – newspaper copy editors who were almost poets when it came to writing the perfect turn of phrase to fit the space given.

Unfortunately those witty headlines that catch our attention in print (where they are packaged with a photo and a subhead) don’t always work in the more literal and search-engine-optimized world of online journalism.

There’s a whole new set of rules when it comes to writing headlines online:

1. Use keywords. Get the main subjects of the story in the headline. Think about what words readers would search in Google to find that story – and use those words in your headline. If the story is about a person, use their full name in the headline.

2. Tell me what’s new and unique about this story. Don’t back into the subject or give me a label headline. Write a headline that makes me want to click through to read the story. I’m a busy person, and if the headline doesn’t sell me on reading the story, odds are I won’t.

3. Grab my attention. Make a big claim. Point out the controversy. Or just say something interesting.

4. Keep it simple and straightforward. I know you’re clever. Clever doesn’t work well in online headlines. Literal does.

5. Study what headlines work. Check out the headlines that get to the top of Digg. They make big claims or just plain grab your attention. I’m not saying all of your headlines can do this, but look for the ones that can.

Do a Google News search for the topic you wrote about, and see what headlines made it to the top of Google’s algorithm. Getting to the top of Google News isn’t the number one goal (creating a good experience for your core readers is more important), but it sure is a nice bonus.

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