Making an impact, accurately Headlines Making an impact, accurately

Punctuation normal — mostly Use the active voice A “capital” idea Number, please Present tense, please Punctuation normal — mostly Lincoln: ‘The war has begun’ Lincoln: War inevitable; victory essential Lincoln says war inevitable; Davis agrees Who (and what) is whom (or what)? Lincoln-Douglas debate today on K.C. radio 

Abbreviations: Many abbreviations that are not acceptable in stories are acceptable in headlines. Subject and verb, please Don’t be cute, unless cute is called for: More things to avoid: Do not editorialize, exaggerate, generalize or use long words. Keep it simple and direct.  Watch out for ambiguity and the double entendre: Headlines, like poetry and songs, should have a rhythm about them

Choosing a Font Easy on The Eyes Creating Captions: Readers love captions Avoid Repetition Catchy: grab the reader’s attention. The main point: summarize the main point of an article. Curiosity. Leave you curious to find out more. Controversy. Specifics. Specific headlines are better than vague ones. Short, active words.

Yor headlines is your angle: does the headline reflects the article? Plan your headline: think about which words hold the most importance and make sure the top are in the headline. Be clever and witty: will your headline stand out against the crowd? Who are you writing for: get into the mind of your audience, what do they want? Keywords are king: what people search for? Be clear and concise: a misleading headline can and will lose you traffic.

Always remember 4 cs: Clear Concise Compelling/Convincing Ceywords