Your headline takes about ten seconds to read. That’s the time it takes for a person to decide whether or not he wants to read more of what he has to say, making your headline the most important word in your press release.
Did you know that an article can be placed under a different title and get a different response from the same reader?
In his article, “Headlines That Attract, Persuade, and Drive,” Michel Fortin says, “A headline must do two vital things. First, it must grab the reader’s attention. That is the headline’s main and most important job. It doesn’t have the intended to summarize an offer or be a paragraph in itself. It is also not intended to make a sale. Second, it should draw readers into the copy and compel them to keep reading. It should create curiosity and be interesting enough to engage to the reader. To hold the reader’s attention, you need to be concise enough (not necessarily short, but to the point) to get the job done with the fewest words,” says Fortin.
Not to be taken for granted, headlines determine the likelihood that an article, story, letter, advertisement, or newspaper will be read. Time and thought should be given to this important section of your press release to ensure the desired results of your efforts. Two reasons I write press releases are 1) to market my books and 2) to secure speaking engagements about my book and the services I might offer for a fee.
Whether you’re writing a press release or another type of message, a good place to start is with some accepted industry rules of headline writing. Make the headline sound personal, connecting emotionally on some level with the reader. I don’t mean a tear gas. I mean, appeal to the interest of most people in their personal needs. A headline that appeals to this condition in readers will attract or target readers in a particular group. When addressing an audience, assess the problem the audience may be facing and offer a solution, which your headline might reflect.
‘Remove unwanted facial hair’ comes to mind from a commercial I saw on TV. Of course, this ad didn’t appeal to me because I don’t have unwanted facial hair (correct…), but I could see how it would appeal to an audience that may be plagued by the problem. Your post’s ad, headline, or headline can do the same thing by asking a question: “Do you have unwanted facial hair?” In both cases, the reader is likely to read beyond your headline.
Another approach is to make a press release headline sound like news without exaggerating the force of the message. That would be considered misleading or even inaccurate. Readers don’t like to be misled or lied to. This could affect how your readers accept what you have to report going forward, costing you credibility with them. People remember when they have been disappointed or think they have been disappointed. In response, they will discard your messages in the future.
Try to make your headline as clear as possible. A self-imposed problem some writers face is trying to be too smart, which comes off as an inside joke that no one gets. Use plain, unadorned language to ensure that as many readers as possible can understand at a glance what your message is about. Take care not to confuse readers if you want them to read beyond the title.
There are several types of headlines that an author can use to address readers. Some offer readers a gift or benefit. That’s why so many posts include the word ‘free’ in the title. Others may mention a complementary offer to participate in an activity. Don’t underestimate the value of words like ‘sale’ or ‘discount’. People are drawn to items that save them time and money.
Many articles advertise a self-improvement feature that can be obtained by reading the press release. ‘Learn to do whatever’. Successful self-improvement headlines may also display a guarantee or testimonial, such as ‘Thousands Swear By Anything’. Guarantees are more than just money back, but they can work too. ‘How to’ articles should include ‘how to’ in the title because people need to be told that they will learn a new skill, especially if you emphasize that learning the task is easy, as in ‘How to learn anything in five simple steps’.
Without being too long, twelve words or less, headlines should briefly express what your press release is about. Most professionals agree that a headline should be short, to the point, and descriptive. This has been a traditional rule dating back to the first newspapers in the New England states of America in the 18th century. Since then, newspapers have evolved with the needs of the reading public and are currently undergoing a digital transformation as more publications are published online. Please note that some online press release distribution services use character count instead of word count.
One thing has not changed in the writing of newspapers, magazines and other publications. The headline still plays an integral role in enticing readers to read more. What has changed in the industry is the need to pay attention to the new technological trends that are being advanced in response to Internet writing requirements, which have increased significantly in number. When I write a title, I test it by typing it in the browser to see if any other elements with the same title appear. Then I write some variations to check what comes up in the search. So I can adjust my title.
Writing a good headline is a bit like selecting a title for your book. When I was my publisher, I wasn’t thrilled at first because I didn’t understand how much the title would target the publisher’s intended audience and how much it would increase book sales. Unlike writing headlines for my articles, I was too close to my book manuscript to maintain my objectivity. The publisher of my book explained that the title was intended to address an audience with some interest.
To achieve maximum exposure in search engines, which are a response to browsers on the web, headlines should contain keywords that illustrate the topic of your article and tell the browser the content of your article or what your article is about. Article. The theme and the content may seem the same, but they are not. Topic is a broad and general category of topics and content is a specific summary description of your article. Topic and content building requires the process of simply and accurately displaying your ad so that search engines like Google will find your item. The use of keywords in the title and throughout the press release is essential for search engine optimization (SEO). SEO drives traffic to your press releases, articles, blogs, and websites.
