Headlines

Tips for writing effective email subject lines

Make them clear, easy to understand

What makes one email campaign generate an amazing 93% open rate, while another languishes at a dismal 0.5%?

Ask the researchers at MailChimp, an email service provider.… Read the full article

Why writing links well is so important

Get clicked by writing good link text

Users look for links on pages like puppies look for your best shoes.

Or so say Kara Pernice, Kathryn Whitenton and Jakob Nielsen, the authors of How People Read on the Web.… Read the full article

Stop it with the ing-ing

Present participle heads may be worse than labels

Barney Kilgore, the legendary editor of The Wall Street Journal, once wrote: “If I see ‘upcoming’ slip in[to] the paper again, I’ll be downcoming and someone will be outgoing.”… Read the full article

6 ways to write numbers-based headlnes

Numerals quantify value, draw readers

Next time you hit the Safeway, take a look at the magazines displayed at the checkout counter. Chances are, you’ll find that they’re packed with numerals.… Read the full article

Why write a multi deck headline?

Because it’s the best-read element on the page

Decks — those one-sentence summaries under the headline — do the heavy lifting on web pages.

Indeed, according to The Poynter Institute’s Eyetrack III study of reader behavior:

95% of web page visitors read all or part of the deck.

… Read the full article

Anecdotes make good feature leads

To draw readers in, tell them a story

Here’s how Korbel Champagne Cellars topped a PRSA Silver Anvil Award-winning pitch:

Have you heard about the guy who mowed “Will You Marry Me?”

… Read the full article

How to write a press release headline that targets readers

Write about the reader, not ‘us and our stuff’

Front-loading your headlines with your topic word just makes sense if your readers are going to encounter those headlines in online lists — a search engine results page, for instance, or your online newsroom.… Read the full article