Extra! Extra! This headline could be horribly lame!

You know what’s consistently a challenge for me as an online writer? Headlines. Here’s an example: I once wrote a banner ad promoting a basketball package that started with “Hoop! There it is …” I’m serious. I wrote this. And it got used. And now you might have just realized that you are/were at one time a fan of Tag Team.

So over lunch, I decided to play the game of “What happens when you Google ‘headlines for the web’?” to see what information is out there for the headline-challenged.

Here are the top-four results:

Newspaper headlines lost in web translation
Summary: Newspapers have to write headlines for search engines AND readers.
Headline help: This is an important thing to mention — you’ve got to write for the engines as much as you write for humans — and it applies to everything on the Internet, not just newspapers.
Julie recommends: Excess Voice Here you can find REAL tips for online copywriting (beyond just headlines) and even sign up for a newsletter on the topic.

Tips for writing web headlines
Summary: People tend to skim when they’re reading online, right? So your headline needs to be something that can reach out and grab eyeballs.
Headline help: Web headlines should be short, search-friendly and tested.
Julie recommends: The Online Copywriter’s Handbook Learn the basics with this book from Bob Bly.

Headline Depot
Summary: There is place called the Headline Depot and I didn’t know this until NOW? Here you can browse categories to “add highly targeted real-time headlines and news to your web site.”
Headline help: There is none here for copywriters. This is a place to learn more about getting a headline feed on your website.
Julie recommends: The Onion Headline Generator If you’re looking for a hilarious headline that has nothing to do with work, go here.

Star Wars – The Official Site
Summary: Includes official news, information on episodes, and images.
Headline help: I kid you not. This is the #8 result on Google for the search “headlines for the web.” So … no help here, either.
Julie recommends: Uh, this Star Wars site, of course.

Although this exercise was fun for me … I feel like I’m right back where I started. Do you have any good resources to share? Start sending ‘em in.

Bookmark ThisBlinkList del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Netvouz RawSugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Yahoo MyWeb

This entry was posted by Julie Vollenweider on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Copywriting, Interactive Marketing.
Comments Feed Both comments and pings are currently closed.