Practical Tips for Effective Headline Development

Practical Tips for Effective HeadlineDevelopmentA lot of the positive responses a write-up willreceive rest on the headline. The headline is thetitle of the article and is the very first lineon which the reader's eyes will fall when readinga write-up. A bland, unexciting headline willfail to stir the interest of the reader even ifthe body of the article is well-written andinformative. Never waste a good article bymaking sure you use these tips for effective

headline development:Outline your article.The headline and the article body feed off eachother. One must reflect, promote and support theother in order to be effective. As such, it'simportant that you build a relationship at thevery beginning so your readers won't be confusedat the progression.To make sure you don't get lost, write a shortoutline of the article. This can be in the formof notes to help guide you on the topics you willbe covering for the article and the succession ofthese topics. That way, you will have a referenceon how the article will appear, something you canuse for effective headline development.Decide on the tone you will useThe tone of your article should be reflected byyour headline. An optimistic, happy headline may

not work with an article that is written in aserious, businesslike tone. Conversely, a formalheadline may seem ill-conceived when used with anupbeat article.Develop your headline based on the type of articleyou will be usingEver read headlines developed by researchers fora certain scientific or medical study? They'renot exactly the kind of headlines you'll find ina write-up for topics such as sports, personalcare or relationships. These headlines tend to beformal and technical and there are no colloquialor slang terms used with them.When developing headlines for your article, makesure it's a good match to the type of write-up youwill be doing. If it's more technical, considerusing a more structured headline. If it's moreupbeat, then do the same with your title.

Offer an overview.Your article has to compete with others in themarket. This is especially true if you will bewriting for the Web, where for a single topicalone, readers will find thousands of sources,all of them original.For effective headline development, make sure towrite a title that offers your readers a good ideaof what the article contains ?and then interestthem enough so they read the rest of the article.Headline too long? Consider a sub-headlineSometimes in order to grab the attention of yourreaders, you will be stuck with a headline that'stoo long to be effective. If this happens,consider cutting the headline into two: one as themain headline and the other as the sub-headline.Readers can easily focus on these headlines andfind the most interesting, salient points of thearticle.

Or, you could cut a long headline, use aprovocative or interesting word or phrasefollowed by a colon and then write the rest of theheadline. Some examples are below:Game Hacks: How to Be a Master of Every Video GameYou PlayEarth Angel: One Woman's Journey to Becoming aCelebrated EnvironmentalistBirds of a Feather: How Your Friends Affect YourLuck in LifeUse intrigueNotice how successful many of the marketingcampaigns and promotions have been in the past?It's because the copywriter was able to stir upintrigue and grab attention by using theirheadlines well.

An excellent method of headline development isusing teasers that create intrigue. Words such as'secret to', 'little known ways' 'lazy man'sguide to', 'beginner's guide to', 'you don't haveto be ___ to be ___' and 'methods you never knewexisted' can be quite effective for making thereaders wonder and want to read more.