A Great Web Headline is SEF: Search Engine Friendly

Writing headlines isn’t what it used to be. In the digital age, headlines like these are often the reason you end up reading a story.

In mediabistro.com’s latest AvantGuild article, online writers and reporters say a good headline is SEF (search engine friendly) and strikes some curiosity in the reader.

Mediabistro.com instructor Jenna Rose Robbins explains, “If the headline says, ‘Lindsay Lohan to Star in an ’80s Movie Remake,’ you’re still wondering what movie. You want to have those keywords in a headline, but you still want to leave a question.”

J.J. Gould, deputy editor of TheAtlantic.com, says journos can even give away a little of the story in the hed. “In print, first, space is more of an issue, so you need to be relatively brief,” Gould explains. “Second, you already have more of your reader’s attention in print than you do in digital, so your headline has to do more work in digital. For that reason, you often have to use more words in order to be clearer about what you’re saying and what it means.”

Read the full article for more tips on Writing Web Headlines That Work and share your own headline writing strategies in the comments section below.

– CLAIR PHILLIPS

Author and journalist Susan Orlean (left) has written two nonfiction pieces that have been turned into films. She’ll discuss her new book, Rin Tin Tin, in Mediabistro’s first online Literary Festival & Workshops starting July 16. Other speakers include Rebecca Skloot, Jason Boog, and Jason Allen Ashlock. Register now.