Top headlines are the first thing readers see, whether they come across your article on a website or in search engine results. They’re the most important piece of content, even over your lede, and they have to be compelling enough to arrest the reader and make them want to click through. Headlines need to capture the reader’s attention, be clear about what you are talking about, and be a good fit for your audience. The best news headlines are short and snappy, while blog and ad headlines can be more creative and fun (just don’t go overboard).
Your top headline should clearly tell the story in one or two words and include all of the most important information you have to share. It should use a strong verb and be enticing enough to make the reader want more information, so they will click through to read your article.
You also want to keep in mind that many of your readers are skimmers, and you will lose their attention if you have too much verbiage in the headline. Headlines are often shortened in search engine results, so they should be concise to keep them as readable as possible.
The inverted pyramid structure of laying out the most important information at the top of an article can help ensure your headlines are informative, but concise. It’s also helpful to be mindful of word choice, dropping unnecessary words like articles (a, an, the) and conjunctions.
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