![]() There are many types of headlines, and you can combine multiple headline formulas to get the perfect title for your content. For example, the focus of your headline could be on a problem your audience has, a benefit they will get from your content, or a specific result they will be able to achieve. ![]() Successful headlines include an underlying reason why users should read your content. To accomplish this goal, your headline has to be unique, specific, useful, and, on top of that, convey a sense of urgency. The purpose of a headline is to grab users’ attention. If you want people to read your content, you need a powerful headline. With that said, you’ve probably heard that the average internet user’s attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish: eight seconds on average. Studies show that out of every 10 online users that see your headline, only eight of them will actually read it and only two will take the time to read the actual content. Pick a headline below or start over for more inspiration! “ Please stop calling us Tories, say Tories.This field is required. Brian McDermott, longstanding chief subeditor, came up with a cute riposte on a story about the Conservatives’ plaintive attempt at a PR makeover in 2005. Alas, the subs of the day did not oblige.īut sometimes, the best course of action is simply to tell it as it is. This time, dog shoots man” – a tragic story that could only happen in America.Īnd what of women? There was a golden chance in February 1948 to toy with a cheeky “Woman bites dog” headline. Far darker was the story from 1998 headlined “Never mind man bites dog. It appeared in the Guardian’s 1951-2000 anthology under the title “Man bites dog biscuit”. ![]() In 1955 the newspaper published a short story about bakers testing a new calibre of treats for pooches. But sometimes there is scope for mischief. Sometimes, it is best to keep it simple, as per this tale from 1950. The “man bites dog” headline has given ample opportunity for playfulness over the years. A lyrically homophonous riff by Tim Burrows on Gavin Williamson’s educational woes – “ Algorithm and blues” – got the A* first prize, ahead of “ Summer of discount tents” (Tim Bryan on a piece about consumerism and the great outdoors), “ Oedipus Vex” (Lucy Blincoe’s line on a complex French tale of love and longing), and “A little nous on the prairie” by Nick Robinson on the changing face of ranching in the US. When the in-house contest was revived in 2020, puns were still de rigueur. The following year “ Where there’s muck, there’s bras” adorned a tale of a British farmer diversifying into mail-order lingerie. But Sheila Pulham’s “ X marks the despot”, about an election in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq cannot have been far behind. Julie Reid scooped the inaugural prize in 2002 with “ The banned played on”, a bitter-sweet homophone above a powerful story about musicians defying the Taliban. “ Funder enlightening” quipped another header about seminars teaching cash-strapped charities the art of fundraising.īy the early part of this century, Guardian subs were running a headline of the year competition. “Boys will be fathers” was the title of a 1981 article in the Bedside Guardian anthology about a 16-year-old schoolboy ordered to pay 5p a week towards the maintenance of a baby girl. “ Lucas in the sky with diamonds” ran the header across a film review of Star Wars in 1977. “Queen in rumpus at Palace” was the 1971 headline on a piece about a football brawl involving a player with a regal surname. At the time, senior editors were worried about the growing tendency for puns in headlines and tried to ban them. A play on a Gracie Fields song (The Biggest Aspidistra in the World), it was written by a sub, thought to be John Hall, for a critical review of Charlton Heston’s 1972 film Antony and Cleopatra. “Biggest asp disaster in the world” is perhaps one of the most memorable early puns that set the standard.
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