AVOID CLEVER HEADLINES

Don’t use clever headlines, make them meaningful and keep them short. They should tell the users what the page or section is about - not force them to read into the body text before they know what the article is about.

The writing of headlines online is different from writing printed headlines. The main differences are that headlines online are often shown out of context - such as a list of articles, with accompanying short synopses, which are reproduced in full on link pages, or a list of article headings read by a search engine.

If your have a list of headlines on your home page with a summary underneath, remember many users will only read the highlighted headline.

Even when the headline is shown with the full story, the difficulty of reading online and the reduced amount of information that can be seen at a glance make it harder for the user to put the headline in context. In print a headline is tightly associated with pictures and secondary decks of headline which can be seen at a glance. Online, a much smaller amount of information is visible on screen.

Because of these differences the headline must really stand out alone. So use plain language, no puns and try to avoid metaphors. Skip the articles ‘A’, ‘AN’ and ‘THE’ where possible and make the first word an important, information word like a name.

Avoid a number of archive titles starting with the same word - they will be very difficult to differentiate when scanning.

Introduction:
Users who are scanning your page will often read only the first paragraph so it must illustrate the main topic of the story and remember the ‘one idea per paragraph’ rule. Use simple sentence structures.

Start stories with the main topic and work back through the detail. Remember, many people don't scroll down below the first screen, so the key facts must be in the first few paragraphs. Also, many people lose interest after two or three paragraphs.

Start sentences with the key fact; don't bury it on the end.

For example: “Sex prolongs your life, according to report by Government scientists” is much stronger than "Government scientists published new report on Thursday suggesting that an active sex life could prolong people’s lives."

The look of your page